Big East Tourney Day 2: St. John’s Puts Up “ Four-Star Performance” To Bop Butler

 

RJ Luis Jr. running up court after he hit a three-pointer to make it 18-3 St. John’s at the 12:28 mark of the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John’s Red Storm, the top seed in the Big East Tournament, opened in dominant fashion, as they beat the Butler Bulldogs, 78-57, on Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm came out firing, and opened up an 18-3 lead on an RJ Luis Jr. three-pointer at the 12:29 mark of the first half.

That lead would expand to 17 points, at 25-8, on a Simeon Wilcher layup at 8:09.

Around that time, Lefteris Liotopoulos entered and he continued his solid play. He had six points on 3-5 shooting in 9:03 of play, and he had a big highlight as he stole a pass along the baseline after a Butler inbounds and laid it in to make it 33-21 St. John’s with 3:59 left in the first.

The Red Storm led 36-27 at halftime. They were paced by nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal from Kadary Richmond. RJ Luis Jr. had eight points, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo had five points and three rebounds off the bench. 

Sadiku Ibine Ayo burying a three-pointer that put SJU up 21-7 at the 9:52 mark of the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

In the second half, St. John’s continued to dominate. They opened up a 22-point lead, 56-34, on a Deivon Smith three-pointer at the 12:31 mark.

Butler responded with an 11-4 run before Luis Jr. stopped their momentum with a layup at the 8:57 mark that made it 62-45.

St. John’s opened up a 23-point edge, 74-51, on an Aaron Scott three with 3:13 left.

RJ Luis Jr. led St. John’s once again with 20 points on 8-18 from the field, including 2-3 on three-pointers, with seven rebounds, a steal and a block.

Kadary Richmond and Aaron Scott had 15 points apiece. Richmond shot 7-13 and he just missed a double-double, with nine assists and eight rebounds. Scott shot 6-10, including 3-6 on threes, with four rebounds and an assist.

“Basically I told the guys that a five-plus performance is a Michael Jordan performance, and we were a four-star tonight, which was good enough to win, which you expect,” St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino said afterwards. “Sometimes a team that plays a game has a little under their belt that hurts them in the third game (between opponents), obviously, but we played good enough to win. We did a lot of good things tonight. We did a lot of things we need to get better at, but overall, it was a four-star performance, and we’ll take it.”

Next up is the Semifinals on Friday night and St. John’s will play Marquette, who came back to beat Xavier, 89-87.

PITINO POSTGAME: Here are more remarks from St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino in his postgame press conference: 

On Deivon Smith’s health: “I think he's mentally very self-conscious, and it's bothering him more mentally than it will bother him physically. Injuries, you've got to get over the hump mentally and he has to get over the hump mentally. I'm sure it's bothering him. He's a tough kid, but you've got to get over the hump mentally, and that's what he is really struggling with. Pays too much attention to it. He's got to block it out of his mind, and it's easier said than done to do that.”

On how important it is to find a rhythm on offense:

“Well, I think you have to have a number of assists. You have to share the basketball. We did that tonight, most of the night. We got good looks in the breaks, good looks moving the basketball. Like I said, we're a better shooting team than our numbers indicate, and we will continue. We're not going to be a great shooting team, but I think we're going to be a good shooting team.” 

 

On the crowd’s energy during today’s game: “Energy was good. We didn't have a lot of our fans here. There was a lot of blue. Must be Marquette. A lot of blue in the place. It's not a home game because it's tough to get tickets. … It's not a home game. Now you get more tickets as it opens up. Although it's a home court, it's not a home game.”

 

Big East Tourney Day 1: Butler Set To Battle St. John’s

Kolby King putting in a layup to give Butler a 28-18 lead in the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Butler Bulldogs dominated from start to finish as they beat the Providence Friars, 75-69 in the first game of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

That means that top-seeded St. John’s will start their quest for a title against Butler in the quarterfinals on Thursday at high noon.

St. John’s won both of their games in the regular season against Butler, on January 7 at Carnesecca Arena, 82-72, and on February 26 on the road, 76-70.

Butler Head Coach Thad Matta said of meeting St. John’s for a third time, “We just played them a week ago or two weeks, whatever. In the guys’ minds, we’ll refresh them. As a staff, we’re prepared. We will get back and get into it, but the good thing is you knew who you were going to play if you won, so we’re prepared for that…Obviously they’re the best team in the league, so this is a great opportunity for our guys. I’m excited to play this game. Hopefully the players are.”

Butler led this one wire to wire, as they opened with a 7-2 burst that turned into a 17-9 edge at the 12:26 mark of the first half.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 10, and took a 39-31 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Butler maintained a 10-point edge and led by as many as 14, at 71-57, with 3:14 left before Providence trimmed the deficit for some window dressing at the end.

Butler was led by Pierre Brooks, who had 25 points on 11-18 from the field, including 1-6 on three-pointers, with seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Jahmyl Telfot had 16 points (7-12 FG, 1-5 threes), three steals, two rebounds, and two assists. Landon Moore had nine points off the bench (3-4 FG, 2-3 threes), with three rebounds off the bench.

In the late action, DePaul beat Georgetown, 71-67, while Villanova dominated Seton Hall, 67-55.

THURSDAY SCHEDULE: 

St. John's vs. Butler, noon

Xavier vs. Marquette, 2:30 p.m.

Creighton vs. DePaul, 7 p.m.

Connecticut vs. Villanova, 9:30 p.m.

St. John’s Honored Ahead Of Big East Tournament

 

Rick Pitino receiving the Big East Coach of the Year Award from Commissioner Val Ackerman on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Jason Schott.

On Wednesday, ahead of the tip-off of the Big East Tournament, St. John’s received honors befitting a season in which they won their first regular season conference title in 40 years.

Rick Pitino was named Big East Coach of the Year and RJ Luis Jr. was named Player of the Year.

In his second season at the helm, Pitino led the Red Storm to an 18-2 conference record and 27-4 overall. They are ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, and No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

Pitino has earned 13 conference titles in his 37 seasons as a Division I Head Coach. He is the first coach to lead five different schools to a regular season championship - Boston University, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona, St. John’s - with four of those coming in his second year at the helm.

Prior to this, St. John's had won the Big East Regular Season title five times, all with Lou Carnesecca at the helm, in 1980, '83, '85, '86, and '92. The 1985 one was the only outright title until this one.

Rick Pitino. Photo by Jason Schott. 

“It’s been an awesome regular season,  capped off by such a nice award, especially with the Big East,”Pitino said at the ceremony at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve coached against Looie (Carnesecca,) Rollie (Massimino), Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, John Thompson, and then when the Big East expanded, even added to those great coaches, so when someone says, ‘you won some National Coaches (of the Year), but never Big East’ - Big East has had the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball, so it’s a special award for me to be amongst some of those greats who’ve and I’m thankful to my peers for voting me in.”

On Tuesday, his son, Richard Pitino, was named Mountain West Coach of the Year after he led the New Mexico Lobos to a 25-6 overall record and the conference regular season championship. While this is not the first time a father and son have each won conference coach of the year honors, according to St. John's, "it is believed to be the first time in NCAA Division I history that a father and son have earned the recognition in the same season."

Pitino said of his son's honor, "My son lost JT Toppin (tranferred to Texas Tech), a senior backcourt, and he got Coach of the Year - that's even more significant than mine, when one of your children wins an award like that."

RJ Luis Jr. speaking after winning Big East Player the Year. Photo by Jason Schott.

Luis Jr. is the first St. John’s player to win the award since Walter Berry in 1986. 

Chris Mullin also won Big East Player of the Year honors, three times, from 1983 to 1985.

Luis Jr. averaged 18.1 points on 44.6 percent shooting from the field, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. 

"With determination and success, you could get anything done," Luis said on Wednesday. "And like I said, I got to give the credit to my teammates. Without them, I wouldn't be considered for this award because of how great of a season we've had as a whole. And like Coach Pitino says, 'When you play for the name on the front, the name on the back is going to prosper. So, I'm just an example of that."

Luis Jr. and fellow First Team selection Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton were the only two players in the Big East to rank in the top six in scoring and rebounding.

In the final three games of the regular season, in which Luis Jr. led them in scoring in each one, he averaged 24.3 points per game. Luis Jr. led St. John's with 28 points (10-19 FG, 3-7 three-pointers), with 11 rebounds, six offensive, for a double-double in their 86-84 overtime win at Marquette on Saturday. Before that, on Saturday, March 1, against Seton Hall, he had 21 points (7-13 FG, 2-4 on threes), six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. On February 16, he had 24 points on 9-16 shooting, including 3-6 from behind the arc, with four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in a win at Butler.

EARLY EXIT: UConn’s Liam McNeeley won the Big East Freshman of the Year award, which was handed out right before Pitino’s. As he left the stage and returned to the Connecticut delegation, including Head Coach Dan Hurley, they all walked out as Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman was introducing Pitino.

Books: New Novels From Silvey, Dimon, Gaylin, Horn, & Theroux

As the days are getting longer, there is the hope that you could read outside again, and we will look at five new novels that are perfect for the emergence of spring: Love and Other Paradoxes, by Catriona Silvey; The Usual Family Mayhem, by HelenKay Dimon; Play, With Knives, by Jeannette Horn; We Are Watching, by Alison Gaylin; and The Vanishing Point, by Paul Theroux.

Yankees Ace Cole To Have Tommy John Surgery

 

Gerrit Cole pitching on June 19, 2024, when he made his season debut. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees sent out a dispiriting update on their ace, Gerrit Cole, on Monday evening that will already alter their season 17 days before Opening Day in The Bronx on March 27.

High Five: St. John's Moves Up In National Rankings

 

The scene at Madison Square Garden late in St. John's win over UConn on February 23rd. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm moved up one spot to No. 5 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, while remaining at No. 6 in the AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll.

St. John's Standout Trio Earns All-Big East Honors

 

RJ Luis Jr. going along the baseline for a layup against Villanova on January 11th. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm, who won the regular season conference championship, saw three of their best players earn All-Big East honors on Sunday.