Déjà Hoya blue. 

Since St. John’s Men’s Basketball head coach Rick Pitino was buried by the New York media just three weeks ago, the Red Storm have found themselves winners of five straight. This late-season peak is exactly what the formerly struggling Johnnies needed. 

The latest installment of the winning-streak came in the form of a 86-78 victory over Ed Cooley and Georgetown at Madison Square Garden on Senior Day, sweeping the season series against the Hoyas. Pitino personally honored each of the six seniors ahead of their final regular season game.  

In a first half that kept those in attendance on the edge of their seats, graduate guard Daniss Jenkins (23 pts., 7 assts.) put on a show. For the first seven minutes of the contest, the heart-and-soul of the squad could seemingly do no wrong. He was scoring in bunches early, specifically triples, tallying 11 points on 4/4 shooting. 

Despite the offensive success, the game remained close. Largely thanks to Georgetown’s sophomore guard Jayden Epps (23 pts., 5 rebs.), the hosts only led by one with under 10 seconds to play in the half. Graduate guard Nahiem Alleyne (8 pts.) lulled his defender to sleep, before pulling up from beyond the arc and burying a near buzzer-beating three to give the Johnnies a 39-35 advantage at the half. 

The next 20 minutes followed a similar back-and-forth trend, all due to the masterful driving ability of Epps. The budding Big East star torched the Red Storm all afternoon, regardless of who Pitino threw at him. No matter how far ahead St. John’s pulled, the Hoyas found a way to even the score. 

Then, RJ Luis Jr. (16 pts., 2 assts.) happened. 

The lengthy sophomore guard neutralized Epps offensive output late in the contest, capping off his stellar defense by picking the Hoyas guard’s pocket en route to an emphatic slam. That was the momentum-shifting play the Red Storm needed, which all but ended the game. Luis Jr. was massive down the stretch on both sides of the ball, including a sequence where he retrieved his own offensive rebound for an easy lay-in. St. John’s would not be boasting a five game winning-streak heading into the Big East Tournament if not for Luis Jr.’s late game heroics. 

As many fans likely muttered to themselves ‘here we go again’, this time St. John’s got it done. No second half collapse. They took care of business in their seniors’ final home game, and now shift focus to The Big Dance. 

Pitino and co. will likely need one win in next week’s conference tournament to go dancing, something their head coach is chomping at the bit for. 

“We put ourselves in the hunt to go to The Big Dance, and I don’t think there’s a tournament in all of basketball as good as the Big East Tournament,” the hall-of-famer announced. “There’s nothing like it. It’s all the best basketball in the most famous arena. So, I love it. The players are gonna love [it].”

Pitino also touched on Luis Jr.’s clutchness late in the ballgame, crediting the sophomore’s frame for his defensive effort. 

“His length bothers people. He’s not only six-foot-seven, but he’s got a wingspan. On the ball he’s very good. RJ made it very difficult on [Epps].”

For inside access to the postgame press conference, click here.

St. John’s is now forced to anxiously wait to find out who their opening draw may be in next week’s Big East Tournament, with a slew of potential first-round foes. The one thing that remains certain: the Red Storm appear to be one game away from their first NCAA Tournament berth in five years.