
A historic season in Queens continues to build.
The naysayers were put to rest on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Rick Pitino and No.12 St. John’s secured sole possession of first place atop the Big East with a 70-64 win over No. 11 Marquette.
Kadary Richmond continued his recent tear, leading the Johnnies with an 18-point, near-triple double performance.
“[It was] an out-of-body experience,” Richmond said with a smile on his face. “Felt good to get a win, make some good plays. I’ll leave it up to that.”
But it wasn’t just the stoic superstar that willed the Red Storm to victory. Alongside Richmond were his usual counterparts, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor, who perfectly complimented the Seton Hall transfer’s brilliance.
Yet again, Ejiofor dominated the visitors on the boards. He’d finish the contest with 13 points and 13 rebounds, six courtesy of the offensive glass.
Luis logged 40 minutes, making his presence felt on the defensive end for every one of those 2,400 seconds. He was fantastic on both ends of the floor to the tune of 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
The big names lived up to the hype, yet St. John’s still trailed by one at the half. The hosts’ fantastic defensive effort in the game’s opening 20 minutes was overshadowed by Marquette’s three-point shooting ability.
The Golden Eagles’ elite marksmanship made up for a lackluster start for Big East Player of the Year contender Kam Jones. Marquette’s leader was allocated to the bench for the majority of first-half play due to early foul trouble.
“If you pick up the stat sheet at halftime and said, ‘Oh, we’re down 15, we gotta come back.’ We were down one,” Pitino said postgame. “The statistical data does not mean anything with these guys. Zero.”
But as has been the story all season, the Johnnies won the matchup in the second half. In front of the 16,521 fans in attendance for the Red Storm’s biggest test thus far, Pitino and company delivered.
The Hall of Famer’s adjustments at the break, along with his squad’s tremendous effort, proved to be the turning point.
Despite poor free-throw shooting on both sides, St. John’s maintained control through its execution. Yes, this game was packed full of highlights — but it was the little things that swung the momentum.
As the game tightened, Richmond expertly navigated Shaka Smart’s press. Ejiofor, described by Providence head coach Kim English as “Dennis Rodman-esque,” dominated the glass in the closing minutes. Meanwhile, Luis shook off his first-half slump to clamp down on Jones, keeping the preseason first-teamer from finding a rhythm.
“I was really just trying to take [Jones] out because he’s a good player and the conductor for Marquette,” Luis said. “I felt like if I was able to put on pressure, I would take away his ability to make plays for others.”
And Luis did exactly that, resulting in the dramatic triumph.
Having secured their first signature win of the 2024-25 campaign, a tall task lies ahead for the currently 12th-ranked Johnnies.
Next up: the first meeting of the season with No. 19 UConn in Storrs. The Red Storm went winless in three tries against the Huskies last season, but this year’s team is different.
Pitino v. Hurley Act IV is slated for this Friday at 8 p.m. EST.
To access the final box score from the St. John’s win over Marquette, click here.