NEW YORK -- At least St. John’s didn’t embarrass Seton Hall by cutting down the nets.
Rick Pitino and No. 7 St. John’s captured the program’s first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 with a 71-61 victory over The Hall on Saturday before a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
“We wanted a Big East crown from the beginning of the year, that was our goal....,” Pitino told the Garden crowd.
“The only surprise I’ve had is all of you, the love you’ve shown us. We’re just getting started.”
The Hall shot 9-of-21 from the foul line, killing their chances at the upset. Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 18 points with 7 rebounds and 3 assists and Isaiah Coleman tallied 15 with 6 boards in the loss.
“Man, free throws killed us,” Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway said.
RJ Luis went for a game-best 21 points and 6 rebounds and Zuby Ejiofor 17 and 10 as the Red Storm (26-4, 17-2 Big East) won their fifth in a row. The Pirates (7-22, 2-16) lost their fourth straight and for the 13th time in 14 games.
Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond, who had said he wasn’t looking forward to clinching the title against his former team, was solid with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
“To me, RJ Luís is the Big East Player of the Year,” Holloway said.
Asked about the award, Luis said: “Winning the award would be a blessing but I can’t do it without my team.”
Pitino had said ahead of the game that the Red Storm wouldn’t be cutting down any nets.
“Coach P obviously said he’s [cut down the nets] a bunch of times, so he said you normally cut down the nets when you win the Big East Tournament,” Luis said Friday. “So, I mean, that’s really just the goal.”
With the win, Pitino all but locked up his first Big East Coach of the Year award.
He’s the first coach to lead five different programs to a regular-season league championship and will be the first coach to lead six to the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s also locked up the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament, which runs March 13-16, while Seton Hall is currently slotted as the No. 10 seed.
If the tournament were today, The Hall would play its first game on Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m. against No. 7 Georgetown.
The Red Storm will play its first game at noon on Thursday, March 14.
The first five games of the tournament will air on Peacock.
“[Playing at the Garden] has been an advantage for us all year, obviously,” St. John’s big man Zuby Ejifor said Friday. “And the crowd plays a tremendous part in how our season has no gone so far....Just just helping us spark a run, and just giving us the energy that we need.”
The Hall hung tough in the first half and trailed 34-30 at the break.
The Hall tied it at 49 on a bucket by Coleman midway through the second half.
But St. John’s rattled off an 10-3 spurt to take a 59-52 lead on a breakaway dunk by Luis.
Luis made 1-of-2 free throws to push it to 66-58 with 2:26 remaining.
Asked Friday which meant more between the regular-season title and the Big East Tournament title, Pitino said:
“Oh, regular title by far, because that’s a grind. I mean, it’s a long season...For a lot of teams, it’s a way to get in the NCAA Tournament. You know, for us, we’re gonna be in it, but...we want to win both, obviously. But now the regular season is a very tough thing to do.”
Asked following the game to reflect on what the win means in the wake of Lou Carnesecca’s recent passing, Pitino added: ”We’re real proud of the fact, because he led a great life, that we can honor him with this championship."
He added of the future: “I think we’re just scratching the surface of the potential of St. John’s.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.