St. John’s made its fans wait 40 years for another outright Big East regular season championship, and it made them sweat for the clincher.
What, you thought it was going to be easy?
It certainly wasn’t, even against seven-win Seton Hall.
Very little has come easy for this team, but as has been the case throughout this magical season, the Johnnies found a way to prevail.
The seventh-ranked Red Storm overcame off-shooting nights from star guards Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith and the absence of Aaron Scott to win the outright league crown for the first time since 1984-85 with a hard-fought 71-61 victory over the Pirates at a sold-out Garden.
Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis, the two key returnees from coach Rick Pitino’s first season led the way, combining for 38 points and six rebounds, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo added eight points and five rebounds off the bench in place of Scott.
St. John’s dominated the final 10:01, outscoring Seton Hall, 22-12, from that point on.
The Pirates managed just five points over the last 5:22.
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