BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS: No. 7/7 St. John’s Claims First Outright League Title in 40 Years with Victory over Seton Hall, 71-61

Saturday, March 1

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

2:15 p.m.

St. John's University

26-4,17-2Big East

Seton Hall

7-22,2-16Big East

Seton Hall

St. John's (NY)

2024-25 St. John's Men's Basketball BIG EAST Champions

BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS: No. 7/7 St. John’s Claims First Outright League Title in 40 Years with Victory over Seton Hall, 71-61

3/1/2025 7:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team completed an undefeated season at home for the first time since 1931-32 with 18-0 record in New York City

NEW YORK – The No. 7/7 St. John's men's basketball team (26-4, 17-2 BIG EAST) captured the outright BIG EAST Regular Season Championship after outlasting Seton Hall (7-22, 2-16 BIG EAST), 71-61, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Red Storm earned its first outright conference crown since the 1984-85 season and just the second outright title in program history. Confetti rained down onto the court in Midtown Manhattan, as the 2024-25 St. John's men's basketball team was presented with the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship Trophy after the game.

The Johnnies finished with a perfect 18-0 regular season home record for the first since it went 16-0 nearly a century ago during the 1931-32 season under Head Coach James "Buck" Freeman. St. John's has now won 20-straight regular season home contests, including victories in all nine games at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm battled with the Pirates with neither side leading by more than eight points until the final 90 seconds. The Johnnies utilized a crucial 17-8 scoring run to separate themselves and held the Pirates to only five made field goals over the final 10 minutes.

Head Coach Rick Pitino, the only coach to ever win a regular season title at five different schools, surpassed Dean Smith on Saturday for seventh on the all-time wins list with his 880^th career victory.

RJ Luis Jr. delivered his second-straight 20-point performance and his 10^th of the season on Saturday. The junior standout finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and pulled down six rebounds.

Zuby Ejiofor was dominant down low posting his eighth double-double of the season, recording 17 points and 10 rebounds in the winning effort. The forward from Garland, Texas, went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and scored in double-digits for the 21^st time in his last 22 appearances.

Kadary Richmond filled the box score tallying nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action. Deivon Smith added 10 points and Sadiku Ibine Ayo chipped in eight points and five boards.

The Red Storm held the Pirates to just 18.2 percent shooting from 3-point range and limited its opponent to under 70 points for the 14^th time in 19 BIG EAST games.

Seton Hall took control in the early going, jumping out to a 10-2 lead capped off by an Isaiah Coleman triple. The Red Storm answered with a scoring spurt to quickly erase the deficit. Ibine Ayo and Luis nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and then the Miami native's slam capped off a 12-2 run to put the Red Storm up, 14-12. Luis' seven points over a 2:15 span gave the Red Storm its first lead of the afternoon.

With the score knotted at 16 with just under 10 minutes to play, Luis slipped a bounce pass to Ejiofor right in front of the basket and the big man rose up for an emphatic two-handed jam.

The Pirates retook the lead with 2:22 left in the opening stanza after scoring five-straight points. The Seton Hall edge didn't last long as Luis retaliated with a triple to put the Red Storm in front, 30-28.

On the Red Storm's final play of the half, Luis soared for a putback dunk with seconds to go. Seton Hall responded hitting two of three attempts for the charity stripe, as the Red Storm took a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the two longtime rivals went back-and-forth as the game remained within a one possession for the majority of the first 11 minutes of the stanza. However, the Johnnies began to create distance beginning with a triple from Ruben Prey off a bounce pass from Richmond. Smith finished a baseline drive through contact before Luis picked off a Seton Hall pass and finished the fastbreak jam to quickly grow the lead to seven, 59-52, with 6:43 to play.

Down the stretch, the Johnnies defensive unit swarmed Seton Hall allowing just five points over the last 5:22. The Johnnies increased their lead at the charity stripe to seal their fifth-straight victory.

The Red Storm will have a week before its next contest when it meets No. 21/22 Marquette in Milwaukee for a 12 p.m. ET tip-off on FOX. Following its trip to Fiserv Forum, St. John's will return to MSG for the 2025 BIG EAST Men's Basketball Tournament on March 12-15, where it will hold the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1986.