No. 6 St. John's beats Creighton 82-66 for 1st Big East Tournament crown in 25 years

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored all but two of his 29 points after halftime and No. 6 St. John's made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night for its first Big East Tournament title in 25 years.

Zuby Ejiofor added 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Red Storm (30-4), who reached 30 wins for the third time in program history before a roaring hometown crowd at sold-out Madison Square Garden.

They earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for their first trip since 2019, making 72-year-old Hall of Famer Rick Pitino the first coach to take six schools to the Big Dance.

The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.

“For all the St. John's fans, this is for you!” Pitino proclaimed during a postgame interview on the court. “St. John's is New York's team!”

Pitino, in his second season with the Johnnies, also became the first coach to win the Big East Tournament at two schools. He’s won three times in his last four seasons in the league, after guiding Louisville to championships in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

“I saved the best for last,” Pitino said to loud cheers from the crowd of 19,812.

Luis, the Big East Player of the Year, also grabbed 10 rebounds and was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He was draped in a Dominican Republic flag as fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” during his postgame interview on the court.

“I'm so excited. I couldn't be more blessed for this opportunity,” Luis said. “We're going to keep on going.”

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 15 for second-seeded Creighton (24-10), which fell to 0-5 in Big East championship games since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season.

It was the fourth Big East Tournament title for the Johnnies, who made the championship game for the first time since winning the 2000 trophy under Mike Jarvis. The previous two came in the 1980s under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, who died Nov. 30 about five weeks shy of his 100th birthday.

Luis was whistled for his second foul with 7:19 left before halftime and sat out the rest of the half.

Creighton reserve Fedor Zugic injured his right ankle with 11:23 left in the first half and had to be helped off the court toward the locker room. He didn’t return.

The freshman guard was a key contributor to Creighton’s big comeback in the quarterfinals against 10th-seeded DePaul, scoring 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench and making several clutch shots.

Key stat

Creighton, which entered shooting 74% on free throws, missed six of its first eight from the line and finished 8 for 16.

Up next

Creighton: Headed to its fifth straight NCAA Tournament when the brackets are revealed Sunday.

St. John’s: Hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in 25 years. Pitino and the Red Storm seem likely to receive a No. 2 seed Sunday.

___

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