The St. John’s Red Storm clinched a share of the Big East title for the first time since 1992 with a gritty 76-70 win over Butler on Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
While the result might have been too close for comfort, the Red Storm defense continued its domination this season, holding Butler to just 39% shooting from the field and 22% from behind the arc.
Butler led St. John’s in rebounds (39-32), three-pointers made (6-4) and free throws (16-14), but Rick Pitino’s men continue to churn out close results. In games decided by 10 points or fewer this season, the Johnnies are 10-4.
“With [five minutes] to go in the game, we made all the right plays to win the game, and that’s all that counts,” Pitino said.
Butler hung around but the Johnnies pulled away on the back of RJ Luis Jr. He recorded 24 points on a roughly 56% clip from the field.
Pitino went to his bench early on in an attempt to relieve Kadary Richmond, who is dealing with pulls in his groin. Initially after Sunday’s win against UConn, Pitino cast serious doubt that the guard would play on Wednesday.
“Kadary Richmond is more injured than any player I’ve coached right now and he fights through it,” Pitino said at the time. “He has double groin pulls, problems all over his anatomy and he played the game and played hard. He needs time off, as much as we can give him, because he’s really hurting.”
Despite the injuries and no practice, Richmond put together a solid performance and helped lift the Johnnies over Butler in the second half. The Brooklyn native didn’t have his best outing, only recording 13 points, but his crucial second-half performance from the charity stripe helped his team clinch the win. He was a perfect 4-for-4.
The Red Storm led 38-32 at halftime, but Pitino’s bench played meaningful minutes. Vince Iwuchukwu played nine in the half, 14 total, but he averages just seven minutes per game.
With two games left on their schedule, one against Seton and the other against No. 21 Marquette, the conference is almost locked up outright for St. John’s. Creighton is the only team that can catch them and they have three games left and trail the Johnnies by just two games in the loss column.
Since they split their season series, the tiebreaker would come down to each team’s winning percentage against the team or tied (group of) teams occupying the highest position in the standings. Only common opponents will be considered.
This would only occur if St. John’s loses their last two games and if Creighton wins out. The Johnnies are back in action on Saturday for senior day against Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m. ET.
