The St. John’s men’s basketball program jumped three spots from No. 10 to No. 7 in the Associated Press top-25 national poll on Monday following decisive wins over DePaul and UConn.
The No. 7 ranking is the highest St. John’s has been in the AP poll in 33 years, which dates back to the 1991-92 season. They finished that year unranked before crashing out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
This year’s Red Storm does not have to worry about such a fate, at least from the polling standpoint. Sunday’s 89-75 beatdown of UConn improved the Queens school’s record to 24-4 overall and 15-2 in conference play—good for the top spot in the Big East.
It defeated DePaul 82-59 on Wednesday, putting behind a momentary bobble two weeks ago against Villanova firmly in the rear-view mirror.
St. John’s has not won this many games in a single season since taking 25 in 1999-00. It has not won 15 games in Big East play since going 15-1 in 1984-85. That year, it peaked at No. 1 in the AP poll, finished at No. 3, and made the Final Four.
With just three games remaining this season, including a Wednesday matchup on the road against Butler before senior day on Saturday at Madison Square Garden against Seton Hall, St. John’s has a chance to wrap up its first regular-season Big East title since 1991-92, when it shared the honor with Georgetown and Seton Hall. It has not won the conference outright since 1985-86.
“Well, winning the Big East [regular season title] would mean a lot,” Pitino said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a whiteout [against Seton Hall on Saturday]. We’re hoping to have 19,000 people because that’s why we moved it [to MSG]. I think being senior night, the last game of the season, I think the fans are going to bring it in a big way for our players, who have given the fans so much delight. So, we’re hoping for a big night, but we’re going to focus on Butler right now because Butler is a hell of an offensive basketball team with outstanding talent, and we’ve got to win these games to get this Big East crown.”
