A sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd on its feet.
“Let’s Go Johnnies” chants bouncing off the building walls.
A gritty victory that will go a long way toward St. John’s winning its first Big East regular season crown since 1986.
This was the dream when the Red Storm hired Rick Pitino.
Less than two years later, it was a reality Sunday afternoon.
The ninth-ranked Johnnies are now in the driver’s seat in the Big East, two games in the loss column up on No. 24 Creighton and No. 18 Marquette after this hard-fought 79-73 victory over the game Bluejays.
“This is what I transferred for,” senior star Kadary Richmond said. “I like what’s going on in the city right now.”
It was defense that again was the difference, St. John’s holding Creighton to 35 percent shooting after halftime and turning 15 turnovers into 20 points.
Over the final 14:51, the Bluejays managed just 16 points.
It didn’t matter that the Johnnies (22-4, 13-2) only shot 38 percent from the field for the game, or that they missed 12 free throws or were outscored from beyond the 3-point arc.
It’s been happening all season, and St. John’s has somehow won 22 of its 26 games, the lone losses coming by a combined seven points.
The Johnnies have notched their most victories (22) since the 1999-2000 season and have won five times when trailing by double figures.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
“I’ve never in my lifetime coached a team like this,” Pitino said after his Johnnies responded to the loss at Villanova by avenging their only other conference loss, to Creighton on New Year’s Eve. “All my teams work hard, that’s a blessing I’ve had as a coach. But I’ve never seen these types of statistics and this much winning — ever. It defies all statistical logic, but that tells you how good they are with effort.”
RJ Luis added to his Big East Player of the Year candidacy with 23 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
Richmond had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals and Zuby Ejiofor followed with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Deivon Smith was surprisingly available after missing the loss to Villanova with shoulder and neck injuries.
He provided energy off the bench, notching eight points and three assists in 26 important minutes.
“Without him, we don’t win this game,” Pitino said of the 6-foot Smith.
Creighton (18-8, 11-4) held a five-point lead early in the second half after a Steven Ashworth (23 points, 11 assists) 3-pointer.
There was 14:51 remaining.
But then St. John’s locked down defensively.
The Bluejays missed their next 11 shots and St. John’s methodically built a seven-point lead on the strength of an 18-6 run that coincided with star center Ryan Kalkbrenner missing a good portion of the second half with a foot injury.
After an Aaron Scott 3-pointer, Luis’ floater with 4:38 left made it 66-59.
The lead was eight when Simeon Wilcher found Scott for a layup.
The Garden was exploding and a path to a Big East title was clear.
“It’s something you dream of as a little kid. Playing at MSG, the World’s Most Famous arena, [in a] packed house and you have everybody there to support you and you pull out a win like that,” Ejiofor said. “Especially when the win means so much. It’s something I can’t really describe. It feels good, not just for me, but the whole fan base as well.”
Thrilled as he was with the win, Pitino wasn’t ready to take any victory laps.
There are still five games left.
Nothing is clinched.
He reminded everyone that anything can happen, using Seton Hall’s stunning overtime victory over Connecticut on Saturday as an example.
There is no reason to celebrate yet.
Richmond, one of his captains, is aware of that.
“We just have to keep playing the way we’re playing and move onto the next step,” Richmond said. “We can’t have any slipups.”
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