St. John’s sets sights on 1st Big East regular-season title since 1986

From the October exhibition game against Rutgers through the late 11-point deficit against Villanova on Wednesday, St. John’s has responded well to adversity.

The Johnnies rebounded from the 1-2 trip to the Bahamas with six straight wins. They bounced back after the New Year’s Eve setback at Creighton by reeling off 10 consecutive victories.

Now, here comes another test for the ninth-ranked Red Storm.

Without injured sparkplug Deivon Smith, and coming off their first defeat of 2025, they meet the 24th-ranked and second-place Bluejays again Sunday at Madison Square Garden with so much on the line.

Win and the program’s first outright Big East regular-season title since 1986 becomes more likely. The Johnnies would own a two-game lead over Creighton, No. 18 Marquette and Connecticut with five games to go. Lose and the two teams are tied, and the Bluejays would own the tiebreaker courtesy of their two victories over the Red Storm. Like St. John’s, Creighton is coming off a frustrating loss that ended a long winning streak. It fell to UConn at home on Tuesday after winning nine in a row.

“Obviously, we understand the magnitude of how important it is, not just for ourselves, but we’re playing for something that’s bigger than just ourselves,” junior forward Zuby Ejiofor said. “We’re playing for a Big East championship for the whole [St. John’s] community.”

It will not be easy, especially without Smith, one of St. John’s top 3-point shooters and the key to its transition game. Smith hasn’t been right since the Jan. 11 win over Villanova, when he suffered a bruised right shoulder. After appearing in three consecutive games, he was dealt a setback in practice last Sunday.

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Without him, the Johnnies’ already thin bench takes a hit. It has registered 26 percent of the team’s minutes, the 300th-fewest in the country. On Friday, Pitino said little-used Greek guard Lefteris Liotopoulos could see an expanded role. The freshman is a deadeye shooter, but Creighton will no doubt hunt him at the other end of the floor. The other backcourt option is fellow freshman Jaiden Glover, who has also seen limited minutes.

“Obviously, it’s affecting our team in a large way. We don’t get as many fast breaks — our fast breaks are cut in half with him out,” Pitino said of Smith. “It changes Zuby’s game. He gets Zuby a lot of shots on the break. The pace changes when he’s out.”

In the first meeting, a one-point Bluejays victory, St. John’s (21-4, 12-2) had no answer for big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, the three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He had five blocked shots and altered several others as St. John’s was held to a season-low 56 points on 36.8 percent shooting. The matchup comes at a time when Ejiofor has seen his offensive opportunities diminish. In the past three games, he has 14 shot attempts, and four have been 3-pointers.

“I think these teams do a good job of scouting, and I got to do a better job on my part of just trying to do my work early, to get angles and run the floor a little bit better,” Ejiofor said. “Just bringing more energy than I’ve been doing the past couple of games.”

A packed house is expected, possibly even a sellout. The Garden will be rocking, hoping for a bounce-back win after the narrow loss at Villanova.

Pitino called the defensive effort against the Wildcats one of the worst of the season, but he attributed part of that to Villanova’s offensive prowess and high volume of 3-point shooters. It has given St. John’s fits in both matchups, particularly dynamic wing Wooga Poplar.

The Johnnies trailed by double figures in each half, yet still had a chance to win in the final seconds. That was Pitino’s main takeaway, a few days after his first loss in over a month.

“They didn’t have it and they just kept fighting on the road. I was impressed with them,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “Their willingness to fight, their spirit to fight. Never give up, even though it’s not going well, is a remarkable trait.

“They have a lot of weaknesses as a basketball team, but it’s a remarkable trait to have. I’d rather have that trait than anything else in basketball.”