It’s a major accomplishment from the outside, but inside the St. John’s basketball locker room nothing has changed.
The No. 7 Johnnies earned at least a share of the Big East regular season championship on Wednesday night against Butler, 76-70, for the first time since 1992 but remains focused on the bigger goal.
“We didn’t accomplish anything yet,” RJ Luis said. “I don’t want to share [the title], the team doesn’t want to share.”
St. John’s could have won the outright title in Indianapolis had Creighton lost to DePaul but won by ten on its home floor. It can take care of business on its own Saturday afternoon (2:15 p.m. ET, CBS) at Madison Square Garden.
“We didn’t come here to share anything,” Rick Pitino said. “We have our goals. We came to win this thing, we said it weeks ago, and it’s in our hands right now.”
The Red Storm did not make things overly easy on themselves against the Bulldogs after leading by six, 38-32, at halftime and seeing Hinkle Fieldhouse roar as Butler (13-15, 6-11 Big East) took its first lead, 57-56, since the opening minutes with 7:38 remaining after an and-one from former Red Storm guard Kolby King.
The Johnnies (25-4, 16-2 Big East) would respond with an 8-2 run that helped clinch the victory and set a new program record for most Big East victories in a season.
“We didn’t play our best game, but with four [minutes] to go in the game, we made all the right plays to win the game,” Pitino added.
Its biggest bucket came from its captain, Zuby Ejiofor, with a hook shot over Butler center Andre Screen that extended the St. John’s lead to four, 70-66, and forced a turnover on the defensive end that allowed the Red Storm to ice the game at the free throw line.
“It feels great,” Ejofor said of earning a share of the league title. “Coming into this game we were not going to put our fate for the championship into the hands of Creighton.”
The St. John’s center battled foul trouble and played only 23 minutes but still added 12 points and four rebounds while Luis led the way with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
“I’m really, really proud of the guys…I’m really proud of the fans that are packing Madison Square Garden in two years and I’m over the top happy for our student body,” Pitino explained.
“We’re the type of school that our students are the type of guys that after school is over, they are working at night, they don’t have a lot of money. So, I’m really happy for our student body because they’ve really gotten behind the team in heavy numbers.”
The Red Storm will wrap up its home schedule with a chance to officially complete one of its goals against Seton Hall (7-21, 2-15 Big East) this weekend.