The St. John’s basketball team is on the rise again in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll after a perfect week that saw the Johnnies (21-3, 12-1 Big East) defeat two ranked teams and make a major statement on the national stage.
Rick Pitino’s squad jumped from No. 12 to No. 9, marking the highest AP Poll ranking for the program since the final poll of the 1999-2000 season.
“I think it means something for the program,” Rick Pitino said on Monday night at the premier of the ViceTV series Pitino: Red Storm Rising, which airs its first episode on Tuesday night (10:00 p.m. ET).
“We have to realize that if Villanova wants to have a chance at making a good run, beating us is a great segway into that.”
St. John’s defeated then No. 11 Marquette (18-6, 9-4 Big East) and then No. 19 UConn (16-7, 8-4 Big East) this week with its victory over the Huskies coming on the road and trailing by 14 points in the first half.
The Golden Eagles dropped to No. 18 in the rankings after it has now lost three consecutive games following its defeat on the road against Creighton on Saturday while UConn has dropped out of the rankings.
The Bluejays (18-6, 11-2 Big East) returned to the poll at No. 24 this week and will look for the regular season sweep of the Red Storm on Sunday afternoon inside Madison Square Garden.
“When we weren’t ranked in the beginning [of the season], we were doing the chasing,” RJ Luis said on Tuesday morning. “Now that we got that little number by our little logo during the games and stuff like that, which I still find it really cool to see it on TV, I feel like that comes with life.”
“People always want to have that sort of success, but I don’t think it’s anything bad being the hunted.”
St. John’s has not been ranked inside the Top-7 since 1991-92, the final year that Lou Carnesecca was the head coach of the Johnnies.
The Red Storm will travel to Finneran Pavilion to conclude its regular season series with the Wildcats (14-10, 7-6 Big East) on Wednesday (6:00 p.m. ET, FS1).