It was a week filled with emotion around the St. John’s basketball community after the death of Lou Carnesecca last Saturday and the Johnnies were looking to honor its icon in the proper fashion against Kansas State.
The moment of the pregame tribute might have hit the Red Storm too hard in the opening half as Rick Pitino emerged from the locker room wearing ‘Looie’s’ iconic sweater, but the Wildcats jumped out to a 10-point lead, 31-21.
However, things would turn in favor of the Red Storm and once they did there was nothing Kansas State could do to stop them.
St. John’s rattled off an 8-0 run and closed the gap to four, 39-35, at halftime before throwing a haymaker that knocked out Kansas State (6-3) with an 18-5 run to open the second half, winning 88-71.
Once the Storm got the lead in the second half, it never gave it up.
“I don’t think I would’ve ever forgiven myself if we lost this game,” Pitino said.
“It’s been an emotional week,” he continued as the St. John’s head coach also had two of his closest friends pass away during the last eight days.
“It was really, really important that we get a win for Lou…a lot of emotion behind the game and Lou lived a great life at St. John’s.”
The Johnnies scored 53 points in the second half led by its captain, Zuby Ejiofor, who finished with a career-high 28 points and 13 rebounds.
Aaron Scott’s 3-pointer in the second half capped off the monster St. John’s run that sent Carnesecca Arena into a frenzy that hadn’t been seen in decades.
AARON SCOTT TRIPLE!!!
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) December 7, 2024
Carnesecca Arena is ROCKING 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bkKW6YVHjQ
“His death was something that we all felt, especially those that were here last year and just knowing the history of what he meant, not only to St. John’s, but the whole league,” Ejiofor said.
“We fed off that and we were going to play for him.”
Deivon Smith returned after missing the last game due to disciplinary reasons and added five points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
St. John’s (7-2) will host Bryant (5-5) on Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) before beginning Big East play the following week.