Madison Square Garden—-Kadary Richmond delivered an all-around performance with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists to lead No. 12 St. John’s to a 70-64 victory over No. 11 Marquette on Tuesday night in a pivotal Big East showdown for first place.
RJ Luis Jr. also played a key role for the Red Storm, contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds. St. John’s (20-3, 11-1) extended its win streak to nine games and has now won 15 of its last 16. Zuby Ejiofor added a double-double of his own, with 13 points and 13 rebounds, as the Red Storm remained perfect at home (15-0) in front of a raucous crowd of 16,521 at Madison Square Garden, which included New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Chase Ross led Marquette (18-5, 9-3) with 16 points, though he struggled with his shooting (4-of-13).
“You could see from the look on the guys’ face at halftime,” Smart said. We knew we needed to be tougher. We knew we needed to be stronger and more desperate.”
The Golden Eagles also had trouble staying out of foul trouble, finishing with 24 fouls and four players accumulating at least four fouls each. Kam Jones scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half but was unable to lead his team to victory.
Luis was also a defensive standout, playing all 40 minutes and registering four steals and three blocked shots.
With the win, St. John’s secured its highest ranking in 25 years and is off to the best start since the 1985-86 season. This victory also marked a strong beginning to what is a crucial week for the Red Storm, who are 1-1 against ranked teams this season.
“We’re improving offensively, but defensively we still have the same problems,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. It is what it is. It’s the first year. We’re building a program, and you’ve got to build a program on defense.”
Key Moment:
The turning point came with just 1:52 remaining when Ross missed an open 3-pointer that could have reduced Marquette’s deficit to two. Richmond then found Aaron Scott for a dunk that put St. John’s ahead 66-59 with 1:37 to go, effectively sealing the game.
Key Stats:
St. John’s struggled at the free-throw line early, missing 13 of its first 23 attempts, but finished strong, converting seven of its last eight free throws to secure the win. Additionally, the Red Storm dominated the boards, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 50-28, and held Marquette without a field goal for the final 5:20 of the game.
Takeaways:
Marquette has now dropped two consecutive games and is 3-3 in its last six contests after a six-game winning streak.
Next Up:
Marquette will look to bounce back on Saturday as it travels to Creighton, hoping to sweep the season series.
St. John’s will face a tough test on Friday night, heading to No. 19 UConn, where Huskies freshman Liam McNeeley (13.6 points per game) is expected to return from a high ankle sprain that has kept him sidelined since early January.
