Will it be a St. John’s coronation? Top storylines to watch in Big East men’s basketball tournament

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It took Rick Pitino just two seasons to revive the St. John’s men’s basketball program.

The Red Storm, ranked sixth in the country, finished the regular season at 27-4 and tied UConn’s 2023-24 record for Big East wins in a season with an 18-2 record in league play, claiming its first outright Big East title since 1984-85. Led by two all-Big East first teamers in RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor, and second teamer Kadary Richmond, St. John’s truly turned Madison Square Garden into a home arena by year’s end, selling out multiple games – and not just when UConn came into town.

The World’s Most Famous Arena will be designated as a neutral site this week with St. John’s the clear favorite to win the Big East Tournament, which it hasn’t done since 2000. But there are a number of challengers – the reigning champion Huskies included – who picked up momentum down the final stretch of the regular season and are playing their best basketball in March.

Will the Red Storm check another box on their historic season? Can Marquette right its ship, or will Xavier get off of the bubble and make a run for the Big East’s automatic bid? Maybe UConn could parlay its momentum with its championship DNA and defend the crown.

Here are the top storylines to watch in the 2025 Big East Tournament:

What would it take for a UConn-St. John’s title game?

What a scene it would be. Rick Pitino in his white suit, Dan Hurley in whatever he was wearing when UConn knocked the Johnnies out in the semifinal round last year (dragon underwear maybe?). March mayhem as fans battle for “ownership” of The Garden.

UConn’s four-game winning streak to close the season was critical in making the matchup possible, however long the odds. The Huskies jumped up to the No. 3 seed and positioned themselves as far from St. John’s as possible in the bracket. But no path is easy for this year’s UConn team, which will meet either Villanova or Seton Hall in Thursday’s quarterfinal – both teams it lost…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/st-john-coronation-top-storylines-203100558.html

Author : Hartford Courant

Publish date : 2025-03-11 20:31:00

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