NEW YORK — RJ Luis Jr. scored 21 points and No. 7 St. John’s beat Seton Hall 71-61 to clinch its first outright regular-season Big East title since 1985 on Saturday.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) improved to 18-0 at home as they played in front of their third straight sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden and with coach Rick Pitino sporting a white suit for the second straight season.
St. John’s moved the game to MSG after it was initially scheduled to be played on campus but opted not to cut down the nets to celebrate. After finishing off the win, a montage of highlights played while the team was presented with the trophy for clinching the title as confetti rained down.
Pitino also gave a brief speech thanking the fans.
“We’re just getting started,” he said.
Zuby Ejiofor added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storm shot 43.4% and struggled until the final minutes.
Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 18 for Seton Hall (7-22, 2-16), which is concluding its worst season since 1982-83. Isaiah Coleman added 15 for the Pirates.
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