Even while playing in a hostile environment against a gritty Butler team, Rick Pitino and St. John’s basketball did what they have done best all year: win.
The Johnnies escaped a valiant upset bid from one of America’s former Cinderellas at Hinkle Fieldhouse, gutting out a 76-70 win to extend their win streak to four games. With this win, St. John’s also improved to 16-2 in Big East play and clinched a share of the Big East regular season title.
Despite the massive achievement, Pitino isn’t satisfied with just a share of the title, via Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
“We are not interested in sharing,” Pitino said, per Braziller.
Whether the Red Storm are able to get the title alone or not, Pitino still made history with Wednesday night’s win. With his first regular season conference title at St. John’s, “The Godfather” became the first head coach in Division I history to win a regular season conference championship at five different schools, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Pitino also won conference titles at Boston University, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona before getting it done at St. John’s in 2024-25.
Wednesday’s win continued a historic season for St. John’s basketball, now ranked No. 7 in the country and up to 25-4 overall. The Red Storm have made a real case to be a top three seed in the NCAA Tournament and will be a tough out for any team when March rolls around due to their willingness to play defense and ability to turn those stops into transition buckets.
Pitino and company will have a chance to secure the Big East title all to themselves in the regular season on Saturday when they host Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden. The Pirates are currently 2-15 in the conference, so St. John’s will be heavily favored to get the job done in front of its home fans. However, Pitino expects it to be a chill celebration even if the Jonnies do get the win, via Braziller.
“Rick Pitino said if St. John’s clinches Saturday, he doesn’t expect to cut down the nets at MSG. Will be a subdued celebration,” Braziller wrote on X.
That comes as no surprise because St. John’s has the type of team that should be focused on something more than juts a regular season conference title. The Red Storm have the talent to make a deep run in March, and they are gearing up to do exactly that.
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