St. John’s practically blew a 19-point second-half lead, however Kadary Richmond would not enable it.
The fifth-year senior Pink Storm guard scored 24 factors, together with the successful jumper from the free-throw line with three seconds remaining to offer Related Press No. 15 St. John’s (NY) (19-3, 10-1 in Huge East) a 68-66 win over Windfall.
St. John’s led 53-34 earlier than Windfall (11-11, 5-6 in Huge East) climbed again into the sport with an eight-minute 32-13 prolonged run to arrange Richmond’s winner.
The win retains St. John’s firmly within the combine for a Huge East regular-season title in Rick Pitino’s second season main this system. The Pink Storm have not received an outright Huge East regular-season championship since 1984-85.
Richmond has been a key consider St. John’s success. Coming into Saturday, he’s the crew’s third-highest scorer (11.3 factors per sport). He transferred from Seton Corridor through the offseason after being named first-team All-Huge East in 2023-24.
This season, he has a career-best 48.1 p.c capturing proportion, which can enhance together with his 10-of-14 efficiency on Saturday. St. John’s wanted Richmond’s sizzling hand in opposition to Windfall. The eight different gamers who tried a area objective shot 16-of-54 (29.6 p.c).
The Pink Storm are No. 15 in the latest AP ballot, their highest rank since Dec. 29, 2014.
Pitino, employed in March 2023 after three seasons at Iona, has St. John’s on its method to its first NCAA Match look since 2019. St. John’s hasn’t received an NCAA Match sport since 2000, the final time it received the Huge East Match.
Per ESPN men’s basketball tournament bracketologist Joe Lunardi, St. John’s is a projected 7-seed on this 12 months’s March Insanity. The Storm will have the ability to enhance their seeding with a robust ultimate month of the common season.
St. John’s performs No. 9 Marquette (18-3, 9-1 in Huge East) and two-time defending nationwide champion No. 25 UConn (15-6, 7-3 in Huge East) twice apiece in its ultimate 9 video games, together with back-to-back with the 2 groups starting Tuesday in opposition to the Golden Eagles (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports activities 1).
