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Marquette had St. John’s down.
Had the Johnnies down 15 points, in a big hole early Friday night.
Some teams may have wilted.
Certainly St. John’s teams of the past may have buckled.
Not this group.
Not on Friday night of the Big East Tournament.
No way.
The top seed had been there plenty of times before, facing major deficits.
During the regular season, it won four times when trailing by 14 points or more.
Add another comeback to the growing collection.
St. John’s dusted itself off and caught fifth-seeded Marquette by halftime.
Then, it lapped the Golden Eagles, crushing them down the stretch like it has so many other foes during this joyride of a season.
Now, it is onto Saturday night at the Garden, in the conference championship game for the first time since 2000 after this impressive 79-63 victory
The second half was one-sided, St. John’s suffocating Marquette on the defensive end and dominating them inside on the other.
St. John’s Clinches Big East Title
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Six days after beating the Golden Eagles at the overtime buzzer, Zuby Ejiofor scored a St. John’s Big East Tournament record 31 points along with nine rebounds and three assists.
Kadary Richmond tossed in a typical well-rounded effort, 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Aaron Scott added 11.
RJ Luis finished with 13 points and six rebounds on an off shooting night.
When Ejiofor was excited with 5.6 seconds left, the crowd roared with “Zuuuuuu,” chants.
He owned Marquette again and St. John’s stifled them over the final 20 minutes, 44-26.
Kam Jones led Marquette with 24 points, but needed 22 shots, and had only nine after the break.
Marquette didn’t handle the St. John’s pressure well, committing 17 turnovers, eight over its season average.
As impressive as Thursday’s start was, Friday night’s beginning went in the other direction.
St. John’s came out sleepwalking.
Just 7:18 in, Marquette was ahead by 15 points.
Jones already had scored 13, including three 3-pointers.
The Johnnies would respond, reeling off eight straight points by forcing their way inside.
The run expanded to 19-5 at one point, after a Luis basket inside.
The St. John’s fans were getting loud, booming, “Let’s go Johnnies” chants bouncing off the walls for the first time.
St. John’s only trailed by two at the break, an impressive recovery after the shaky start.
Ejiofor was its best player, with 10 points and five rebounds in the stanza, and Richmond added nine points and six rebounds.
Turnovers, seven of them leading to nine Marquette points, was a problem. Many of them were unforced.
The Johnnies came out after intermission energized on both ends.
They ripped off a 14-5 run, fueled by two Scott 3-pointers, to take a six-point lead with 15:21 left.
It forced a Marquette timeout.
The difference was 10 when Luis and Ejiofor each hit a pair at the line.
The Golden Eagles got as close as four, but never got their deficit within a single possession.
Down the stretch, the Johnnies ran away from them, ran all the way to Saturday night’s championship game.