No. 13 St. John's and No. 6 UConn eye another clash in Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK (AP) — Just as anticipated, St. John's and UConn turned the Big East regular season into a two-team race.

Maybe they're headed for one more heavyweight clash when March Madness envelops Madison Square Garden this week.

While the Huskies are a perennial national power with six NCAA titles since 1999, it's Zuby Ejiofor and the Johnnies who have ascended to kings of the neighborhood lately. Fresh off their second consecutive outright conference crown, the 13th-ranked Red Storm are looking to repeat as Big East Tournament champions, too.

“It’s still not over. It’s just beginning," Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino said. "We have won back-to-back championships with two different teams, and that’s not easy to do. There’s been one common denominator, and that’s the young man to my left (Ejiofor).”

Indeed, the 6-foot-9, 245-pound senior forward is the biggest reason in sneakers that St. John's has scaled such heights the past two seasons.

The team has won 39 of its past 43 games against Big East opponents, including a 3-1 record versus UConn. The rivals didn't meet in last year's tournament dominated by the Red Storm, who sailed through all three rounds by at least 16 points.

This from a program that had gone 32 years without a Big East regular-season championship. And from 2001-23, the Johnnies never even reached the tournament semifinals — with the event held on one of its home courts, no less.

But all that changed with Pitino's arrival. In his third season at the school, the 73-year-old coach brings St. John's (25-6, 18-2) into this Big East Tournament with the top seed for the second year in a row.

“It's awesome," junior guard Dylan Darling said, "because this didn’t start in November. This started back in June, with summer workouts with these guys. And it’s just super fulfilling to know the hard work’s paying off with this group.”

Seeking its fifth Big East Tournament crown, St. John's is 8-1 in three previous appearances as the No. 1 seed. Repeating won't be easy, though.

The last five championships have gone to five separate schools, and no program has earned back-to-back titles since Villanova won three straight from 2017-19. Looming in the bracket is sixth-ranked and second-seeded UConn (27-4, 17-3), which embarrassed the Red Storm in a 72-40 blowout at home Feb. 25 to halt their 13-game winning streak and split the regular-season series.

“It was just our night,” coach Dan Hurley said. “I thought we demoralized them a little bit.”

St. John's took the first meeting 81-72 at a raucous Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6, ending an 18-game win streak for Alex Karaban and the Huskies.

Both teams open Thursday in the quarterfinals against an opponent to be determined. To force a rubber match in the Big East title game Saturday night, each must first win twice this week. And the Huskies will have to shake off a disappointing defeat at Marquette (12-19, 7-13) last weekend, when the hot-tempered Hurley was ejected in the final second of a 68-62 loss that cost them a share of the regular-season crown.

He was fined $25,000 by the Big East for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Best of the rest

UConn and St. John's are the only two Big East squads ranked in the AP Top 25 this week, but No. 3 seed Villanova (24-7, 15-5) and fourth-seeded Seton Hall (20-11, 10-10) lead the pack attempting to crash The Garden party.

In their first season under coach Kevin Willard, the resurgent Wildcats are safely in the NCAA Tournament field following a three-year absence. Everyone else besides UConn and St. John's probably needs to run the table in Manhattan, with an automatic bid their remaining hope.

“I’m proud of this group," Willard said. “I think these guys have done a phenomenal job representing this program.”

Paced by electric freshman Nigel James Jr., who will be playing close to his Long Island home, No. 7 seed Marquette closed the regular season flashing stout defense that produced a 22-point win at Providence and the victory over then-No. 4 UConn.

“It’s obviously been a really challenging year for us,” coach Shaka Smart said. "We certainly want to take momentum from this week into the Big East Tournament.”

DePaul (16-15, 8-12) is the No. 6 seed, its highest since joining the Big East for the 2005-06 season.

Start me up

The tournament begins Wednesday afternoon with a first-round tripleheader. Eighth-seeded Butler (16-15, 7-13) plays No. 9 seed Providence (14-17, 7-13) in the opener. They split two regular-season matchups, with both going to double overtime.

It could be Kim English's final game as Friars coach. Multiple reports citing anonymous sources last week indicated the school informed English he will be fired after the season, his third at Providence.

Injured star

No. 10 seed Xavier (14-17, 6-14) hoped to have leading scorer Tre Carroll back for Wednesday night's game against Marquette. Carroll, an All-Big East first-team selection, injured his right hip early in a loss to Seton Hall last week and missed Saturday's defeat at Villanova.

“Bad time to have one of the best players in the league get hurt,” said coach Richard Pitino, son of the St. John's boss.

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Villanova, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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