NEW YORK — Kadary Richmond had 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as No. 12 St. John's beat No. 11 Marquette 70-64 on Tuesday night in their showdown for first place in the Big East.
No. 12 St. John's keeps rolling with 70-64 win over No. 11 Marquette in Big East showdown
Kadary Richmond had 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as No. 12 St. John's beat No. 11 Marquette 70-64 on Tuesday night in their showdown for first place in the Big East.
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
February 5, 2025 at 3:03AM
RJ Luis Jr. added 17 points and 11 boards for the Red Storm (20-3, 11-1), who have won nine straight games and 15 of 16. Zuby Ejiofor had 13 points and 13 rebounds to help St. John's improve to 15-0 at home before a roaring Madison Square Garden crowd of 16,521 that included New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Chase Ross had 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Golden Eagles (18-5, 9-3), who were whistled for 24 fouls and had four players finish with at least four. Kam Jones scored 13 of his 15 in the second half.
Luis played all 40 minutes and made a huge impact on defense, too, with four steals and three blocked shots.
With its highest ranking in 25 years, St. John's is off to the program's best start since 1985-86.
Takeaways
Marquette: Lost its second straight and dropped to 3-3 since a six-game winning streak.
St. John's: It was a rousing start to a measuring-stick week for the Red Storm, who are 1-1 against ranked opponents this season.
Key moment
Ross missed an open 3-pointer that could have cut Marquette's deficit to two with 1:52 remaining. Richmond then hit Aaron Scott for a dunk that gave the Red Storm a 66-59 lead with 1:37 left.
Key stats
After missing 13 of its first 23 free throws, St. John's made seven of its last eight to pull this one out. The Red Storm held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for the final 5:20 and outrebounded them 50-28.
Up next
Marquette plays Saturday at Creighton, looking to sweep the season series.
St. John's visits No. 19 UConn on Friday night. Huskies freshman Liam McNeeley (13.6 points per game) is expected back from a high ankle sprain that's sidelined him since early January.
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MIKE FITZPATRICK
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