'Hungry' St. John's tops Marquette to remain atop Big East - ESPN

NEW YORK — An aggressive, hounding defense. Bully ball on the offensive end. A Hall of Fame coach walking the sideline. Chants of «Let's Go Johnnies!» filling Madison Square Garden in the final minute of No. 12 St. John's 70-64 win over No. 11 Marquette.

For a basketball program desperate to return to relevance — and win its first Big East regular-season championship since 1992 — it was hard to escape the feeling that Tuesday night was a turning point.

There have been false dawns for St. John's basketball before, but this season's Red Storm have won nine games in a row and 15 of their past 16 and sit atop the Big East standings at 11-1.

And now they have the statement win they've been looking for all season.

«You guys can see it now,» St. John's forward RJ Luis Jr. said. «We're a very hungry group, and we're very determined to win. We came out tonight, came out fighting, and was able to get the tough win versus a very good Marquette team.»

It was just about one year ago when head coach Rick Pitino walked into the news conference following St. John's eighth loss in 10 games, a 68-62 defeat to Seton Hall after leading by 19 points, and lamented his team's lack of toughness and athleticism.

«If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,» he said last February. «Our lateral quickness and our toughness is just something I've never witnessed in all my years of coaching.»

Twelve months and a revamped roster later, and St. John's has one of the elite defenses in college basketball, ranking in the top five nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom. It has been their effort at that end of the floor that has been at the heart of their success, and that was once again the case on Tuesday.

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