No. 1 seed St. John’s and No. 2 seed Creighton will play each other in the Big East tournament championship game on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Around 9:30 on Friday night, the last two St. John’s players to win the Big East Player of the Year met each other in the locker room at Madison Square Garden. Walter Berry, who won the award in 1986, was looking for RJ Luis Jr., this year’s recipient. It was hard to determine who was more star struck.
“This is the guy right here,” Luis said.
“No, you the man,” Berry said.
“No, that’s you,” Luis said. “That’s you. Appreciate you.”
“We’re gonna talk tomorrow, baby,” Berry said. “Alright? Good meeting you, man.”
“I appreciate it,” Berry said “Take care.”
That conversation following the Red Storm’s 79-63 victory over Marquette in the Big East tournament semifinals continued a surreal season for a program steeped in tradition but accustomed to heartbreak in recent years. St. John’s advanced to the Big East final for the first time since 2000. On Saturday night, the No. 1 seed Red Storm will face No. 2 seed Creighton, which defeated No. 3 seed Connecticut, 71-62, in the other semifinal late Friday night.
At the start, it didn’t look like it was St. John’s night. Just over seven minutes into the game, Marquette led, 24-9, silencing the pro-Red Storm crowd. But the Red Storm went on a 9-0 run over the next 90 seconds and kept coming, taking the lead for good early in the second half.
