"One foe already engaged in a heated Valentine's Day moment with St. John's in Providence. Ejections were made including multiple on the side of the Red Storm. Pitino still saw a team that played hard despite the sudden scrapper fest. That Feb. 14 moment now paints the picture of how much harder repeating will become for the reigning Big East champs."
"St. John's presents one of the nation's most athletic frontcourts that hand teams fits. Zuby Ejiofor is rising as a Big East Player of the Year contender in dishing out a career-best 16.2 points per game and is tops on the team in rebounding plus blocks. But a former conference rival in Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and another transfer Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati) complete this three-headed athletic monster."
"St. John's is still red hot - winning 11 straight games even despite matching last season's loss total already. The defending champs are still behind the Big East leader UConn (24-2 and 14-1 in conference play). Yet it was the "Johnnies" that handed the Huskies their lone conference loss 81-72 back on Feb. 6. Signs point to Feb. 25 in Storrs, Ct., as the game that could eventually decide the regular season champion in the Big East."
St. John's is chasing its first back-to-back Big East Conference titles after a 31-5 season and heightened expectations under Rick Pitino. Opponents in the competitive conference now target the reigning champions. A heated Feb. 14 game in Providence produced multiple ejections, yet Pitino praised the team's effort in the contest. The Red Storm remain red hot with an 11-game winning streak and an upset of UConn on Feb. 6, but still trail UConn in the standings. The team features an athletic frontcourt led by Zuby Ejiofor, supported by Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell, giving St. John's a strong inside presence.
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