Rick Pitino was right.
Saturday's special spotlight didn't bother Cadary Richmond, but Seton Hall fans inside Prudential Center booed his former team every time he touched the ball.
A sign from the Pirate Student Affairs Division mocked Richmond.
They seduced the stoic guard and caused him to lose his cool in the hostile backdrop that inevitably accompanied his decision to transfer from the Pirates to Johnny.
But by the start of the second half, the boos had mostly died down.
Richmond still dribbled the ball, scored, and did whatever it took to finish with a stat line of 12 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.
The jeers returned from Seton Hall's brief run, but by then St. John's had already built a lead of more than 20 points.
With the blowout 79-51 victory, the Johnnies have already won their fifth straight game and are on track to win their 11th of their last 12 games, moving them into sole possession of first place in the Big East after Xavier upset No. 7 Marquette. Saturday.
RJ Lewis led St. John's with 24 points and eight rebounds. Zuby Ejiofor had 15 points and nine rebounds despite being on the bench for most of the first half due to early foul trouble.
So on a night long ago bookmarked for Richmond's return to face its former team, St. John's turned the showdown into a total clinic.
Since the calendar changed to 2025, the Johnnies have put together their best basketball of the season.
Point guard/engine Davon Smith, who missed Tuesday's game with a right shoulder contusion, was also brought back with mixed results.
Everything started to click at the right time for St. John's, and its rise up the conference standings finally came to a head.
The top 25 rankings could continue on Monday.
It didn't take long for the Johnnies to take control Saturday, with Seton Hall starting 1 of 21 games and shooting just 13.3 percent from the field in the first half.
Richmond made two early baskets to go up 11-1. St. John's again made effective 3-point shots. It was the latest step to neutralize glaring weaknesses early in the season.
Check out the latest Big East standings and St. Louis. John's statistics
And that suffocating defense, combined with 12 steals, nine blocks and 19 forced turnovers, gave the Pirates no room to generate a comeback en route to a 23-point lead at halftime.
Chance Jenkins' 3-pointer with 6:40 left in the first half was Seton Hall's second.
Pirates' shooting improved in the final 20 minutes, cutting the Johnnies' lead to 15 points near midfield, but back-to-back turnovers by Prince Aligue and Garway Dual quickly extended the lead to 20 points. .
After the first shot, Lewis lobbed the ball to Smith in transition, coach Shaheen Holloway threw his hands in the air, Smith returned an alley-oop into the paint, and Lewis dunked.
There were also chants of “Let's go Johnny” inside The Rock.
So Richmond passed perhaps its toughest test of the year.
Johnny's also continues to pass conference tests. This was the vision they embraced when hiring Pitino after the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
It was a second-year jump that the 72-year-old coach's track record suggested. Go to the top of the meeting.
On the NCAA Tournament field — it's not just the conversation. To bring relevance to the national conversation that has evaded this program since its glory days.
And at least on a Saturday night in mid-January, in the middle of the college basketball season, inside a venue that had previously lost 1-12 to Seton Hall, the Feb. 4 showdown with Marquette at the Garden still stands. It's the same. Bigger than ever, Johnny returned to Queens as King of the Big East.
