This was once St. John's role in the Big East Tournament.
He plays well in the out bracket round and is hoping to shock him in the opening game in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Sometimes Johnny went from the gate to the blitz. Otherwise, they shattered the loss for the last two seconds.
However, this – No. 1 seed – is different.
But it seems to suit Rick Pipino's team well. It plays some of the Tee's favorites and leads from wire to wire with a thorough 78-57 throttleling of the ninth seed butler. On Friday night, it will play in the spot of the tournament title game against No. 4 Xavier/no. 5 Marquette winner.
St. John's competed for an early lead of 15 points, earning his 10th victory in many tries in the yard. It was rarely tested by Butler. Butler pushed Red Storm in two close games during the regular season. This felt very different.
Butler was as close as the eight early in the second half, but St. John's answered with a 10-0 run. As Marv Albert says, it extended the garbage time, like the rest of the road.
Johnny (28-4) led by 23 points, while Pitino went deep into the bench. The day after he became St. John's first Big East Player of the Year for the first time in 39 years, RJ Lewis scored 20 points and scored seven rebounds. Kadary Richmond (Nine Assists, 8 rebounds) and Aaron Scott added 15 points, while Johnnies added Butler 44-18 with paint. Butler's Starwings, Jamil Telfort and Pierre Brooks, scored 16 points in four-twentieth shooting.
It was the beginning when even the harsh Pitino had to get excited. At just 7:35, St. John's took a 18-3 lead. He scored 13 straight points. Butler was committed to more sales (4) than he scored.
Thad Matta is forced to reinsert his awful star Telfort. He helped to sort out the Bulldog some. They followed 11 at halftime, but the gap felt big. At halftime, Johnny was a plus 7 in glass, 12 in paint points and 6 in second chance points.
Reed quickly grew to 18, with a 10-0 St. John's Burst strength after the break. Turnovers and missed shots led to runouts and easy baskets. From that point on, it was a form.
