St. John’s nearly blew a 19-point second-half lead, but Kadary Richmond wouldn’t allow it.
The fifth-year senior Red Storm guard scored 24 points, including the winning jumper from the free-throw line with three seconds remaining to give Associated Press No. 15 St. John’s (NY) (19-3, 10-1 in Big East) a 68-66 win over Providence.
St. John’s led 53-34 before Providence (11-11, 5-6 in Big East) climbed back into the game with an eight-minute 32-13 extended run to set up Richmond’s winner.
The win keeps St. John’s firmly in the mix for a Big East regular-season title in Rick Pitino’s second season leading the program. The Red Storm haven’t won an outright Big East regular-season championship since 1984-85.
Richmond has been a key factor in St. John’s success. Entering Saturday, he is the team’s third-highest scorer (11.3 points per game). He transferred from Seton Hall during the offseason after being named first-team All-Big East in 2023-24.
This season, he has a career-best 48.1 percent shooting percentage, which will improve with his 10-of-14 performance on Saturday. St. John’s needed Richmond’s hot hand against Providence. The eight other players who attempted a field goal shot 16-of-54 (29.6 percent).
The Red Storm are No. 15 in the most recent AP poll, their highest rank since Dec. 29, 2014.
Pitino, hired in March 2023 after three seasons at Iona, has St. John’s on its way to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. St. John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000, the last time it won the Big East Tournament.
Per ESPN men’s basketball tournament bracketologist Joe Lunardi, St. John’s is a projected 7-seed in this year’s March Madness. The Storm will be able to improve their seeding with a strong final month of the regular season.
St. John’s plays No. 9 Marquette (18-3, 9-1 in Big East) and two-time defending national champion No. 25 UConn (15-6, 7-3 in Big East) twice apiece in its final nine games, including back-to-back with the two teams beginning Tuesday against the Golden Eagles (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1).
