St. John's ready to begin Big East title defense with conference opener against DePaul

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Dec 15, 2025

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NEW YORK — Rick Pitino doesn’t expect St. John’s to go 18-2 in Big East play again.

But the head coach believes his Johnnies have what it takes to repeat as conference champions, even if this season’s team remains a work in progress.

“We’re not as good as UConn right now, but you wouldn’t expect that because UConn had three really pivotal players back,” Pitino said after Saturday’s 91-64 win over Iona. “But by the end of the year, I would hope we’re at that level.”

No. 22 St. John’s (6-3) begins its title defense on Tuesday night when it hosts DePaul at Carnesecca Arena in its first game against a conference opponent.

Last season, St. John’s won its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 and its first conference tournament championship since 2000.

Between its 18-2 record in conference play and its 3-0 record in the conference tournament, St. John’s went 21-2 against Big East opponents last season.

“The Big East is going to be tougher this year,” Pitino said, describing Butler, Georgetown and Providence as being “significantly better” than they were last season.

“We’re not going to win like we did last year. But I think we can defend [the conference championship] with our defense getting a lot better.”

The Big East coaches pegged St. John’s as the preseason favorite to win the conference, but No. 5 UConn (10-1) has been the superior team thus far.

UConn, which won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2023 and 2024, took a step back last season, but it has benefited this year from the continuity provided by the returns of Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr.

St. John’s, meanwhile, is 0-3 against ranked opponents, prompting it to fall from No. 5 in the AP’s preseason poll to its current No. 22 ranking.

The Red Storm brought back only one starter from last season’s team in senior forward Zuby Ejiofor, though many lauded a transfer class headlined by Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon and Oziyah Sellers to be the best in the country.

The new-look roster has struggled defensively for much of the season, though St. John’s held its past two opponents — Ole Miss and Iona — to under 65 points in back-to-back victories.

“We have a lot of things to clean up, but it’s early still,” Jackson said. “We’re only gonna get better as it goes.”

UConn and St. John’s are the only Big East teams currently ranked within the AP’s top 25, though Seton Hall (10-1) was among the others receiving votes this week.

Creighton (5-5) opened the season as No. 23 but fell out of the rankings amid a disappointing start.

DePaul is 8-3, but it is yet to face a ranked team and lost in blowout fashion to its toughest opponent, LSU. The Blue Demons are 0-4 against St. John’s since Pitino became head coach and just 7-53 in conference play over the past three years, including 4-16 last season.

Tuesday night’s meeting with DePaul is something of a one-off, as St. John’s will then play two more games against non-conference opponents before it begins the rest of its Big East slate.

Tuesday’s game is also set to be the only Big East clash at Carnesecca Arena this season. St. John’s is scheduled to play its other nine home games against conference opponents at Madison Square Garden.

“You can’t take any games lightly in this conference now,” Pitino said. “It’s gotten back to where it should be.”

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