NEW YORK -- RJ Luis Jr. scored all but two of his 29 points after halftime and No. 6 St. John's made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night for its first Big East tournament title in 25 years.
Zuby Ejiofor added 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Red Storm (30-4), who reached 30 wins for the third time in program history in front of a roaring hometown crowd at sold-out Madison Square Garden.
They earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for their first trip since 2019, making 72-year-old Hall of Famer Rick Pitino the first coach to take six schools to the Big Dance. The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.
"For all the St. John's fans, this is for you!" Pitino proclaimed during a postgame interview on the court, pausing to remove falling confetti from his lips. "St. John's is New York's team!"
Pitino, in his second season at St. John's, also became the first coach to win the Big East tournament at two schools. He has won three times in his past four seasons in the league, after guiding Louisville to championships in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
"They've had a remarkable year. Dominated our league and pretty much saved their best for this conference tournament," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said of the Red Storm. "They just wear into you over time. ... We lost to a really good basketball team. I think they're going to represent the Big East in a positive way next week."
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 15 for second-seeded Creighton (24-10), which fell to 0-5 in Big East championship games since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season.
It was the fourth Big East tournament title for the Johnnies, who made the championship game for the first time since winning the 2000 trophy under Mike Jarvis. The previous two came in the 1980s under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, who died Nov. 30 about five weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
"We had three phases we set out," Pitino said after the win, most likely referring to winning the Big East regular-season title, the conference's tournament crown and, ultimately, the national championship. The Red Storm have secured the first two phases.
"I'm so excited. I couldn't be more blessed for this opportunity," Luis said. "We're going to keep on going."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.