Big East: Can St. John’s Step-Up?

Top-seeded St. John’s (28-4) will attempt to advance to the title game for the first time since 2000 while fifth-seeded Marquette (23-9) will seek a third straight trip to the final when the two teams meet in the first semifinal on Friday evening.

They are the only two ranked teams in the tournament; St. John’s is No. 6 and Marquette is No. 25.

The winner will face second-seeded Creighton or third-seeded UConn in the Big East final on Saturday.

St. John’s earned a 70-64 victory over Marquette n Feb. 4, one of its 10 wins this season at Madison Square Garden, site of the conference tournament. The Red Storm were ranked No. 12 at the time, and the victory was the ninth in a 10-game winning streak.

Afterward, Marquette coach Shaka Smart described St. John’s defense as playing with “incredible violence” after it held the Golden Eagles to 29 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

When the teams met in the regular-season finale in Milwaukee last Saturday, the Red Storm were ranked sixth and ended an 18-win campaign in the conference by outlasting the Golden Eagles 86-84 in overtime.

“The reality for us, it’s about being the best us for 40 minutes,” Smart said after his team outlasted Xavier in the quarterfinals for an 89-87 win on Thursday. “It’s about watching the tape and learning what are the things we can do better. When you play great teams, they present challenges, but as I tell these guys, we present challenges, too.”

Both of St. John’s top two players keyed the two wins against Marquette. In the first meeting, RJ Luis Jr. totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds and then had 28 points last week when the Red Storm won on Zuby Ejiofor’s second buzzer-beater of the season and survived a 32-point showing from Kam Jones.

“They won the league for a reason,” Smart said. “They got a heck of a team. They’re rolling. They’re playing at a high level.”

Both teams advanced after earning different types of victories on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals.