St. Johns has now defeated six top 25 opponents, with all six of those victories coming at Madison Square Garden. The 23rd-ranked Red Storm and No. 5 Texas are the only teams to have beaten six ranked opponents this season.

“St. John’s is playing as well as anybody in the country right now,” Villanova Coach Jay Wright said. “They have a great feel for how to win games.”

St. John’s, ranked for the first time since 2000, has won six straight and eight of nine heading into the Big East tournament.

The Red Storm’s win over No. 4 Pittsburgh all but secured the team a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Ranked for the first time in nearly 11 years, St. John’s has five wins over top-10 ranked opponents, including a win over Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked third.

The Red Storm has played the country’s top-ranked schedule.

St. John's upset No. 4 Pitt 60-59 on Saturday for yet another win against an elite team.

The latest impressive win has the Red Storm thinking they might be ranked in the Top 25.

"I can't wait," Justin Burrell said of the Red Storm moving into the top 25. "It's been a long four years without that number. We deserve to see that number."

It's actually been just over a decade since St. John's was in The Associated Press poll.

Dwight Hardy's underhanded flip with 1.2 seconds left Saturday gave the Red Storm the victory, their fifth this season over a team that spent time in the top 10.

Dwight Hardy scored a career-high 33 points as St. John's upset No. 10 Connecticut at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

The Red Storm took charge with a 13-point edge in the second half, winning 89-72. It marks the team's fourth win over a top-13 team this season at the Garden.

Hardy, who was 10 of 17 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range, was coming off a 32-point effort in a loss to UCLA on Saturday.

"I was in a zone," he said, "and when I'm in a zone, I kind of black out."

The Huskies are 2-2 in their last four games and have had trouble with the matchup zone.

"I don't know," Kemba Walker said when asked why the Huskies have trouble with the matchup zone. "That's why we're struggling against it. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of it."

Former UCLA coach Steve Lavin is bringing his new team, St. John's, to Los Angeles.

The Bruins fired Lavin after the 2003 season. He will return to the school for the first time as a visiting coach on Saturday in a nationally television game between the Bruins and Red Storm.

"As we get closer to taking that bus ride from our hotel, the surreal aspect will hit me," Lavin said upon arriving in L.A.

Lavin went 145-78 during seven years in Westwood and took the Bruins to the final 16 of the NCAA tournament five times in six years.

St. John's forward Justin Brownlee suffered a fracture in his left thumb midway through the second half of the Red Storm's 93-78 win over Duke on Sunday.

However, he is not expected to miss any time.

Brownlee underwent X-rays and was examined by a hand specialist on Monday and was diagnosed with a non-displaced hairline fracture toward the end of his left thumb.

He will wear a splint to continue playing.