NEW YORK (AP) — Kadary Richmond scored a season-high 24 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with three seconds left, and No. 15 St. John’s held off Providence 68-66 on Saturday after blowing a 19-point lead in the final nine minutes.

RJ Luis Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Red Storm (19-3, 10-1 Big East), off to the program’s best start in 39 years. They have won eight straight games and 14 of 15.

St. John’s took a one-game lead in the conference standings when No. 9 Marquette lost to No. 25 UConn on Saturday night.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim had a season-high 27 points off the bench to help Providence (11-11, 5-6) rally at Madison Square Garden. He made two of his eight 3-pointers during the furious comeback before Bensley Joseph hit a tying 3 with 33 seconds left — his only basket of the game to go with 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Following a timeout, Richmond used a screen by Zuby Ejiofor to get separation from Jayden Pierre and drain a pull-up jumper from the foul line. Joseph missed a heave from just inside halfcourt at the buzzer.

Richmond scores 24 and hits winning jumper as No. 15 St. John's holds off Providence 68-66 | iNFOnews.ca — St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino yells on the court during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Providence Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Richmond shot 10 of 14 from the field and had eight rebounds and eight assists. Ejiofor scored 13 for St. John’s, which shot 38% from the floor.

Takeaways

Providence: Entered averaging 12 turnovers per game but matched that total in the first half and finished with 20 overall.

St. John’s: Point guard Deivon Smith looked rusty at times after missing three of the previous four games with a right shoulder injury. He shot 1 for 10 from the field and finished with three points and six assists in 28 minutes off the bench.

Key moment