Rick Pitino has won his first Big East Coach of the Year award and RJ Luis Jr. took Player of the Year honors after they propelled a resurgent St. John’s program to its best regular season in almost four decades.

UConn freshman star Liam McNeeley hadn’t played in front of a crowd as hostile as the one the Huskies faced in Omaha, Nebraska.

RJ Luis Jr. scored six of his 21 points in the final 2:16 to help No. 12 St. John’s extend its winning streak to 10 games with a 68-62 victory over No. 19 UConn.

Dealing with the absence of star freshman Liam McNeeley for much of January and some inconsistent play, the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies looked like a title contender in their first game in February with a win at Marquette.

Solo Ball scored a career-high 25 points while shooting 7 of 9 from 3-point range as No. 25 UConn never trailed in a 77-69 victory over No. 9 Marquette on Saturday.

Jamiya Neal had a career-high 24 points to lead Creighton to a 68-63 win over No. 14 UConn.