NEW YORK _ St. John's was Dr. Jekyll when it left the Garden on Wednesday night after beating DePaul. It was Mr. Hyde when it returned Thursday for its quarterfinal meeting with Marquette.
The Red Storm has been the definition of inconsistent; they haven't won two straight since Jan. 5. St. John's looked stellar in its Big East Tournament opener. It was abysmal as second-seeded, 23rd-ranked Marquette trounced the Storm, 86-54, before a sellout crowd of 19,812. It was St. John's most lopsided loss of the season.
"Tonight we just let it go a little bit," Justin Simon said.
The Storm (21-12) would appear to have done enough to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, but would have felt more secure going into Selection Sunday with a win over Marquette. The landscape could change if the strongest mid-majors _ No. 14 Nevada (Mountain West), No. 18 Buffalo (MAC) and VCU (Atlantic 10) _ don't win their conference tournaments. If they don't, each of those conferences would get two teams into the 68-team draw and cut into the number of at-large bids for power conferences.
Asked to make the case for his team, coach Chris Mullin preferred not to. "I'm not going to make a case," he said. "I stay out of politics. We did what we did."
Marquette (24-8) rebounded Thursday after ending the regular season on a four-game losing streak. It will be seeking its first trip to the final. It plays Friday's 9 p.m. semi against Seton Hall or Georgetown.
St. John's beat the Eagles in their two regular-season meetings, and it had stifled Big East Player of the Year Markus Howard, who totaled 19 points on 7-for-32 shooting. This time Howard was able to get free when St. John's switched defensive ace Simon off him and went for 30 points.
"I believe in him," Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "You're not going to pitch a perfect game every time you're on the mound, even the Cy Young Award winner. ... He's the Player of the Year for a reason."
Marquette kept the Storm from running its lethal fast break and held St. John's to a season-low 32.8-percent shooting. When they had the ball, the Eagles were able to get the shots in the spots they wanted.
"They hadn't done it to us this year, but I've seen them do that to a lot of other teams," Mullin said. "They got free in the open floor."
The Red Storm led for only 16 seconds, at 3-2. Howard scored 10 in a 25-11 first-half run that put the Golden Eagles ahead 36-22. They led 38-26 at halftime and St. John's didn't have a point off nine Marquette turnovers.
St. John's stirred the crowd early in the second half with a 9-2 run to get within 43-37 with about 15 minutes to play, but Howard had 12 points in a 23-2 run for a 66-39 lead with about nine minutes left.
"We knew we'd have to throw a punch back right there to hang in and extend the lead," Howard said. "We did a good job."
Simon called it "a big factor" that St. John's was playing a second consecutive night against a fresh team.
Simon had 14 points and Shamorie Ponds had 13. Marvin Clark II was scoreless in 26 minutes before fouling out with 7:29 to play and the game out of hand. Sacar Anim had 13 points and Sam Hauser had 10 points for the Golden Eagles.
Mullin said he doesn't intend to watch the games that could have an impact on the Storm's NCAA chances. He is giving the team two days off, and it will reconvene on campus Sunday to practice and watch the selection show.
The Storm needs as few surprises as possible between now and then.
