St. John's ranked 23rd in AP poll

St. John's, traveling the roughest road in the nation against the No. 1-rated schedule, finally cracked the Top 25 rankings for the first time in more than a decade.

The Red Storm, under first-year coach Steve Lavin, was ranked No. 23 in The Associated Press writers poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll released Monday.

The last time St. John's was ranked was on Dec. 5, 2000, when it was 24th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. But the Red Storm's 60-59 upset of then-No. 4 Pitt on Saturday at Madison Square Garden was its sixth win against a team ranked in the Top 25 - and fourth against a Top 10 team - at some point this season.

Dwight Hardy, who scored the winning basket against the Panthers, was named Big East player of the week for the second straight week and the third time this season. Hardy had 19 points against Pitt and scored 28 in a win at Marquette.

The top four teams in both polls last week all lost, including Kansas (to Kansas State), Ohio State (to Purdue) and Texas (to Nebraska). That allowed defending national champion Duke to reclaim the top spot in both polls.

St. John's (17-9, 9-5 Big East) is one of two teams to beat the Blue Devils this season, and it was by 15 points.

Reflecting on the progress the team he took over has made with nine seniors on the roster, Lavin said, "I think it's an interesting thing that they forged through such a challenging schedule. We played eight consecutive games against ranked teams, made three trips to the West Coast. It takes pressure, heat and time to make a diamond. It shows how together this group is.''

Pitt (No. 4 AP/No. 6 ESPN/USA Today) headed a group of eight Big East teams in the Top 25 of both polls, along with Notre Dame (9/9), Georgetown (11/11), Connecticut (14/15), Villanova (15/14), Louisville (16/16) and Syracuse (17/20) in addition to St. John's (23/25).

The Red Storm next faces DePaul Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena, where it should encounter an on-campus celebration.

"We're not going to get complacent now,'' senior guard Malik Boothe said. "We just have to keep it going and keep getting better.''