UPDATE: St. John's defeats Georgetown, will play Xavier Thursday in Big East Tournament quarterfinals
No. 9-seeded St. John's brought the curtain down on Patrick Ewing's first season as head coach at Georgetown with an 88-77 first-round Big East Tournament win over the No. 8-seed Hoyas Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
St. John's advanced to play No. 3-ranked Xavier (27-4, 15-3 Big East), the tournament's top-seeded team, in a noon game Thursday at The Garden.
The Musketeers swept the season series with St. John's, but only just. The Red Storm twice had Xavier on the ropes this season and nearly put serious dents in the Musketeers' title push.