After a week of mourning, St. John’s celebrated. 

It celebrated Lou Carnesecca the coach with a second-half performance he would be proud of. 

Rick Pitino donned a tailor-made sweater similar to the one Carnesecca was known for and his players performed like one of Carnesecca’s teams, turning up the pressure on defense and executing at a high level at the other end. 

A sold-out crowd that included Felipe Lopez and Walter Berry was on its feet on several occasions, as the Johnnies erased a 10-point, first-half deficit with as thorough a final 20 minutes as this group has played. 

The result was a one-sided, 88-71 win over Kansas State in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at aptly named Carnesecca Arena.

The day began and ended with chants of “Lou.” 

“I don’t think I would have ever forgiven myself if we lost this game,” Pitino said. “It was really, really important that we get a win for Lou. Great crowd, great second half, a lot of emotion behind the game.” 

Zuby Ejiofor made sure everyone went home happy.

The affable junior forward was a force, dominating Kansas State’s high-priced frontcourt to the tune of 28 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Coleman Hawkins, who reportedly received over $2 million to join the Wildcats, and fellow transfers Achor Achor and Ugonna Onyenso couldn’t contain him. 

“[I said] on this day, where all our greats came back, on this day when our legendary coach has left us, you got to play for the name on the front [of your jersey], and nobody characterized that more than Zuby,” Pitino said. “His heart was as big as a mountain. … I thought Zuby played so, so hard in the second half, that it was contagious for the rest of the guys.” 

Deivon Smith (five points, nine rebounds, three assists) returned after a one-game suspension to provide a spark, and Simeon Wilcher (11 points) and Ruben Prey also contributed off the bench.

Kadary Richmond added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks and RJ Luis had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Red Storm (7-2) rebounded from two shaky performances. 

“His death was something that we all felt, especially those that were here last year,” Ejiofor said, referring to the late Carnesecca. “We fed off that. We were going to play for him this game, and we came up with a win.” 

At halftime, there was nervous energy in the building after such an emotional pregame ceremony, St. John’s holding a moment of silence for Carnesecca and playing a video montage shortly before tipoff. Kansas State (6-3) led by four and had made 8 of 15 3-point shots.

The same issues that plagued St. John’s in a loss to Georgia and a narrow win over Harvard — poor shooting, shaky 3-point defense — were still hurting the Johnnies. 

A different team showed up in the second half. The ball moved. The defense was stingy.

St. John’s pushed pace and scored in transition, piling up 53 points over the final 20 minutes on nearly 53 percent shooting.

It ripped off 20 of the first 25 points after the break to take the lead for good. Carnesecca Arena was louder than it had been all year. 

“I felt like [Lou] was there with us today,” Wilcher said. “All the extra energy we had going into that second half, that was from Coach himself. We all felt that, we all turned it up a little bit, and the whole gym felt it.” 

After Ejiofor scored inside, pushing the lead to 17 with 8:40 to go, the result was no longer in doubt. St. John’s was going to cruise to a significant win on Lou Carnesecca Day.

At the horn, a Johnnies coach in an ugly sweater was victorious. 

St. John’s did have trouble finding a sweater like the one Carnesecca made famous.

Pitino joked that the legendary coach was “one of the five worst dressers in the history of the game.”

Ultimately, the school brought the design and fabric to a seamstress at Calvin Klein.

His players got a kick out of it. 

“It’s pretty ugly,” Ejiofor cracked. “Coach P wanted to honor him in a special way. It was really cool to see.” 

This, however, was a one-time thing, not a good luck charm moving forward.

After the emotional victory, Pitino took it off and laid it down at half-court. 

“That sweater’s going to rest in peace with Lou,” Pitino said.