NEW YORK—When St. John’s loses in the Big East tournament during the Chris Mullin era, the Johnnies have developed a bad habit of going up in flames.

The would- be darlings of the city have lost the last three years by 41 to Villanova, 28 to Xavier and now to Marquette by 32. The Golden Eagles (24-8), who lost to St. John’s twice during the regular season, took out their frustrations on the Red Storm Thursday night, blowing them away 86-54, in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament at the Garden, St. John’s second home.

That is no way to prepare for the NCAA tournament. If, that is, St. John’s get that long awaited at large bid.

Marquette senior point guard Markus Howard, who had been neutralized by St. John’s length and athleticism during the regular season, broke free for 30 points—making eight of 15 shots and 11 of 11 free throws—as the Eagles put the Johnnies back on the NCAA bubble.

“I always expect to see the best of Markus I have an incredible amount of belief in him, but I’ve been in the game of college basketball long enough to know you’re not going to pitch a perfect game every time you step on the mound,’’ Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “Cy Young winners don’t go undefeated. So, you’re going to have games where you’re not going to be at your best. But, I mean, there’s nobody I’d trade him for. Come on, the kid’s a great player, and he’s a great teammate and his teammates are great with him.’’

 St. John’s, which is 21-12 but is only ranked 64th in the NCAA Net, will have to wait until Selection Sunday to find out for sure. They better hope Buffalo and VCU win their conference tournaments in the MAC and the A-10 and the selection committee doesn’t look too fondly at UNC Greensboro, a 28-5 mid-major team that played Wofford competitively In the Southern Conference championship game.

 St John’s, which fell behind 36-22, had pulled within 43-37 on a spectacular slam dunk by Justin Simon with 15:03 before suffering a complete meltdown. The Golden Eagles outscored 16-2 over the next four minutes to turn the game into a route.

 “When they made that run, we stuck together,’’ Howard said. “We stayed positive. We knew we were going to have to throw a punch back in order to stay in the game and extend the lead.’’

 If this was the Johnnies’ final argument, the optics were terrible.

“I’ll be watching Sunday,’’ Mullin said. “I’m not really here to make a case. If I need a lawyer—we do what we did, and we’ll see what happens Sunday. No politicking. I stay out of politics.’’

Guards Sacar Anim had 13 and Sam Hauser added 10 for the Eagles, who play Seton Hall in the semis and could play their way into a Top 4 seed if they win the tournament.

The Golden Eagles suffocated St. John’s with their defense, limiting them to 30 percent shooting and 3 for 20 on three-point attempts. They never allowed the Storm, who looked so good beating DePaul in the first round Wednesday night, to do much damage in transition, holding the Storm to just seven fast break points. Even St. John’s all- Big East guard Shamorie Ponds couldn’t stop the bleeding, scoring just 14 points on 4 of 14 shooting.

“I thought you had great urgency and alertness defensively against him,’’ Wojciechowski said. “I thought we didn’t allow him to play in space because when he’s allowed to play in space, obviously he’s a great player. He hurt us, but I think he’s averaging 22 points a game. So., he must have hurt more than just us. Then we tried to make it hard for him to get the ball back when he gave it up.’’

Having said that, Wojciechowski still lobbied for St. John’s to get a bid. “I’m not on the selection committee,’’ he said, “But I think they are a terrific team. They start five guys who can play on the perimeter and they have a guy Ponds who can take over a game. Their defense is unusual in that they can switch all screens, whether it’s on the ball or off it. I think they’re an NCAA team. I personally think they are worthy of it but I’m not sure if the committee cares what I think.’’