St. John’s basketball seems to have taken a step up this year from a team just scrapping to get into the NCAA Tournament to a team that can be a dark horse contender to compete in the Big East and make an NCAA Tournament run.
Rick Pitino and the Red Storm have proved that already in this young season with strong performances against other strong teams. St. John’s knocked off New Mexico, coached by Rick’s son Richard, at Madison Square Garden before heading to the Bahamas for a big test.
St. John’s was put to the test against a top 15 team on Thursday night against Baylor. Pitino’s club clearly held their own and had multiple chances to put the Bears away, but Baylor continued to hang around. In the end, Baylor walked away with an improbable win thanks to a heroic 3-pointer at the buzzer by Jeremy Roach.
Pitino wasn’t happy with the officials down the stretch, as multiple close calls went against his team at the end of the game. However, St. John’s responded admirably on Friday by blowing out Virginia 80-55 to take third place in the tournament.
Pitino wasn’t satisfied. Even after Friday’s win, the legendary coach went back to how Thursday night ended and made a shocking claim about the severity of the loss, according to St. John’s broadcaster Kevin Connelly.
“Rick Pitino said that the loss last night, given everything that happened with the officials, might’ve been tougher to get over than the Christian Laettner loss against Duke,” Connelly wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Of course, Pitino was on the opposing sideline for that legendary shot by Laettner back in the 1992 Elite Eight, but this loss ranks right up there according to the former Kentucky coach.
St. John’s looking to compete for Big East title in 2024-25
St. John’s hit the transfer portal hard this offseason and it is already seeing the benefits. Versatile guards Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith, from Seton Hall and Utah respectively, give the team an identity and a pair of players who can do it all on both ends.
Smith is always a triple-double threat, and he nearly recorded one on Friday night against Virginia. Despite not playing his usual load of minutes in the second half because of the big lead, Smith finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Guard RJ Luis Jr. is also off to a great start this season for St. John’s. Luis Jr. nearly recorded a triple-double in a dominant performance against New Mexico, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Pitino has had high praise for Luis Jr. so far during his second season with the Red Storm, and he is backing it up on a nightly basis now.
Add in the contributions of big man Zuby Ejiofor, who scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Baylor, on the inside, and you have a team who is going to be very dangerous in the Big East this year.
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