In Pitino Battle, Father Knows Best As Red Storm Roll

 

Tip off marks the start of the battle of the Coaches Pitino. Photo by Jason Schott.

Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden saw a unique matchup, as St. John's, led by Head Coach Rick Pitino, squared off against his son, Richard, and the New Mexico Lobos.

In the end, it was father knows best, as the 22nd-ranked Red Storm rolled to an 85-71 victory to improve to 4-0 on the season in front of 12,310 fans in their first game of the season at The Garden.

RJ Luis Jr. led the way for St. John's, as he had 21 points on 8-18 from the field, 1-4 from behind the arc, and 4-5 on free throws, with 11 rebounds to give him a double-double, plus seven assists.

R.J. Luis Jr. burying a three-pointer that gave St. John's a 25-13 lead at the 7:24 mark of the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

The entire St. John's lineup posted double figures, as Deivon Smith had 15 points (7-13 FG, 1-3 three-pointers), Kadary Richmond (7-14 FG) and Aaron Scott (5-10 FG, 2-7 threes) each poured in 14 points,  and Zuby Ejiofor had 13 points (3-7 FG, 7-8 free throws) and 10 rebounds for a double-double.

New Mexico was led a pair of players with 16 points, Mustapha Amzil (6-14 shooting, 4-7 three-pointers) and Nelly Joseph, who shot a superb 8-11 from the field.

This game had a spirited start to it, and it was basically even through the first nine minutes, with St. John's up, 14-13.

Then, as the Red Storm have shown already this year, they can go a run, and in this case, it was an 11-0 spurt capped by a Luis three-pointer at the 7:24 mark that made it 24-13.

Eventually, that lead would lead would balloon to 16 points, at 40-24, when Deivon Smith made a layup off a turnover with 1:27 left in the first half. St. John's would take an 11-point edge, 40-29, into halftime.

In the second half, New Mexico whittled it down to six points, 54-48, when CJ Noland made a second-chance jumper with 13:30 remaining. 

St. John's responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a Richmond fast-break dunk at 11:32. 

Even though that gave the Red Storm a 12-point edge, New Mexico responded with an 11-3 run capped by a Joseph basket off a turnover at the 8:01 mark.

Eventually, St. John's would regain control of the game, and go back up 12, at 75-63, on a Smith three-pointer at 4:28. 

Then, to show how gritty this St. John's team is, after New Mexico pulled back to within nine on the next possession, Ejiofor grabbed an offensive rebound off a Richmond missed jumper, and Luis drove the lane for a layup that made it 77-66 with 3:42 left. That began a 10-3 run that sealed the win.

R.J. Luis Jr.'s layup with 3:42 remaining. Photo by Jason Schott.

PITINOS POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino and New Mexico Head Coach Richard Pitino addressed the media after the game:

St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino:

Opening Statement: “Well, I thought we played awesome defense in the first half. Really great defense. In the second half, we didn't play as well defensively, but overall, New Mexico is a very good basketball team. They put a lot of pressure on you. Without question, we won the game on the backboard. There's no doubt about it; the backboard was the key to the game. We made our mistakes defensively, giving up the three and underneath, out-of-bounds plays. We did a good job in transition most of the time. So, it was a great win with a great crowd, great day. Really proud of the guys, and this was our first big test, and now we really go into the gauntlet with Baylor, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia.”

 

On what went into the decision not to start Simeon Wilcher: “Sim [Wilcher] is a great player. He's had a great week [of practice]. If you looked at the starting lineups, every single game, they've changed. This was just about defensive matchups. We had to have Deivon [Smith] on the point guard in the beginning. So, it was all about matchups. We just matched up better with Deivon and RJ [Luis Jr.] guarding [Donovan Dent]. Sim will probably start against Baylor, so nothing to it.”

 

On his thoughts following the win: “This was a tough team to play against, as UCLA found out because they don't beat themselves. They keep putting pressure on you with pick and rolls. In the first half, we were great defensively, we were great on the backboard. I thought individually, we did a lot of good things with great plays. They just have to learn to use each other a little bit more. Certain guys are not even close to their potential. It’s interesting because it's the older guys that are not close to their potential.”

 

On what changes when you get production from Zuby Ejiofor:

“I think Zuby [Ejiofor] was a big catalyst. We have so much respect for [New Mexico forward] Nellie [Junior] Joseph. … [Zuby] was really a catalyst for making the offense go tonight by stepping away from the basket. Obviously, he had a big rebounding night. He had three assists. We turned the ball over too much, but this team does it to you. So, they all rebounded. You have Zuby with 10, Kadary [Richmond] with eight, RJ [Luis Jr.] with 11. So, everybody was rebounding the basketball. Aaron [Scott] with six.”

 

On squaring off with New Mexico, especially with his son as coach: “It was great for New Mexico to come into The Garden. They just came off beating UCLA. Now they play a St John's team in The Garden. Their resume only gets enhanced by that. He [Richard Pitino] is a great young coach. Great young coach. His offensive mind is brilliant. He puts you in situations that really hurt you defensively. …. He's got a great team this year. He does it with all new players, different players. He's one of the bright young offensive minds in the game today. So, he's a lot different than me. He handles losing much better than me.”

On if this was a special match-up facing his son: “I think the way The Garden got behind the game, I thought it was unbelievable for me, and my son will remember this forever. Certainly, for the New Mexico kids to play in Madison Square Garden. My pre-game speech was, ‘Guys, this is your first game in Madison Square Garden. I grew up on 26th Street, between Second and Third Avenue, and I said I always dreamed about playing a high school game in The Garden, playing in the NIT back at UMass. You get to call this your home court. You don't understand how special it is. It’s The World's Most Famous Arena for a reason. This is our home court. So, for New Mexico, for my son, for me, every time I walk in this building, it's special.”

 

New Mexico Head Coach Richard Pitino:

Opening Statement: “Well, the concern that I had going into the game kind of came true. I thought their size, their strength, their physicality certainly broke open the game at times. We were able to get some stops, we just could not get rebounds. They're big and they're strong, they're bigger than a lot of teams, and they're really, really good. So really proud of the fight our guys had. I think we cut it to five in the second half, six a couple times, just couldn't get over the hump. But [St. John’s] is a team that is going to sit in the Top-20 all year. They are a team that's going to be right there for the BIG EAST title. So, awesome opportunity. Your sitting there looking up at Madison Square Garden. So much fun to be a part of, although we didn't win. I'm very, very grateful that my dad agreed to do it, and I'm grateful that my players were able to experience something like this because who knows when they'll ever be able to experience it again. So great crowd and terrific team in St John's.”

On if this meeting with his father holds a special place since it was at The Garden: "The one that I beat him was the special one; the three that I lost were not. I think St. John's is going to be a ranked team for majority of the year, but they've played three games. I don't think rankings mean a whole lot until about January, but I would be shocked if this team does not win a lot of games. I think they go down to the Bahamas here soon, but it was, I don't know if fun's the right word, it was special to be in Madison Square Garden, the energy, to see what my Dad is building here, great crowd, so I'm back to being a huge Johnnies fan the rest of the way."

On if he would like a return game against St. John's in New Mexico next season: "He would never do it, but I would love for him to do it. It was awesome for our fans, you know, I mean, we had at least about 500 fans there that flew from Albuquerque, that's a long way away, so I would welcome that opportunity, but I would be very surprised if he would do it. But it was a great weekend - our football team won an amazing win, and then our fans were able to fly in here, so I think more than anything, I know New Mexico'a an under-the-radar state, certainly our program is, but I think at least we showed how much we really care about this basketball program."