Tuesday, January 28, 2025

St. John's Keeps Rolling With Dominance In DC

 

St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino went with the red pullover to match his team's uniform on Tuesday night. @StJohnsBball.


The St. John's Red Storm dominated right from the start, as they gave the Georgetown Hoyas little to nothing on their way to a 66-41 win on Tuesday night in Washington, DC.

One day after they made a massive move in the national rankings to No. 15 in the AP poll, and No. 14 in USA Today's, they are now 18-3 on the season, including 9-1 in the Big East Conference, which they lead.

This is St. John's best start to Big East play since 1984-85, when they made the Final Four.

St. John's opened the game on an 11-0 run, which turned into a 23-3 edge capped by a Zuby Ejiofor layup at the 12:14 mark of the first half.

That then would build up to a 28-point lead, at 37-9, when RJ Luis slammed one home at 4:30. St. John's would nearly hold that lead, taking a 47-21 lead into the half. They shot 61.8 percent from the field, or 21-34, in the first 20 minutes, and held Georgetown to just 23.3 percent (7-30).

In the second half, understandably, St. John's took the pedal off the medal a bit, and Georgetown pulled within 15, at 55-40, with 6:33 left.

The Red Storm responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a Kadary Richmond layup at the 4:14 mark, to open up a  62-40 edge. A Luis Jr. layup with 30 seconds left put them back up 25, and provided the game's final, 66-41.

St. John's as a team shot 48.3 percent, or 28-58 from the field, for the game, and had an incredibly balanced scoring attack. Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor had 13 points each, while Aaron Scott and RJ Luis Jr. had 10 apiece.

Richmond shot a near-perfect 6-7, including 1-2 on three-pointers, with six rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and an assist. Ejiofor narrowly missed a double-double, as he notched nine rebounds, and he shot 5-6, including making his one three-point attempt, with two steals.

Scott also had nine rebounds, with two steals and an asssist, while shooting 4-11 (2-7 on threes). Luis Jr. shot an uncharacteristic 5-14 from the field, including 0-2 from behind the arc, with seven rebounds, four assists, and a steal.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino was interviewed by FS1's Donny Marshall after the game, and here's what he had to say:

On how hard it is to play 20, 25 points ahead: "I think it was 27, 28, but I told them at halftime, I said, I've only had one team in my lifetime that could take that lead and just enhance it, and that was '96 Kentucky, because they smelled blood. They said 0-0, I didn't even have to get after them. They smelled blood, and they wanted to get after it. We were up against LSU, at LSU, on Fat Tuesday, 86 to 40-something, and they went out, and I really ran a delay game because we had 129 points. That team, but every other team, it's tough. The other coach is upset, the players are upset, you sort of relax, but we came back, and it was all about defense the entire game, and offense in the first half, and Kadary's really coming into his own."

On how he feels about his team, where their confidence level is with a lot of big games ahead on their schedule: "It's not our fault we don't have Quad 1. We played Kansas State, beat them by 20-something points, they were ranked 19th in the country. The Big East is a great conference, so we've just got to keep winning. Our goal is to be a No. 1 seed; I don't know if we can get there, but your goal is to win every game, be a high seed, win a championship, and we understand that Connecticut has their best player out, we understand that Marquette's great, we understand all these teams can beat us.

"What we have, which I think is our best ingredient, is, we're humble. We've got great humility. We don't think that our stuff doesn't stink, and we just play hard."

Pitino opened his PRESS CONFERENCE with this statement: "Aaron (Scott) had a big night. Kadary (Richmond) was awesome. That was the best defense and offense we've ever played. I told them at halftime, 'I've only had one team in my life that had a big lead like that, that just went for blood.' We knew Georgetown is a well-coached team. We knew they'd come out hard. They were trapping every play, but we kept making good defensive plays...So, I'm proud of these guys."

On the team's ability to not let its head get too large: "I think our best quality that we have is we're humble. We just keep playing hard. We don't think we're great. We aspire to be great, but we don't believe we're great. We understand that anybody can beat us, but these two guys (Scott and Richmond) are great leaders, terrific players."

On Kadary Richmond: "Kadary keeps getting better and better. Now, all of a sudden, he thinks he's Steph Curry Jr., but he made it. We'll keep working at it, but he's just a remarkable player. There are so many things he does that you all don't see. Here's what I love about him, absolutely love - he knows when he makes a mistake, and he immediately puts his thumb up when I get on him, and he knows it right away. Always owns up to every mistake and that's a great quality because you can really teach someone how to run an offense and defense when he owns up to every mistake. So, I'm proud of these two guys. It was a wonderful win for us in every fundamental area."

On the team's humility and drive to get better: "We really just focus on getting better. This team is getting better and better. Many times in the second half the clock was winding down and we made them take a desperation shot. So, that was great switching. That was great covering the gaps. So, we're getting better and better, and all we want to do is be the best. Like I said earlier, humility is what we're all after. I think at 50 years of coaching, the one thing I've learned the most important word is humility. Being humble allows you to keep getting better, allows you not to embrace success, allows you to stay grounded and know who you are. We know Georgetown can beat us, we know Providence (who they face Saturday at The Garden at noon) can beat us. But we're getting better and better and better, and that's all we care about. Humility is a major factor."

On the spectacular defense: "We're a great team because of our length. Aaron has got length. RJ (Luis Jr.) has length. Kadary Richmond, he's got length. Even though Deivon (Smith) is six foot, he's a leading defensive rebounder. So, it's a really good basketball team getting better."

On the fan support: "I'm happiest, not only for the players because they are the reason this is happening, but I'm happy for the St. John's fans. Been a long time for them, and I see them so positive. As I walk around the streets of New York, I see them so happy. They come on the road, we're going to have 18,000 people for the Providence game on Saturday. So, I'm happy for them, because it's an identity they want to see. There's no reason that St. John's can't be a great basketball team."


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