St. John’s cruised to an easy win over Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament on Thursday, but head coach Rick Pitino is well aware that a much more difficult task awaits.
Following their 91-72 win over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s will now face defending national champion UConn in the Big East Tournament semifinals. Pitino was asked after Thursday’s game what it will take to upset the Huskies. The 71-year-old had an awesome response.
“We gotta have, um, about six of their players get Covid,” Pitino said with a smile.
Saint Johns vs UConn in the semis, Pitino knows it’s going to be a tall task lol
Me: What do you need to beat UConn tomorrow?
Pitino: “need 6 of their players to get covid” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/lrqDxabNpR
— Niki Lattarulo (@NikiLattarulo) March 14, 2024
UConn is ranked No. 2 in the nation. They had one of the most dominant runs in NCAA Tournament history last year, and Dan Hurley’s team appears poised to do it again. Of course, upsets are common in conference tournaments, so Pitino knows his team has a chance.
St. John’s was a 9.5-point underdog for their game against UConn as of Friday morning. The Red Storm have rattled off six straight wins since Pitino absolutely unloaded on his team following a Feb. 18 loss to Seton Hall. St. John’s certainly has momentum on their side, so it will be interesting to see how that serves them against arguably the best team in the country.
