Rick Pitino got a little bit crabby with some of the questions he received following his team’s season-ending loss.
Pitino and St. John’s got eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with an upset 75-66 loss to No. 10 seed Arkansas. The game was a particular struggle for St. John’s junior guard RJ Luis Jr, who finished with just nine points on a horrific 3/17 from the field.
Things got so bad for Luis that Pitino, the St. John’s head coach, benched him for the final 4:56 of the game. St. John’s was still within striking distance at the time too, trailing 64-62 at the moment that Luis exited for good.
After the game, Pitino was asked by a reporter why Luis did not close the contest. Pitino responded that Luis played 30 minutes but declined to elaborate further and chastised the reporter for his inquiry.
“You’re asking leading questions,” said Pitino. “Don’t ask leading questions. You already know why he didn’t play [at the end of the game].”
Another reporter then tried his luck on the same topic … but also got swatted down by Pitino.
“You know he was 3-for-17,” said Pitino of Luis to the reporter. “You know he was 0-for-3 [from deep], so you’re answering your own [question]. I’m not gonna knock one of my players.”
The 22-year-old Luis was the best player for St. John’s all year and a major reason why they were able to earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 18.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and was named a consensus All-American as well as the Big East Player of the Year for his efforts.
But on Saturday against Arkansas, Luis simply didn’t have it, and Pitino had to pull the plug on him down the stretch. While the Red Storm, who declined an NIT bid last season, took a huge step forward this season with their 31-5 overall record and some big culture-setting moments by Pitino, they close out the year still looking for their first Sweet Sixteen berth since the 1990s.
