Rick Pitino hugged Richard Pitino and rapidly exchanged pregame pleasantries on his approach to the St. John’s bench.
From that time on, all of it was enterprise.
Rick Pitino emerged victorious in Sunday afternoon’s much-hyped teaching showdown between father and son, as No. 22 St. John’s used its measurement benefit and uptempo assault to high Richard Pitino and New Mexico, 85-71, at Madison Sq. Backyard.
All 5 St. John’s starters scored in double figures, led by 6-7 ahead RJ Luis Jr., whose 21 factors, 11 rebounds and 7 assists every served as sport highs.
The balanced assault helped St. John’s move its first true check of the season to enhance to 4-0, whereas Rick Pitino, 72, improved to 3-1 all time towards his 42-year-old son.
Chants of “Who’s Your Daddy?” stuffed the Backyard late within the second half.
“As a New York Yankee fan, all I could think of was Pedro Martinez,” Richard Pitino mentioned afterward. “Other than that, I laughed it off. I didn’t think much of it. This is what our obnoxious New York fans do, and I’m part of it.”
The convincing victory served as an early-season assertion for St. John’s, which outrebounded New Mexico (3-1) by a 49-32 margin and turned 22 offensive rebounds into 25 second-chance factors.
“Without question, we won the game on the backboard,” Rick Pitino mentioned.
Zuby Ejiofor, a 6-9 ahead, completed with 13 factors and 10 rebounds for St. John’s, whereas 6-6 guard Kadary Richmond added 14 factors and eight boards.
The Johnnies repeatedly attacked the basket, scoring 48 factors within the paint to assist win a observe meet between two of faculty basketball’s fastest-paced groups.
“The concern that I had going into the game kind of came true,” Richard Pitino mentioned. “I thought their size, their strength, their physicality certainly broke open the game at times.”
St. John’s jumped out to an early lead Sunday, utilizing an 11-0 run to go up 25-13 earlier than taking a 40-29 benefit into halftime.
On the forefront of that first-half assault was senior level guard Deivon Smith, who made 5 lay-ups earlier than halftime and scored 12 of his season-high 15 factors earlier than the break.
Smith, a prized switch from Utah, had not scored greater than 13 factors or tried greater than 9 photographs in any of the Pink Storm’s first three video games, as an alternative largely functioning as a facilitator.
He took 9 photographs — and made six — within the first half alone Sunday.
St. John’s led by as many as 15 factors within the first half, then held on as New Mexico made a number of runs.
The Lobos minimize the deficit to 4 factors when middle Nelly Junior Joseph — who performed underneath the elder Pitino at Iona — completed a lay-up with 8:01 left within the sport.
However Aaron Scott responded with a 3-pointer on the subsequent possession, and fewer than two minutes later, the right-handed Richmond completed a contested left-handed floater to place the Johnnies again up by 9.
Smith added a dagger 3-pointer with 4:28 remaining, growing the St. John’s result in 75-63.
Luis, a junior in his second season at St. John’s, scored 16 factors within the second half.
He additionally served as the first defender towards New Mexico’s star level guard, Donovan Dent, who was averaging 19.0 factors and 9.7 assists per sport however managed solely 12 factors and 6 assists Sunday.
Luis is now averaging 17.5 factors per sport in what’s been a breakout season up to now. He averaged 10.9 factors per sport final season whereas taking part in by way of nagging shin accidents.
“I think it’s mostly me being healthy,” Luis mentioned. “Just the person that I am, I put a lot of work into my craft. Now I’m stepping up as one of the best defenders. … I’m gonna play-make. I’m gonna score. I’m really just playing both sides of the ball.”
Sunday marked the primary head-to-head assembly between the Pitinos since 2022, when New Mexico beat Rick Pitno’s Iona staff. Rick Pitino gained the primary two conferences when he was the top coach of Louisville, beating his son at FIU in 2012 and at Minnesota in 2014.
“The reason we booked [Sunday’s game was that] I thought it was great for New Mexico to come into the Garden,” Rick Pitino mentioned.
“He’s my son, so I’m gonna brag on him. He is a great young coach,” he mentioned. “His offensive mind is brilliant. He puts you in situations that really hurt you defensively. … He’s one of the bright, young offensive minds in the game today. He’s a lot different than me. He handles losing much better than me. I’ve learned to accept it by coming to Queens.”
Ranked for the primary time since 2019, St. John’s steamrolled Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner earlier than Sunday’s litmus check towards New Mexico.
A fair larger check awaits, as St. John’s is ready to face No. 12 Baylor within the Baha Mar Hoops event within the Bahamas on Thursday evening.
“I think we have greatness potential,” Rick Pitino mentioned. “But we’re just solid now. We’re a good, solid team. You have all new players. You’re not supposed to be great in November.”
Initially Printed: November 17, 2024 at 2:22 PM EST
