The massive win continues to elude St. John’s.
The Crimson Storm blew one other second-half lead in Saturday afternoon’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky at State Farm Enviornment in Atlanta and as soon as once more didn’t defeat an upper-tier non-conference opponent.
Kentucky outscored St. John’s 53-34 after halftime, largely on the power of a game-turning 14-0 run, because the Johnnies missed shot after shot and dedicated turnover after turnover.
“We are a decent basketball team. Nothing more than decent,” mentioned St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who coached at Kentucky from 1987-99. “We’ve got to take decent to good, and that means you’ve got to play two great halves defensively.”
No. 22 St. John’s (7-4) appeared poised for its greatest win of the season after a primary half through which it pressured 11 turnovers and restricted Kentucky (8-4) to 25 factors.
Kentucky’s high level guard, Jaland Lowe, performed just one possession in that first half earlier than he re-aggravated a shoulder damage and went straight to the locker room.
However Lowe returned with 17:07 left within the second half, with St. John’s main 38-31, and the sport flipped from there.
Jayden Quaintance, a projected NBA lottery choose who made his season debut after ACL surgical procedure, minimize the Kentucky deficit to 43-40 with a lay-up with 14:07 remaining. On the Wildcats’ subsequent possession, a Lowe floater made it a one-point recreation.
Quaintance added a tip-in a couple of minute later, placing Kentucky up 44-43 with 12:32 to go — a lead it might not relinquish.
These had been the primary three baskets in Kentucky’s 14-0 run.
“When Lowe comes in the game, they’re a different basketball team,” Pitino mentioned. “He makes people better.”
St. John’s, in the meantime, stagnated on offense.
The Crimson Storm didn’t make a area aim between the 16:07 and seven:10 marks of the second half — a drought through which it missed seven straight pictures and dedicated six turnovers.
The Johnnies made solely 4 area objectives within the first 17 minutes of the second half and completed with eight turnovers after halftime. For the sport, St. John’s shot 17-of-51 (33%) from the sphere however did go 27-of-32 from the free throw line.
Dylan Darling, the one true level guard on the St. John’s roster, battled foul hassle and performed solely 4 minutes within the second half. Forwards Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins completed with 4 fouls apiece, whereas wing Joson Sanon fouled out with slightly below 10 minutes remaining.
“I think our frontcourt was beat down physically tonight,” Pitino mentioned. “We got in foul trouble, and we just didn’t have the numbers to keep up with them.”
Pitino deliberately scheduled a brutal non-conference schedule to be able to establish his staff’s weaknesses early.
However St. John’s misplaced its 4 greatest exams of non-conference play, beforehand dropping ranked matchups towards Alabama, Iowa State and Auburn. St. John’s led within the second half of every of these video games, too.
After opening the season ranked No. 5, St. John’s is 2-4 towards power-conference foes.
“Every person on the team has to look themselves in the mirror and realize that in order to have a successful season, you have to be willing to make changes in yourself personally,” mentioned Ejiofor, who completed with 12 factors on 3-of-11 capturing and a team-high 4 turnovers.
Pitino led Kentucky to a nationwide championship in 1996. The captain of that 1996 staff was Mark Pope, who’s now in his second season as Kentucky’s head coach.
Saturday marked the primary time Pitino confronted Kentucky since December 2016 throughout what ended up being his last season as the top coach of archrival Louisville.
Pitino grew to become a villain within the eyes of Kentucky followers when he coached Louisville, however he has since returned to their good graces.
“If this was at Rupp [Arena], I think I would have a lot of emotion, but I didn’t have any emotion at all,” Pitino mentioned of Saturday’s recreation, which was a part of the CBS Sports activities Traditional.
St. John’s has just one non-conference recreation remaining — towards Harvard on Tuesday night time at Carnesecca Enviornment — earlier than it resumes Massive East play.
It has already matched its regular-season loss complete from final season, albeit with a tougher non-conference slate this time round.
“It’s important to take one game at a time and take things one day at a time,” mentioned Ejiofor, the lone starter to return from final season. “We don’t have a lot of opportunities, so we’ve got to stay focused and keep working.”
