Rick Pitino knows St. John’s missed an opportunity.
Had his red-hot Red Storm defeated unranked Villanova on the road Wednesday, the Johnnies could have positioned themselves for a top-seven ranking in next week’s AP poll.
Instead, No. 9 St. John’s dropped a nailbiter, 73-71, behind an uncharacteristically porous defensive performance and some crucial missed box outs. The loss snapped the Red Storm’s 10-game win streak.
But St. John’s doesn’t have to wait long for a prime bounce-back opportunity.
Sunday afternoon’s meeting with No. 24 Creighton at Madison Square Garden marks the Johnnies’ biggest game of the season thus far — with first place in the Big East Conference on the line.
“I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Pitino said. “Taking nothing for granted.”
St. John’s enters Sunday in sole possession of first place in the Big East with a 12-2 conference record, but Creighton is only a game behind at 11-3.
Creighton won the teams’ first meeting — a 57-56 thriller in Omaha on Dec. 31 — and would clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker with a victory Sunday.
“We understand the magnitude of how important it is, not just for ourselves, but we’re playing for something that’s bigger than just ourselves,” junior forward Zuby Ejiofor said. “We’re playing for a Big East championship for the whole community.”
St. John’s is 15-0 in home games this year, including 6-0 at the Garden.
Wednesday’s loss was the Red Storm’s first since that New Year’s Eve defeat in Omaha. In the 10 wins in between, St. John’s imposed its will with a smothering, high-effort defense.
But Villanova found cracks in that defense, shooting 53.1% from the field and going 11-of-24 from 3-point range. Creighton does not possess the shooters that Villanova has, but the Bluejays present a mismatch that few other teams rival.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, a 7-1 center in his fifth season at Creighton, ranks third in the Big East with 19 points per game and second with 8.5 rebounds.
Kalkbrenner had his way with St. John’s in December, scoring 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds and five blocks.
Ejiofor, at 6-9, is the Johnnies’ tallest starter.
“We already know the presence he brings and how tough a matchup it is going to be,” Ejiofor said. “It’s going to take a complete team effort to pull out this victory.”
With enviable size on the wings, St. John’s leads the Big East in rebounding. But in the teams’ previous meeting, Creighton won the rebounding battle, 41-34, and came away with 11 offensive boards.
On Sunday, St. John’s expects to be without senior point guard Deivon Smith, who is dealing with a tweaked neck after missing time last month with a shoulder injury.
Smith, an excellent athlete who is among the Johnnies’ best offensive weapons, particularly in transition, could be out for the remainder of the regular season, Pitino said.
Still, St. John’s has plenty of offense. Junior guard RJ Luis Jr. is averaging 17.4 points per game in a breakout season, while Kadary Richmond, a prized offseason transfer from Seton Hall, is averaging 17.2 points over his last six games.
The Red Storm’s biggest problem has been a lack of 3-point shooting. They rank dead last in the Big East in 3-point percentage at 29.2% — a deficiency Villanova exploited by challenging St. John’s to beat them from deep.
St. John’s, which averages 20.6 attempts from 3-point range, went 11-of-37 (29.7%) in Wednesday’s loss.
“If we’re going to be a decent tournament team, we need to get our 3-point shooting back,” Pitino said. “We’ve got to be a good shooting team where people aren’t just going to dare us to shoot. They’re not going to give us anything else if we don’t start making them.”
Now in its second season under Pitino, St. John’s (21-4) is closing in on its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019. St. John’s has not won the Big East’s regular-season title since 1992, when Lou Carnesecca was head coach.
It’s already been a special season for St. John’s, which last week cracked the top 10 in the AP poll for the first time since 1999-2000. It boasts wins over No. 11 Marquette and No. 19 UConn, the latter of which came on the road.
The Johnnies’ four losses have been by a combined seven points.
“Never [giving] up, even though it’s not going well, is a remarkable trait,” Pitino said. “They have a lot of weaknesses as a basketball team, but it’s a remarkable trait to have. I’d rather have that trait than anything else in basketball.”