Rick Pitino knows what it’s like to be on the losing end of an all-time opening-round upset.
In 2011, Pitino was the head coach of the No. 4 Louisville team that suffered a 62-61 stunner to No. 13 Morehead State in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64.
Morehead State’s Demonte Harper famously drilled a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining, turning Louisville’s two-point advantage into a one-point deficit.
It’s a moment Pitino showed to his second-seeded St. John’s team this week ahead of Thursday night’s first-round matchup with No. 15 Omaha.
“If my memory serves me well, I said to my [Louisville players], ‘Whatever you do, don’t let them take a 3. We’ll win it in overtime.’ … Sure enough, came down the court, we backed up, not wanting to get beat and gave up the 3,” Pitino, 72, recalled Wednesday.
“My point to [St. John’s] was about how important it is to make sure you understand time and score and what you have to do.”
It’s a valuable lesson for a group of St. John’s players who enter Thursday’s game at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I., as 18.5-point favorites but who largely lack NCAA Tournament experience.
This is the first trip to the Big Dance for St. John’s since 2019, yet the resurgent Red Storm arrive with a target on their backs after they surged to a 30-4 record and won the Big East’s regular-season and conference tournament championships.
“We’re playing with house money,” said Omaha senior point guard JJ White. “The pressure is not on us, it’s on them. We’ll see what happens.”
Omaha (22-12) won the Summit League’s regular-season and conference tournament crowns behind an offense that averaged 78.1 points per game and shot 36.7% on 3-point attempts.
Senior power forward Marquel Sutton averages 19.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while White averages 13.7 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 43.9% from 3-point range.
“Their point guard would be a top-four point guard in the Big East,” Pitino said. “They have the [Summit League] Player of the Year at the power forward spot.”
The Mavericks also boast continuity, as their three leading scorers — Sutton, White and junior guard Tony Osborn — have played together at Omaha for three seasons.
All three of those years have been under head coach Chris Crutchfield, who went to the Final Four as an assistant at Oklahoma in 2016.
“They can really shoot the ball, and they’re really talented on the offensive end,” St. John’s junior forward Zuby Ejiofor said. “We watched film in that department to see the spots where we could be the most successful and apply pressure the entire game.”
St. John’s specializes in shutting down opposing offenses. The Red Storm enter the tournament with Division I’s most efficient defense, according to KenPom, and have held opponents to 40.1% shooting, including 31.8% on 3-pointers.
The Johnnies force 15.6 turnovers per game — the second most among teams to make the NCAA Tournament.
“They’re a physical team, so we have to match that physicality,” Sutton said. “We’ve just got to not turn the ball over and hit shots and I think we’ll be alright.”
Thursday marks the NCAA Tournament debuts of key St. John’s players including RJ Luis Jr., Aaron Scott, Simeon Wilcher and Deivon Smith. Ejiofor totaled only 10 minutes over two tournament games as a freshman with Kansas in 2023.
Those players are leaning on the experience of the battle-tested Pitino, who has taken six teams to the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the Final Four seven times and led Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national championships.
With a victory, St. John’s on Saturday would face the winner of No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas. Like Pitino, Kansas’ Bill Self and Arkansas’ John Calipari are Hall of Famers.
But Pitino knows better than to look past Omaha.
“I go back so many years in those first rounds, and I was in Omaha’s shoes,” Pitino said. “They’re really, really good. … Back then, there was a lot of difference between the upper level and those teams. Today, there’s not a whole lot of difference.”
SCOTT’S STATUS
Scott is playing through pain.
The senior guard has a torn ligament in his right thumb but is expected to continue suiting up for the Red Storm.
“He’s been very tough,” Pitino said.
Wednesday’s revelation came five days after Scott’s thumb bent backward as he contested a lay-up in the second half of Friday’s 79-63 win over Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinal.
Scott left that game in visible pain but returned less than three minutes later with his hand wrapped.
He then played in Saturday’s 82-66 win over Creighton in the Big East Tournament championship game and scored five points on 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-3 on 3-pointers.
“He’s actually shooting better with the torn thumb,” Pitino joked. “I wish he would’ve torn it long ago.”