R.J. Luis and the Red Storm couldn’t shake Arkansas defense in NCAA Tourney loss
By KEVIN McNAMARA
PROVIDENCE – This was the moment Rick Pitino feared, the effort St. John’s fans were afraid of, the game Big East people could see coming.
After a season of riding frightening defense and scattershot offense to delightful heights, the bottom fell out of the Red Storm’s run in a second round NCAA Tournament game at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The defense, the effort, was there once again for the Storm but horrific shooting led to a season-ending 75-66 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Johnnies made a paltry 28 percent of their shots. They made two of their 22 three-pointers. That’s 2-of-22, or 9 percent!!
“They took away a lot of what we do. They were the better team,” said SJU coach Rick Pitino. “They outplayed us. They deserve to move on and we don’t. That’s what March Madness is all about. No matter how good a regular season you have, you play this way you’re going to get beat.’’
Pitino pointed out that the Storm needs to be a team that shares the ball and creates easy baskets with its passing because of its shooting challenges. That did not happen. St. John’s managed a season-low five assists as its offense could never gather needed momentum.
“We haven’t faced that type of length and athleticism this year. That’s not the reason we lost the game,” Pitino said. “We lost the game because we did not move the basketball enough and that led to us shooting a very low percentage. We’re a team that we have to get a high number of assists to win and we didn’t tonight.
Now it’s not that R.J. Luis (3-of-17, 9 points), Kadary Richmond (5 pts, fouled out in 16 minutes) or Aaron Scott (1-of-10, 7 pts) were selfish. The offense was just sped up to a point where the strengths of the Arkansas lineup shined. Freshman Billy Richmond led the Hogs with 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Billy Richmond (24) shined for Arkansas
Pitino actually saw this storm cloud coming into the game. Pitino spent eight great seasons in the Southeastern Conference at Kentucky and he knows what type of player John Calipari has on his roster at Arkansas. The SEC coaches stock their rosters with long, active athletes that can make life miserable for opposing teams.
Arkansas certainly has those types. They showed up with a lineup that is rarely seen in the Big East.
“Their size is what’s imposing. Their size, they can step out and do so many things,” Pitino said Friday. “Every conference has an identity, and the SEC going back to the Shaq (O’Neal) days, it’s always been tremendous athleticism, tremendous length. Speed. It’s always been the MO for that conference.”
That length and strength and speed spelled trouble for St. John’s best players. While nearly all of the pre-game oxygen was consumed by the history of Pitino and Calipari, the game is always decided by the players.
This one wasn’t for the faint of heart. Just getting to the rim was an adventure that was almost always greeted by a bump or a body slam. The game’s physical nature led to quick foul woes for the Storm as first Simeon Wilcher and then Richmond picked up two fouls. Richmond exited at the 13:13 mark and sat the remainder of the half.
Pitino shuffled his reserves into the fray but the offense continued to sputter with a 0-of-14 stretch helping the Razorbacks build a 22-14 lead. The Storm trailed by just 35-32 at the break and that felt like a win. The second half had to promise sunnier shooting moments, right?
Wrong.
Richmond picked up a third foul six minutes into the second half. A fourth followed chasing a rebound and a very questionable fifth came with 6:28 to play.
“That’s not up to me to decide. They blew the whistle, they called it, and the result is the result,” Richmond said when asked about his five fouls.
St. John’s trailed by just 61-58 at that point and the game was still very much in doubt. But without their play-making guard the offense shut down even more. A baseline move for a dunk by Ruben Prey with 4:11 left made it 66-64 but that was it. The Storm missed its next seven shots and finished the game making only one of its final nine attempts.
Crunch time also unfolded with Luis, the Big East Player of the Year, sitting on the bench. Pitino was clearly bothered by Luis’ inability to pass and create for his teammates but he was swallowed up by several Arkansas defenders, too. Asked why Luis didn’t play in the final 4:56, Pitino said “you know he was 3-for-17. You know he was 0-for-3, so…I’m not going to knock one of my players.”
With the win, Arkansas moves on to its fourth Sweet 16 in five seasons but this is the first with Calipari as coach. He left Kentucky for Fayetteville after getting beaten down by the pressure of Big Blue Nation and some under-achieving finishes in the NCAA’s. This run is a bit of a surprise, only because the team began 0-5 in the SEC and needed to scratch and claw its way to a 22-13 finish and 10 seed in this tournament.
“To be where we are, still playing and still fighting and having fun. I’m enjoying it,” Calipari said. “Like I said, I’m not going to let anything faze me in this. Here we are, let’s have fun.”
Calipari is now 14-10 in matchups with Pitino. Two Hall of Famers who have clashed on this sport’s biggest stages. Will this be for the final time?
It’s possible. Pitino is 72 and while he’s armed with a multi-million dollar war chest to retain and attract good players, nothing is for sure in college hoops these days.
Pitino tried to deflect any of the pre-game media swirl that centered on his rivalry with Calipari but those close to both coaches know these two aren’t close or friendly. They own too many battle scars, after all.
“I have known him well, but I don’t think we have been to dinner one time in our lifetime,” Pitino said Friday. “We’re both Italian, we both love the game. I think that’s where the similarities end.”
Can Pitino continue to elevate St. John’s program and maybe add the size, length and athleticism that SEC teams regularly show up with? That and a few shooters would certainly go a long way.
