Rick Pitino's night gets worse after Villanova upset with bleak Deivon Smith update

02/12/2025 10:09 PM

St. John’s has been one of the hottest teams in college basketball recently, but that wasn’t enough to get it over the hump on Wednesday night. Rick Pitino and the Red Storm were upset by Villanova on the road in a 73-71 classic thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Tyler Perkins.

The loss certainly took the wind out of the Johnnies’ sails on Wednesday night, but things didn’t get any better after the game. Key guard Deivon Smith missed this game after tweaking his neck in practice, and Pitino wasn’t optimistic about his status after the game. The St. John’s head coach said that Smith could miss the rest of the regular season while he recovers, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post.

“We have to get him healthy,” Pitino said, per Braziller.

This isn’t the first injury that Smith has been dealing with this season. He suffered a shoulder injury in January that forced him to miss two games and seemed to be lingering around since he returned to the lineup.

Smith’s absence could be felt on Wednesday night as St. John’s was forced to work late into the shot clock to get good looks against a stingy Villanova defense. Star scorers Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis Jr. were forced to create more for themselves and weren’t able to work off the ball as much, so not having Smith made it much tougher on that end.

This St. John’s basketball team will miss Smith’s impact on the game in multiple areas. He is a triple-double threat with his elite positional rebounding and great playmaking, as well as his ability to get to the rim.

Without Smith in the lineup, guard Simeon Wilcher will have a much bigger role in the offense. Wilcher scored 12 points in 37 minutes on Wednesday night in the loss, so he is already getting a very heavy minute load due to the injury.

The rest of the regular season will be very difficult for St. John’s if Smith does in fact end up missing that much time. Pitino and company have a huge home game against No. 24 Creighton on Sunday and also gave games against UConn and Marquette left on the slate before the Big East Tournament.

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