St. John's basketball head coach Rick Pitino gets real about Arkansas' John Calipari ahead of second round
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St. John’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino got honest on the upcoming second-round matchup against John Calipari and Arkansas. The Red Storm were in vintage form on Thursday against Omaha, getting off to their usual slow start in the first half and looking like the best team in the country in the second half. In the end, Rick Pitino’s squad quelled any potential upset alert in this first-round clash, winning 83-53. The positive result marked the first time St John’s basketball has won a NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
The second-seeded Red Storm continued their remarkable season and will now prepare for what should be a much more competitive matchup against the Razorbacks. The clash will feature a rivalry renewed between two Hall of Fame coaches. Rick Pitino and John Calipari have an extension history with each other that has taken more than a couple of twists and turns. The last time these historic rivals faced off was in a Sweet 16 matchup where Calipari’s Kentucky squad got the best of a Pitino-coached Louisville team.
A lot has changed in these legendary figures’ careers since then, but fans will highly anticipate this matchup. In the postgame of his team’s first-round victory, Pitino discussed the upcoming game against his old foe.
“He’s (John Calipari) done a great job for however many years he’s been coaching, and his team has had a lot of injuries this season. If he's on the bubble, like seventh or eighth place in the SEC, I'm glad we're not in the SEC.”
The Red Storm are in the form to do something really special this tournament
St. John’s basketball once against showed why this has been one of the best seasons in school history. The Red Storm adjusted to the opponent and the flow of the game, and once they got going, there was nothing Omaha could do to slow this juggernaut of a team down. Big East Player of the Year R.J. Luis Jr. led the charge with another great game, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
In particular, the junior guard had a very encouraging performance from three-point range, shooting 5/8 from distance. Keeping that efficiency will be essential for Luis Jr. and the rest of the team, as opponents will let the Red Storm take a lot of open threes this tournament. Shooting from deep was one of the main weaknesses of this group during the regular season.
Despite the Red Storm’s obvious flaws, it will take a heck of an effort to beat this group. The No. 2 seed in the West Region has earned the right to be heavily favored in all of its games until potentially the Elite Eight. However, that fact does not mean St. John’s basketball can take Arkansas for granted.
The Razorbacks are a talented, physical team that has gotten much healthier over the past few weeks. This is not your usual ten-seed, and St. John’s will need to be disciplined and efficient to survive and advance. The Red Storm have a higher ceiling than the Razorbacks, but in a single-elimination format, anything can happen. Still, it will be surreal to see these two coaching titans of college basketball butting heads again in the NCAA Tournament.
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