St. John’s wins roller-coaster exhibition game in double OT to start Rick Pitino era
The Rick Pitino era kicked off Saturday afternoon, and if this charity exhibition was an indication, this season promises to be a roller-coaster ride.
nypost.com
By Zach Braziller
Buckle up, St. John’s fans.
The Rick Pitino era kicked off Saturday afternoon, and if this charity exhibition was an indication, this season promises to be a roller-coaster ride.
The Rick Pitino era kicked off Saturday afternoon, and if this charity exhibition was an indication, this season promises to be a roller-coaster ride.
In Pitino’s first game as the Johnnies’ coach, his team went from dominant to dominated to clutch in a thrilling, double-overtime, 89-78 victory over Rutgers in front of 3,011 at Carnesecca Arena in an exhibition game to benefit the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation.
St. John’s blew an 18-point halftime lead, then prevailed in the second extra session after Nahiem Alleyne’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer forced an additional five minutes.
“I was delighted when Rutgers agreed to play this game, because when you play against a well-coached team this early in the year, as good a coached team as there is in the country, [it makes you better],” Pitino said. “For us, winning by 20 or 25, would’ve killed my team. It would’ve been the worst lesson of all time. Going into double overtime in an exhibition game is a dream come true. I told my team, I’d rather lose than win by 20 because of all the lessons you can learn from a close game.”
The first half and second overtime went as Pitino would’ve scripted this dress rehearsal.
St. John’s led by 18 at the half and owned the final five minutes, outscoring Rutgers, 14-3.
The second half and first overtime were along the lines of what the Hall of Fame coach feared with a brand new team.
Rutgers shot 51 percent from the field and poured in 44 points in the second half, 15 coming in transition.
In all, there were positives and negatives.
Glenn Taylor Jr., a versatile transfer wing from Oregon State, owned the second overtime.
He scored seven of his 13 points for St. John’s in the period and the Red Storm iced it when Daniss Jenkins found Alleyne for a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to nine with 50 seconds left.
At the horn, tempers flared somewhat after Jenkins dribbled out the clock.
The two coaching staffs ensured that it didn’t go further.
“It was exciting out there,” Alleyne said.
Jenkins looked every bit like the under-control floor general Pitino had raved about.
Rebounding, half-court defense and ball movement were clear strengths. Transition defense and fouling (Rutgers attempted 29 free throws) were weak spots.
Most of all, it was a prepared and poised team that handled itself well without projected starters Jordan Dingle (left shoulder) and RJ Luis (left hand).
“We just came together. I feel like we handled adversity really well,” said Alleyne, a super-senior who was part of UConn’s national championship team last season. “That was the biggest takeaway from our team. We didn’t just get down.”
Alleyne led all scorers with 19 points, Jenkins had 13 points, nine assists and four rebounds, Joel Soriano added 12 points and 16 rebounds and Chris Ledlum chipped in 11 and 10, and had the key assist on Alleyne’s game-tying 3-pointer after an offensive rebound.
Jamichael Davis and Cliff Omoruyi had 16 each for Rutgers.
The first half was terrific, a commanding 20 minutes that coincided with Rutgers missing all 10 of its 3-point attempts and going the final 9:09 of the stanza without a made field goal.
Rutgers played much better after halftime, in part because St. John’s missed 12 of its first 14 shots to start the half, the Scarlet Knights cut down on their turnovers and hurt the Johnnies in transition.
“I’m so proud of a lot of things that we did right and we got to work on a lot of things we did wrong,” Pitino said.
A 20-point lead was just one after a Noah Fernandes 3-pointer with 4:48 left, and he then gave Rutgers the lead after he stripped Jenkins and scored on the other end to cap an extended 27-10 run.
Taylor tied the game with one of two free throws with 17.3 second left and Ledlum blocked a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Gavin Griffiths, forcing overtime.
There were still 10 minutes left, and multiple momentum turns remaining in this exhibition game Pitino believes will help his team immeasurably down the road.
Everyone got a chance to play, there were several teachable moments, and the final result was a win, too.
“I think they were awesome, because they made every intelligent play down the stretch for a group that has not been together,” Pitino said. “The defense we played down the stretch was great. They did so many great things, which is a little surprising to me for a team that hasn’t played together.
“I liked what happened today,” he added. “It made us a lot better.”
