OMAHA, Neb. — Despite numerous calls against St. John's wishes, Rick Pitino refuses to criticize the priest.
The Johnnies made 13 fewer free throw attempts and had 12 more foul calls than Creighton. In the 66-65 loss to No. 22 Creighton, two no-calls in the final 20 seconds played a major role in the heartbreaking loss.
Blue Jays center Ryan Kalkbrenner appeared to foul Danis Jenkins as he went for the loose ball, leading to Trey Alexander's two game-winning free throws with 12.3 seconds left and Jordan Dingle at the buzzer. appeared to be fouled by Francisco Farabello on a putback attempt.
The Hall of Fame coach spoke at length about his approach to officiating.
“I don't yell at the umpires during games. This is going to sound completely heinous. Trying to get a call on every play, abusing the umpires and inciting the crowd is a form of cheating. I think so,” Pitino said. “You're trying to make a call. I don't believe in that. I've said this to referees probably 1,000 times during my tenure: 'Stop listening to the opposing coach. You're getting paid to be a referee, not to listen to a coach.'' Most companies abide by this, but the lesser companies don't. ”
Connecticut has a coach named Dan Hurley, who is known for officiating among many other coaches around the country.
Pitino recently made headlines when he said he wanted to play with the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena next year, the first time he has done so since 1990.
Competition among schools is intensifying.
The big bright spot in the loss was the play of the bench.
St. John's Reserve outscored the Creightons 29-4, outscoring them 14-2 in the second half.
Backup center Zuby Ejiofor (six points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals) was especially important during this spurt.
“I was very impressed with the way our bench played. We just played great defense,” Pitino said. “Zubi was very strong inside and did a lot of great things defensively.”
Freshman Brady Dunlap (ankle) was questionable but played 10 minutes off the bench. He had three rebounds and no points.
