PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rick Pitino benched his captain Tuesday night.
St. John’s lost 75-72 to Providence, and Joel Soriano was left out of the starting lineup for the first time this season.
Pitino started Zuby Ejiofor in place of Soriano, who has struggled recently, but not much changed for Johnny.
Ejiofor showed signs of strength, recording 7 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes when he was plagued by fouls.
Soriano’s funk continued.
He had nine points and seven rebounds, but fell behind Providence center Josh Oduro, who had 28 points (26 after halftime).
“I went with Zuby because he’s been playing hard in practice and I wanted to see what we had in him” plans moving forward at center said Pitino, who was not enthusiastic about it. “Practice is one thing. We want to see what he has in him.”
Soriano, a 6-foot-11 native of Yonkers, has averaged just 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in his previous eight games, six of which were losses at St. John’s.
In the team’s first five league games, Soriano was averaging 16.4 points and 10.4 rebounds.
Ejiofor, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Kansas, is a recent addition who has outperformed Soriano, especially defensively, something the Johnnys have struggled with most of this year.
Over the past nine games, St. John’s has been outscored by 78 points when Soriano is on the court, but has outscored opponents by 53 points when Ejiofor is on the floor.
It’s worth noting that Soriano played an additional 110 minutes in that period.
Sources said Pitino considered a move a few games ago, but decided to postpone the decision in favor of Soriano.
When St. John’s reached desperation mode, the Hall of Fame coach pulled the trigger.
“He worked hard tonight and played hard,” Pitino said. “Everyone on this team gives 100 percent effort every day and I’m so thankful for that. He doesn’t. I’m not trying to teach him a lesson. I just want people who gave their all. I would like to reward you.
“So Joel gave his all tonight, whether he lost or not, he still gave his all. If he gets to put in an exceptional effort again, that’s all I want from him. . I want to see him have a great end to the season.”
