St. John’s received an apology from Rick Pitino.
They will look to stay on track this weekend against another tough opponent in the Big East.
The Red Storm entered the new year with high expectations and NCAA Tournament dreams, but then their 2024 schedule puts them 6-8, near the basement of the Big East, and tied for eighth in the conference.
Sunday’s loss to Seton Hall left Pitino feeling bad, calling this season “the least enjoyable experience of my life.”
But after the legendary coach apologized to his players and St. John’s bounced back with a 90-85 win over lowly Georgetown on Wednesday, Pitino further expanded his responsibility.
Expectations for March Madness are waning, but the team has a chance to make a statement Sunday against No. 15 Creighton at Madison Square Garden.
The Blue Jays come to New York from the high point of the season, defeating top-ranked UW by 19 points on Tuesday, ending the Huskies’ winning streak at 14.
If they can defeat Creighton, a hot team that St. John’s lost to by one point on January 13th, the team may be able to begin a rebuild in earnest.
“Right now, we are mainly focused on what we can do to improve our chances of winning. [NCAA] Let’s play the tournament and see how special we can do with this team with our veteran players and how far we can go,” St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor said Friday.
Jordan Dingle led the way with a game-high 22 points against the Hoyas, but captain Joel Soriano will almost certainly have to step up when St. John’s faces Creighton.
Soriano struggled mightily earlier this month, hitting his lowest point on Feb. 10 against No. 7 Marquette, scoring just two points in 17 minutes.
However, he turned things around a bit in his last two games, recording a double-double in each contest.
With Soriano, Dingle and Danis Jenkins all seniors, Ejiofor said he expects the Red Storm to do something good with this mainstay in the remaining weeks of the season.
“I think this is a really special group that’s going to be off the team next year,” he said. “So we are mainly focused on what we can do this year.”
