St. John's is expected to be without guard Nahiem Alleyne for some time.
The graduate transfer from Connecticut sprained his right ankle in the first half of the Johnnys' 73-72 loss to No. 17 Marquette on Saturday.
Alleyne went to retrieve a rebound with 11:14 left in the first half when he fell awkwardly onto the leg of teammate Chris Ledlum and was unable to return.
After the match, he was seen on crutches.
“I would say yes,” coach Rick Pitino said when asked if Alleyne would be out for a significant amount of time. “It's pretty bad. It's not a fracture or a fracture. It's a sprain.”
St. John's is also without guard Jordan Dingle, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday but remains ill.
With Alleyne sidelined, freshman Simeon Wilcher could have a larger role.
In the loss to Marquette, he had 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 0 turnovers in 9 minutes, but did not make any shots.
Pitino said he is coordinating plans between games with talented sophomore wing RJ Lewis Jr.
Lewis suffers from chronic shin splints and has been practicing on a very limited basis to limit the discomfort.
Coach Pitino has switched to a policy of having Lewis practice fully one day and resting the next day in preparation for a game.
He told Lewis and his family either shut him down or change.
“He comes to practice and he practices for like 20 minutes out of two hours and he doesn't feel good and he doesn't know how to play,” Pitino said. “I said, 'We're not going to do that anymore. We either shut you down, get ready for next year, or go with my routine. Once the game is over, we leave and go. The next day we practice as a team and then leave the day before the game.
“At least that way you'll get the reps you need to play the game.” What we were doing was stupid, to say the least. Kidd never learned to play or defend. ”
Lewis had his best game of the season on Saturday.
He scored 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting and added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
