Pitino defends benching Luis in loss to Arkansas

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — No. 2 seed St. John’s was knocked out of the NCAA tournament by 10th-seeded Arkansas on Saturday, with its No. 1 player on the bench in crunch time.

When Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. hit two free throws with 4:56 remaining to pull St. John’s within two points, coach Rick Pitino subbed him out of the game. Luis, who totaled a season-low nine points and was out of rhythm throughout, never returned.

Pitino was pressed by reporters on the decision, as Arkansas outscored his team 11-4 the rest of the way to record a 75-66 victory in front of a frenzied sellout crowd of 11,487 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Initially, Pitino referenced Luis having played 30 minutes, noting “that’s a long time.” But when asked if he kept Luis on the bench because he was tired, Pitino said: “No. He played 30 minutes. I played other people. You’re asking leading questions, so don’t ask me any questions. You already know why he didn’t play.”

There was tension in the Bill Reynolds media workroom. At one point, it was mentioned to Pitino that Luis had told a reporter that as a player he didn’t believe he had been a positive leader during the game. When asked his thoughts on what Luis said, Pitino didn’t address it directly, instead referencing three other St. John’s players for whom he had appreciation.

Then when asked if there was one play that led him to keeping Luis on the bench, Pitino shot back by referencing his shooting percentages.

“You know he was 3-for-17. You know he was 0-for-3 [from 3]. So you’re answering our own [question],” he said. “I’m not going to knock one of my players.”

Luis entered Saturday averaging 18.5 points per game. His season low entering Saturday was an eight-point game against Creighton on Dec. 31 when he was 4-of-15 from the field.

His struggles against Arkansas contributed to the Red Storm shooting 28% from the field. They were 2-for-22 from 3.

“It feels like we didn’t do anything, really. It sucks to lose the way we lost,” Luis said. “I let my teammates down.”

“Offensively, we did not share the basketball enough and that was our demise,” said Pitino, whose team finishes 31-5 after winning the Big East regular-season title and tournament championship. “We did not move the basketball enough, and that led to us shooting a very low percentage. We have to get a high number of assists to win, and we didn’t tonight.”

There wasn’t a magic scheme or adjustment that felled the Red Storm. They had not seen a team as long and athletic as Arkansas all year, and they struggled so much on offense because of their length and physicality.

On defense, Villanova had exposed St. John’s in an upset in February by consistently exposing the Red Storm off the dribble. Other opponents followed that blueprint, but none had the same collection of talent as Arkansas to consistently beat them off the dribble.

As the 3-point shots continued to carom out for St. John’s, and Arkansas consistently penetrated the lane at will, St. John’s responded poorly. Their demeanor was reflected by their body language, as things got so bad for Luis at one point that teammate Zuby Ejiofor (23 points, 12 rebounds) grabbed him by the shoulders for a pep talk.

This was not lost on the Arkansas players, who watched the collective will sapped from their opponents.

“Ohhhhhh, most definitely,” exclaimed Arkansas freshman guard Boogie Fland, when asked if he could see accumulated frustration. “You could see it on their face. Body language … says more than words. They actually showed that. We were wearing them down, wearing them down.”

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