CJS Press Box

NEW YORK, NY — The final buzzer cracked through Madison Square Garden on Feb. 8, and the Red Storm fans roared, the sound spilling down from the rafters after a basketball game turned into a fencing match that refused to end the way anyone expected.

St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino walked across the court to embrace his third son, Xavier head coach Richard Pitino. No. 17 St. John’s had survived, 87-82 in overtime, but the pride in the elder Pitino’s eyes told a story the scoreboard couldn’t capture.

“I think my son’s brilliant,” said Rick Pitino in the postgame presser. “I’m proud of them. I hate getting milestones against him, but I go away tonight saying, ‘My son’s a hell of a coach.’ I’m much prouder of that than 900… 1,100. To say my son’s a great coach is much more pleasing to me than any number of victories.”

With the victory before 14,512 fans, Rick Pitino reached 904 career wins, third all-time in NCAA Division I history, while extending St. John’s winning streak to 10 games and improving to 19-5 overall, 12-1 in Big East play. Seven games remain before the conference tournament, where the Red Storm sit second behind UConn.

Three days after proving they can dominate the Big East with a major win over No. 3 UConn on Friday, St. John’s showed a different kind of resilience Monday night: the ability to survive when nothing comes easy.

With 41 free throw attempts, the most for St. John’s since 2011, Pitino praised the team effort as well as Bryce Hopkins. The senior forward from Downers Grove, IL, finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, and
two assists.

“I think he won the game for us tonight. He was the difference maker, and I think he knew that he had to win it,” said Pitino.

The sideline theater was striking all night. Rick Pitino: yelling, flailing arms, diving into huddles, fluctuating between sitting and standing.

At 9:37, he frantically signaled Dylan Darling back in, pointing directly at defenders. Richard Pitino paced the floor, measured, controlled, arms crossed most of the night, occasionally offering a wrist twirl or raised hand, watching his team fight, and ultimately, watching his father win.

With the sprinkled chants pouring “That’s our Big East Player of the Year” every time Zuby Ejiofor was at the free-throw line, the elder Pitino shared he wasn’t impressed with his performance: 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

“They’re great stats, but he didn’t play well to me. I think he was tired. I played him too many minutes. Unfortunately, I had to win the game.”

Rick Pitino recognized that they could lose to anyone in the Big East and that they’re grounded and unselfish.

The stat sheet revealed why Xavier (12-12, 4-9 Big East) couldn’t close it out: St. John’s attempted 29 free throws while Xavier shot just nine. Fifteen lead changes. Fifteen ties. St. John’s had 27 fast breaks to Xavier’s six.

“We should’ve won the game,” said Xavier head coach Richard Pitino flatly. “You can’t have 28 free throws to 9.”

Xavier finished with 14 fouls to St. John’s 7, unable to defend without whistles when it mattered most. Rick acknowledged the challenge and gave all the praise.

“All the credit goes to Richard, his staff, his players,” said Rick Pitino. “They’ve outplayed us twice, but we just gutted it out in the final minutes to come away with a victory, which good teams do.”

This marked the second time this season the Pitinos faced off. The first came last month when Rick secured his 900th career victory, becoming the fourth coach in Division I history to reach that milestone. Richard had been named Xavier’s 21st head coach in March 2025.

The well-coached extra period quickly became Xavier’s foul torture chamber, with St. John’s building their biggest lead, five points at 2:07. Ejiofor won the jump ball and made a jumper, 80-78.

Tre Carroll turned it over. His teammate Filip Borovicanin tied it 80-80 at 3:40, and for one moment, the upset felt possible. Then the whistles came piercing.

Xavier’s Malik Messina-Moore fouled Ejiofor at 3:24. Miss, miss. With Xavier’s missed free throws, turnovers and two star players fouling out, the game felt like it was slipping. Xavier called a timeout, but St. John’s Oziyah Seller’s dunk with seven seconds remaining sealed the win.

Much of St. John’s energy came from point guard Dylan Darling, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound redshirt junior from Spokane who transferred from Idaho State and Washington State.

“I tried to come in game end, play with energy, kind of be a spark,” said Darling. “Just taking what the defense was giving me, and I was just getting to the rim.”

Darling, with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, looked like he was flying up and down the court with consecutive fast-break layups in the first half, including an and-one that tied it 26-26, shifted momentum when St. John’s needed it.

“This group is a lot of fun to play with,” said Darling. “Playing MSG in front of Johnny fans… I feel like we have the best fans in the country to be able to fill Madison Square Garden like we do.”

Darling knew Xavier was sneakily dangerous.

“It might have looked like we came out lacking a little bit of energy, but it wasn’t like we were taking Xavier lightly,” said Darling. “They took us down to the buzzer at their place. We struggled to guard them.”

For Xavier, another moral victory, another loss, sitting at 7th in the Big East. They’re stuck at .500, running out of time to salvage the season, but these teams could meet again in the Big East Tournament.

St. John’s hits the road to face Providence, and Xavier plays at home against Marquette next on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).

**Date originally written: February 8, 2026