Rick Pitino-coached St. John’s completes the program’s first unbeaten January since 1985
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Pitino joked that senior guard Kadary Richmond was like a fine wine.
“He keeps getting better with age,” Pitino quipped. “And he’s 35.”
Even if he was 35 and not 23, Richmond still would not have been born the last time St. John’s got through January without a loss. That was 40 years ago in 1985 — the last time the program reached the Final Four.
The 15th-ranked Red Storm are 7-0 since the New Year and 9-1 in Big East play for the first time since the ’80s heyday under late Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, which doesn’t come up much around the gym.
“I really don’t talk about the ’80s,” Pitino said after a 66-41 victory at Georgetown on Tuesday night. “I always toast Lou after every game and say the same thing to everybody: ‘Lou would be proud of this team.’ But I don’t bring it up too much. I don’t bring it up they’re the most wins in January. I never bring any of that up. That’s your job. We really just do focus on getting better. This team is getting better and better.”
St. John’s has won three of the past four without point guard Deivon Smith, who has been nursing a bruised right shoulder. Smith could return as soon as Saturday when Providence visits Madison Square Garden, and that only makes the Red Storm more dangerous.
“They’re doing really well without him,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said. “I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t played against them with him. It’s another athlete on the floor, another tenacious defender. They’ve played great without him.”
Cooley emphasized great, and it’s hard to argue. Tied with No. 9 Marquette atop the Big East standings, St. John’s has outscored opponents 519-423 during this run, and that includes erasing a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat Xavier in overtime last week.
“It means a lot for us, but we’re just taking it one game at a time,” swingman Aaron Scott said of winning seven in a row. “We’re not looking too far in the future. We’re just going to prepare for Providence and just get ready for that game.”
Pitino called the game against the Hoyas his team’s best defense-offense performance of the season. The lead got as big as 30, and it was over at halftime.
He told players in the locker room that he’d only coached one team that “could go out in the second half, play it 0-0 and dominate” — Kentucky in 1996 on the way to a national title. St. John’s is not there yet, and that’s OK to Pitino.
“I’m proud of these guys,” he said. “I think the best quality that we have is we’re humble. We just keep playing hard. We don’t think we’re great. We aspire to be great, but we don’t believe we’re great. We understand that anybody can beat us.”
They just haven’t in a long time, and March Madness is right around the corner.
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By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
