St. John's basketball dropped a heartbreaking game on Monday, to Iowa State. Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino admitted a regret he had after watching his team lose in the Las Vegas Players Era Festival basketball tournament.
Iowa State nipped the Red Storm, 83-82.
“With the game on the line, we just didn't come up with the rebounds necessary to put the other team away,” Pitino said, per ESPN. “But that's a credit to their incredible crashing of the offensive glass. We take the loss because we couldn't come up with the rebounds. It's unfortunate we lost another good game.”
Iowa State lost scorer Tamin Lipsey in the game due to injury. Still, the Cyclones were able to advance in the Thanksgiving tournament.
“We're still evaluating,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said about Lipsey's injury. “The training staff, medical staff, just told us it's going to be a day-to-day, lower-body extremity, so I don't have great detail on it. We haven't had time to really, truly evaluate him over time. So we'll get back to the hotel, check him out and see what that means.”
St. John's has now lost two tough games early in the season, to Iowa State and Alabama. The Red Storm are now 3-2 on the young basketball season.
St. John's hopes to continue success under Rick Pitino
Pitino is in his third season at St. John's. He had an outstanding season in 2024-25, winning the Big East tournament championship. He then led the Red Storm to the NCAA tournament, where they bowed to Arkansas in the Round of 32.
The Red Storm are led this season by transfer Bryce Hopkins. Hopkins is averaging just under 16 points a game for the club. He came to the program this season after previously playing at Providence and Kentucky.
The St. John's head coach is one of the elder statesmen of the game. He frequently comments on the state of college basketball. Pitino made waves in recent days, calling for an ACC-Big East super conference.
St. John's hopes to bounce back when they take on undefeated Baylor on Tuesday.
