Rick Pitino has the fifth-seeded St. John's basketball still standing in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, and they will have their biggest test of the season on Friday.
With a ticket to the Elite Eight on the line, the St. John's Red Storm will lock horns with tournament favorite and No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils in a Sweet 16 round matchup at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Before the Red Storm traveled to Washington, the 73-year-old Pitino spoke to St. John's supporters outside the Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York, telling them that his team is up for the Duke challenge and that Red Storm's second unit has stepped it up of late in practice.
“Our guys are ready for it, they’ve had good practices,” Pitino said (h/t Rumble In The Garden). “Our second unit has killed the first unit two days in a row, so they’re excited about that and they let them know it.”
St. John's is coming off a win over a blue blood in the form of the No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the second round, and the Red Storm are looking to victimize another in their next game.
St. John's defeated the Jayhawks on a buzzer-beating lay-up by guard Dylan Darling, but the Red Storm's suffocating defense also played a big role in their success. They forced 16 Kansas turnovers and converted them into 18 points. They also held the Jayhawks to just 44 percent shooting from the field.
Defense will be a major key anew for St. John's against the high-powered Blue Devils, who play at an elite level on both sides of the floor.
