St. John's basketball took the stunning 75-66 loss to Arkansas with a touch of controversy. Head coach Rick Pitino opted to bench trusted scorer RJ Luis Jr., with the decision coming late in the game Saturday.

The Red Storm turned to Luis not long ago. St. John's watched him explode in the Big East Tournament title game. Luis even shattered a mark once held by Red Storm icon Chris Mullin, all while lifting the program to a long-awaited outright Big East title.

Pitino's decision against the Razorbacks left many puzzled. But he didn't elaborate on the reason why he yanked Luis.

“You already know why he didn't play,” Pitino told reporters.

He's implying he doesn't need to explain why Luis wasn't on the floor in the final minute. Pitino likely wants the stats to speak for why the Luis decision got made. He shot only 3-of-17 from field goal range, and settled for only nine points. It became Luis' worst scoring night since scoring just eight on New Year's Eve against Creighton. Yet, he also shared one more reasoning behind Luis' stunning benching.

“He played 30 minutes and that's a long time,” Pitino said.

The two-time national title winner here implied he didn't want to wear down Luis. Still, Pitino pulled one of his top shooters with his team down 70-64 and a chance to at least tie the game.

But how did Luis feel about the decision or performance?

RJ Luis Jr. reacts to benching in St. John's loss to Arkansas

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Luis himself got blunt with himself after taking the nine-point loss.

“Let my teammates down,” Luis shared with reporters afterwards.

The Big East player of the year wasn't through with his honest assessment of himself or the way St. John's played against the No. 10 seeded Razorbacks.

“It feels we didn't do anything, really, after today. It just sucks to lose the way we lost and the way we went out,” Luis said. “Love these guys. We fought a lot of adversity this year and we were able to bounce back a few times. I think we had a great year. Fell short and it sucks to lose this way.”

Despite the benching, Pitino avoided disparaging Luis — saying “I'm not going to knock one of my players.”

Luis ends his season averaging 18.5 points per game, a new career-best mark for him. The Miami native is eligible to return next season, as he's still a junior.