Mike Rice
Mike Rice
ESPN Staff Writer
Mike Reiss is an ESPN NFL reporter and covers New England patriots. Reiss has covered Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
Rhodeley, Providence – Second Seed St. Johns was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament to Arkansas, the 10th seed, on Saturday.
Coach Rick Pitino let him out of the game when Big East Player of the Year RJ Lewis Jr. tugs St. Johns within two points with 4:56 left when he hit two free throws. Lewis, who scored a total of nine points in a 17-3 shooting, did not return.
Pitino was pressed for that decision by reporters as Arkansas outscored his team 11-4 to record a 75-66 victory in front of a frenzied sold-out crowd at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
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Initially, Pitino referred to Lewis playing for 30 minutes, pointing out that “it’s a long time.” But when asked if he had placed Lewis on the bench because he was tired, Pitino said: “No. He played 30 minutes. I played others. You don’t ask me the question. You already know why he didn’t play.”
There was tension in Bill Reynolds’ media workroom. At one point, Lewis was told to the reporter that he didn’t believe he was a positive leader during the game as a player. When asked what he thought of what Lewis said, Pitino didn’t deal with it directly.
When asked if there was one play that led to him keeping Lewis on the bench, Pitino shot back by referencing his shooting rate.
“I know he’s 17-3. I know he was 3-3 (from 3). So you’re answering our own (questions),” he said. “I’m not going to knock one of my players.”
Lewis averaged 18.5 points per game on Saturday. His low season Saturday was an eight-point match against Clayton on December 31st.
His struggle against Arkansas contributed to a 28% Red Storm shooting from the field. They were 3 to 22-2.
“It really feels like we didn’t do anything. It’s annoying to lose the way we lost,” Lewis said. “It’s disappointing my teammate.”
“Officiently, we didn’t share basketball well. That was our end mise,” the team finished 31-5 after winning the Big East regular season and tournament title. “We didn’t move basketball well enough, so we shot a very low percentage. We had to get a lot of assists to win and we didn’t do it tonight.”
There were no magic schemes or adjustments to defeat the Red Storm. They didn’t see the athletic team as long as Arkansas all year round, and they struggled so much with the offense due to their length and physicality.
On defense, Villanova upset St. John’s in February by consistently exposing a red storm from a dribble in February. Other opponents followed that blueprint, but no one had the same collection of talent as Arkansas and consistently beat the dribble.
St. John’s reacted poorly as the three-point shot continued to climb Carom for St. John’s, and Arkansas consistently penetrated the lane freely. Their attitude was reflected in their body language. At one point things got so bad for Lewis that teammate Zuby Ejiofor (23 points, 12 rebounds) grabbed him by the shoulder for a pep talk.
This was not lost to the Arkansas player.
“Ah, no doubt,” cried Arkansas freshman guard Boogie Fland. “You could see it on their faces. Body language… I say more than words. They actually showed it.
