St. John's basketball: 5 biggest takeaways exiting loss against UConn

There were five major takeaways from the St. John's basketball loss against No. 5 UConn in Hartford
Dec 23, 2023; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) drives the
Dec 23, 2023; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) drives the / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
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5. The Rotation Might Be Set

With RJ Luis back in the fold, we might have gotten a look at Rick Pitino's official rotation.

There was no time for experiments against UConn and Zuby Ejiofor, Jordan Dingle, Drissa Traore, and Luis were the only players used off the bench. There was no Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap, or Sean Conway -- all who saw less than four minutes in the previous game against Xavier.

Ejiofor only played as much time as he did -- 10 minutes -- because Joel Soriano battled foul trouble in the second half and Traore was limited to just five minutes.

Rotations shrink in college basketball when conference play arrives and St. John's, which could likely go down to an 8-man rotation when Luis improves his conditioning, is showing its hand already.

Now the question remains if Rick Pitino will alter his starting lineup in the coming weeks, although he says he does not really put too much emphasis on who starts.