The St. John’s basketball victory against Butler was sloppy and Rick Pitino was not pleased with what transpired inside the final seconds when the game had already been decided.
A pair of free throws by Simeon Wilcher put the Red Storm up by 10 points, 70-60, with 31.4 seconds left which was followed by a Butler turnover that had turned the shot clock off and allowed the Johnnies to run the remaining time off the clock.
Wilcher, who had the ball in the frontcourt, looked like he would exactly do that before a bit of a hesitation as he then decided to attempt a dunk as the game was set to end.
St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino had already turned his back to the play to greet Butler head coach Thad Matta at midcourt as Wilcher missed the dunk and Butler’s Pierre Brooks decided to finish a layup at the other end of the court.
No tempers flared between the players after the sequence, but Pitino was livid following the 70-62 win.
“First I’d like to apologize to Thad Matta and the coaching staff and the Butler program,” Pitino began his press conference. “I didn’t see what happened at the end but that’s humiliating and embarrassing to me, St. John’s, and everyone affiliated with us. I’m embarrassed with it.”
It was a tough game for Wilcher, who scored four points on 1-of-8 shooting, as he looks to regain his shooting form in Big East play as he has made 5-of-29 shots in his last three league games.
“I wasn’t pleased tonight with the end of the game at all,” Pitino said about Wilcher.
“I don’t understand it. If he would’ve made it and it went in, he would’ve been nationally ridiculed…it lacks common sense to me.”
Prior to the last second dunk attempt, Pitino made it a point to have a few conversations with Simeon Wilcher on the bench during the second half but kept what he said to the sophomore guard between the two of them.
St. John’s (12-3, 3-1 Big East) was shorthanded at the guard position on Saturday after Rick Pitino said that freshman guard Jaiden Glover was largely unavailable due to a right thumb sprain that made it very difficult for him to grip and shoot the basketball.
Pitino expects Glover to be more available on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET, FS1) against Xavier (9-6, 1-3 Big East) after he was only used for the final 31 seconds of the first half against Butler as the Red Storm navigated foul trouble.