Rick Pitino has seen enough of Xavier for this season.
After two matchups in two weeks against his son, Richard, and the Musketeers, he doesn’t want to see them again.
“I hope we don’t play them in the Big East Tournament,” he said on Monday night after the Red Storm escaped with an 87-82 overtime victory at Madison Square Garden.
“Certain teams cause matchup problems for you and this team does for us.”
In Cincinnati, Xavier led by as many as 16 points against the Red Storm before a furious rally midway through the second half allowed St. John’s to escape with a five-point victory.
While its comeback wasn’t as dramatic in the rematch, the Johnnies trailed by two points with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation before Oziyah Sellers tipped in a missed layup that tied the game before the Red Storm dominated the extra period.
Its largest deficit was only five points in the game.
“I thought my son, in the two times we played him did things to really hurt our defense, did things to hurt our press,” Pitino added. “I think he’s an extremely brilliant young coach.”
St. John’s is almost assured a top two seed in the Big East Tournament next month, barring a late season collapse, while Xavier is currently in a five-way tie in the league’s standings from seventh to eleventh.
If the Red Storm beat out UConn and get the top seed, the only likely path for the Johnnies to see the Musketeers again would be if they finish eighth or ninth in the league and meet in the quarterfinals. If St. John’s get the No. 2 seed, there are more realistic options for the two teams to play in the quarterfinals or semifinals other than a miraculous run to the title game.