Rick Pitino rips officials after St. John's basketball loses to Baylor at buzzer

The Red Storm head coach was not happy with the officiating in the Bahamas
Quinnipiac v St. John's; St. John's basketball head coach Rick Pitino coaches on the sidelines
Quinnipiac v St. John's; St. John's basketball head coach Rick Pitino coaches on the sidelines / Porter Binks/GettyImages
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Rick Pitino was going through nearly every emotion as he sat down for his post game press conference following the heartbreaking loss for the St. John's basketball team in double overtime against No. 13 Baylor.

He was upset, frustrated, and agitated and the Hall of Famer did not hold back on the officals after the game.

"I felt at the end of the game that was highly unethical to go to the camera on a 'BS' make up and icing my free throw shooter," he said.

Pitino was referring to the play with 4.1 seconds left when Zuby Ejiofor was fouled by Baylor's Jayden Nunn. Bears head coach Scott Drew asked the officials to review the play because he believed Ejiofor elbowed Nunn in the face, which should have been a flagrant foul on the Red Storm.

The officiating crew of Don Dally, Lamar Simpson, and Lucas Santos obliged but a very quick review yielded no change of the call on the floor.

Ejiofor, with St. John's leading 98-96, would miss both free throws as Jeremy Roach hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer to give Baylor the win, 99-98.

"Highly unethical," Pitino continued on his unprovoked remarks. "The referee should have never let it happen."

Controversy also spilled over following the game as replay showed the game clock starting late after Ejiofor's second missed free throw. Red Storm wing RJ Luis tipped the ball before it landed with Norchad Omier, who passed it to Roach.

"I don't know what to say. The referees didn't do a very good job tonight," Pitino said in a response to the clock potentially not starting on time. "Icing my free throw shooter there at the end was totally unethical. You can't do something like that."

St. John's missed 12 free throws and allowed 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, each of which was directly related to its loss.

The No. 22 Johnnies (4-1) will face the loser of No. 11 Tennessee and Virginia on Friday night (7:00 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) in the consolation game

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