The St. John’s basketball team has another injury to manage to one of its key players.
RJ Luis did not play during the Red Storm’s 82-58 victory over DePaul on Wednesday night due to a pulled groin, according to Rick Pitino.
It was the first game that Luis has missed this year after dealing with a broken hand and constant shin splints last season that derailed his inaugural campaign with the Red Storm.
The leading scorer for the No. 10 Johnnies was dressed as the rest of his teammates went through pregame warmups but sat on the bench and never picked up a basketball. Luis did not participate in St. John’s morning shootaround and was ruled as a game time decision.
“I’ve seen groins go for two weeks,” Rick Pitino said. “I’d be guessing, and I haven’t been right yet.”
Pitino said last week after the Red Storm lost to Villanova that guard Deivon Smith could miss the rest of the regular season, and he played the next game against Creighton. He also mentioned Smith would not play against Seton Hall after initially suffering a shoulder sprain in January against Villanova before he was on the court against the Pirates.
“I would say RJ is probably going to miss Connecticut with a pulled groin,” he continued. “RJ is a baller. He wants to play but he’s never had a pulled groin before, and they can be difficult.”
RJ Luis, a contender for the Big East Player of the Year, is averaging 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds. 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 44.5-percent shooting from the field. He hit the game sealing basket that capped a 21-point night in the final seconds against UConn when the teams played two weeks ago.
Pitino mentioned that Luis would likely not practice leading up to the game on Sunday.
Seldom used reserve Sadiku Ibine Ayo started in place of the injured Luis against the Blue Demons (11-16, 2-14 Big East) and delivered a career-best performance in the first half, scoring 13 points as the Red Storm built a 16-point lead before finishing with 15 points in the 24-point win.
“Getting Sadiku in was great incase RJ can’t play on Sunday,” Pitino added.
Tipoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. ET (FOX) inside Madison Square Garden between the Johnnies (23-4, 14-2 Big East) and the Huskies (18-8, 10-5 Big East).