The Simeon Wilcher that showed up to the Cintas Center on Tuesday night is the exact version that the St. John’s basketball team needs going forward from its sophomore guard, especially playing short-handed.
Wilcher was decisive and aggressive against Xavier that led to 15 points coming off the bench – the only reserve in the game to score for the Johnnies – while bringing a new dynamic to the Red Storm offense.
Much like his sophomore counterpart Brady Dunlap, when Wilcher scores it gives the team an added boost and the cheers from the crowd are a little bid louder. His personality and energy are infectious and it’s something that the Red Storm thrive on.
“He’s by far the one or two best shooters on the team and I got to get him to take about seven three’s because he’s going to make four of seven. Even when he misses, it’s in-and-out,” Rick Pitino said.
It was the exact case against the Musketeers, missing his first four attempts, before he finally got one to drop late in the second half which essentially ended the game.
But Wilcher had been struggling entering St. John’s matchup with Xavier, shooting just 5-for-29 in its previous three conference games and there was a small chance that he wouldn’t play leading up to the game after his failed dunk attempt in the final seconds against Butler when he could have run out the clock.
Pitino, who was unsettled by the actions during his postgame press conference, talked with Wilcher during the week about why his actions were wrong but said he wasn’t going to suspend him and the rest of the team agreed, led by Deivon Smith.
“It means a lot,” Wilcher said after his showing against Xavier. “I know that what I did wasn’t smart and it didn’t look good on us at all.”
The episode has been put behind everyone involved as St. John’s (13-3, 4-1 Big East) moves forward.
“Sim’s a five-star person, not a four plus, not a four. He’s a five out of five,” Pitino added.
The Red Storm need Wilcher’s shooting and scoring capabilities as Dunlap continues to recover from surgery on his hand and the status of freshman Jaiden Glover remains in question.
Glover, who only played 31 seconds against Butler out of necessity, was dressed and participated in warmups on Tuesday but took nearly every shot left-handed. After the game Rick Pitino said the injury has been diagnosed as a bone bruise in his wrist after an MRI revealed that there was no break.
His status for Saturday night (7:00 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) against Villanova (11-5, 4-1 Big East) remains in question but Pitino believes that he will be available on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, Peacock) against Georgetown (12-3, 3-1 Big East).