It’s been the message all season long from Rick Pitino to his St. John’s basketball team and it came back to hurt the No. 15 Johnnies again on Monday in Las Vegas.
The Red Storm must rebound much better.
St. John’s allowed 17 offensive rebounds in its 83-82 loss against No. 16 Iowa State. The extra opportunities for the Cyclones led to 22 second chance points.
It was an onslaught in the second half of ten offensive boards that yielded 16 second chance points, which has become a trend in the biggest games of the early season for St. John’s.
“You’ve got to create rebounding space, and we’re not doing that,” Pitino explained.
“It’s a car crash…If they crash into you, they push you to the baseline and if you crash into them, you win, and we’ve struggled with that fundamental all season. It’s been a weakness of ours and with veteran players.”
In its loss against No. 15 Alabama three weeks ago, the Crimson Tide had 19 second chance points on 14 offensive rebounds. In the second half alone, it was eight offensive rebounds turning into 11 second chance points.
Iowa State had nine second chance points in the final six minutes, turning a two-point deficit into its victory.
“We take the loss because we couldn’t come up with the rebounds,” Pitino added. “They got four offensive rebounds with the game on the line.”
Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, and Dillon Mitchell combined for 25 of the team’s 36 rebounds.
The combination of Dylan Darling, Ian Jackson, and Joson Sanon had one.
“I felt like we were the more physical team on the interior,” Cyclones head coach T. J. Otzelberger said after the game.
It’s a trend that cannot continue if the Red Storm want to find success not only in Vegas but throughout the rest of its season.
Things will only get more difficult on the glass for St. John’s when they face Baylor on Tuesday afternoon (4:30 p.m. ET, truTV), who pulled down 22 offensive rebounds resulting in 27 second chance points in its victory over Creighton.