In his second season at St. John’s, Rick Pitino expects nothing less than steering the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament for the 31st time in school history.
For Tom Pecora, getting Quinnipiac to its first NCAA Tournament would be an ultimate achievement for coach and school alike.
St. John’s and Quinnipiac will try to build off recent wins Saturday afternoon when the Red Storm host the Bobcats in New York.
St. John’s has been off since Monday, when the Red Storm opened their season with a wire-to-wire 92-60 win over visiting Fordham. Quinnipiac last played Thursday, when the host Bobcats beat Division III Worcester Polytechnic Institute 71-47.
The dominant win over Fordham left even the ever-demanding Pitino satisfied. Four players scored in double figures for St. John’s, which was picked to finish fifth in the 11-team Big East after going 20-13 and missing the NCAA Tournament last season. Kadary Richmond, a transfer from Seton Hall, flirted with a double-double (16 points, nine rebounds) in just 30 minutes.
The Red Storm, who allowed 60 points or fewer seven times last season, also limited Fordham to 36.4 percent shooting (20-of-55), including 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from 3-point land.
“Normally we work 60-40 on defense — this year it’s been 80-20,” Pitino said. “All we’ve been doing is working on our man defense, our switching defense. We knew we had to be ready early in the season. We’re getting better.”
Senior Paul Otieno (14 points, 10 rebounds) posted a double-double Thursday for Quinnipiac, whose lopsided win allowed the Bobcats to regain some confidence after an 88-62 loss to Yale on Monday. Three other players scored at least 10 points in the victory.
Otieno is one of three returning starters for Quinnipiac, which was picked to finish first in the 11-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after winning the regular-season title for the first time last year. The Bobcats have never made the NCAA Tournament in 26 seasons as a Division I program.
“We have shirts that say ‘FINISH’ and we gave them out the first day of practice,” said Pecora, who is entering his second season at Quinnipiac and is seeking his first NCAA Tournament trip in 16 years as a head coach. “They’ve had a great work ethic about them.”
–Field Level Media
