Rick Pitino, St. John’s Suffer Embarrassing Exhibition Loss to Division II Opponent

Rick Pitino took over the St. John’s men’s basketball program in March with high expectations for a team that’s struggled in recent years.

Pitino, who has two NCAA tournament titles and seven Final Four appearances on his résumé, got hit by a harsh reality check on Sunday as the Red Storm lost 63–59 to Division II Pace University in an exhibition game.

Despite the unexpected preseason loss, Pitino managed to find a positive twist on the defeat.

“If I asked for anything for a Christmas present, it was this loss, because Stony Brook just beat Manhattan by 50 points, and they’ll come in and take us to the woodshed if we rebound like that,” Pitino said, via the New York Post. “We learned a lot about what we need to work on tonight. That’s what exhibition games are for.”

This was the last preseason matchup for St. John’s before the team tips off its regular season Nov. 7 against Stony Brook. In the meantime, it sounds as if Pitino has some key elements he wants to work on with the team.

The 71-year-old coach led Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national titles, although the ’13 title was vacated by the NCAA as a result of an escort scandal involving recruits. Pitino was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in ’13 and most recently coached at Iona for three seasons.