Rick Pitino hugged Richard Pitino on the Madison Square Garden sideline and quickly engaged in pregame pleasantries on his way to the St. John’s bench.
From that point on, it all was business.
Rick Pitino emerged victorious in Sunday’s much-hyped coaching showdown between father and son, as No. 22 St. John’s used an uptempo attack to top Richard Pitino and New Mexico, 85-71, at Madison Square Garden.
Junior forward RJ Luis continued his red-hot start to what’s been a breakout season so far, leading St. John’s with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Prized transfers Deivon Smith and Kadary Richmond, who largely function as facilitators though the Johnnies’ first three games, both took over offensively for spurts of Sunday’s win.
Smith scored a season-high 15 points, while Richmond added 14 along with eight rebounds and five assists.
The balanced attack helped St. John’s pass its first true test of the season to improve to 4-0, while Rick Pitino, 72, improved to 3-1 all time against his 42-year-old son.
The younger Pitino appeared to laugh as St. John’s fans chanted “Who’s Your Daddy?” late in the second half.
St. John’s jumped out to an early lead Sunday by repeatedly attacking the basket. The Johnnies went up 25-13 lead on the strength of an 11-0 run, which Luis punctuated with a 3-pointer.
Leading the Red Storm’s track meet in the first half was Smith, who made five layups before the break, including three in the final 4:26.
It was an aggressive first half for the point guard, whose nine field-goal attempts matched his full-game season high. At halftime, he had 12 points — one shy of his full-game season high to that point.
The 6-foot Smith, who transferred from Utah, took advantage of a New Mexico backcourt that appeared to tire as St. John’s pushed the pace.
The Johnnies took a 40-29 lead into the break. They scored 22 points in the paint in the first half, outrebounded New Mexico, 25-14, and corralled 10 offensive rebounds, leading to 10 second-chance points.
St. John’s led by as many as 15 points in the first half, then held on as New Mexico made multiple runs after the break.
The Lobos cut the deficit to as few as four points when center Nelly Junior Joseph finished a lay-up with 8:01 left in the game. But Aaron Scott responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession, increasing the St. John’s lead to 66-59.
About two minutes later, the right-handed Richmond finished a contested left-handed floater to put the Johnnies up by nine. On the next possession, Richmond lasered a cross-court pass to Scott, who finished a lay-up — but missed a free throw — to give the Red Storm a 72-61 lead.
Smith added a dagger 3-pointer with 4:28 remaining, putting St. John’s up by 12.
Richmond, who transferred from Seton Hall, scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. Luis scored 16 points after halftime.
New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent — who entered averaging 19.0 points and 9.7 assists per game — scored only five points on 2-of-5 shooting and managed just two assists before halftime.
He finished with 12 points and six assists.
Sunday marked the fourth head-to-head meeting between the Pitinos. Rick’s Louisville team beat Richard at FIU in 2012 and at Minnesota in 2014. Richard and New Mexico then beat the elder Pitino’s Iona team in 2022.
Both Pitinos downplayed the oddity of going up against each other, with Richard saying Friday there was “no extra motivation” to beat his dad and Rick saying he doesn’t pay attention to opposing coaches once the games start.
“If we lose, my team will be very disappointed, but I’ll be very happy for my son,” Rick said during a press conference Friday. “I’ve flown out to New Mexico and taken red-eyes back just to see him, so I root for him all the time. I’m a gigantic fan of his. I hope St. John’s wins, but if they don’t, I’ll be a proud father.”
Sunday also marked a return to the Garden for Richard. He was a young child when his father coached the Knicks during the 1980s — which he said he doesn’t remember — and coached there as an assistant on his dad’s Louisville staffs from 2007-09 and 2011-12.
Both teams entered Sunday’s game with 3-0 records, with New Mexico already boasting a ranked win over then-No. 22 UCLA.
The Johnnies steamrolled Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner – despite a few uneven halves – before Sunday’s litmus test against New Mexico.
An even bigger test awaits St. John’s, with a matchup against No. 12 Baylor in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in the Bahamas set for Thursday night.
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