Point guard remains a problem for St. John’s.
The Red Storm’s lack of a premium floor general was again a factor in Saturday afternoon’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky, during which No. 22 St. John’s committed 12 turnovers, including eight in the second half.
“That’s our fault in recruiting,” Pitino said after the loss at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. “We lost out on four different big-time point guards that we went after, and we’ve got to make the best of the situation by, collectively, other people handling the ball and bringing it up.”
The St. John’s offense stagnated in the second half of Sunday’s defeat, particularly during a nearly nine-minute stretch in which it did not make a field goal.
During that drought, St. John’s committed six turnovers and missed seven consecutive shots.
The contrast was stark as Kentucky pulled away with a 14-0 run shortly after its play-making point guard, Jaland Lowe, returned from a first-half shoulder injury.
“That’s our fault as a staff for not having a big-time point guard that makes people better,” Pitino said.
St. John’s (7-4) opened the season with Oziyah Sellers, who is a wing by trade, as its de facto point guard.
Dylan Darling, the only true point guard on the roster, then joined the starting lineup for the Red Storm’s third game of the season — his first of six consecutive starts. But the 6-1 Darling, whom St. John’s added in the offseason to be a backup, is undersized and thus limited defensively and prone to foul trouble.
Saturday marked the third game in a row in which St. John’s started Ian Jackson, a combo guard, and had Darling come off the bench.
Entering the season, Pitino cited the need to play positionless basketball in which the offense relies on ball movement instead of a traditional ball-handler.
“That’s what you have to do when you don’t have one,” Pitino said Saturday. “You make a positive from a negative and say, ‘We’ve got to do it collectively, as a team.’ You want me to just complain and get their confidence down?”
St. John’s received strong point guard play in its first two years under Pitino, with Daniss Jenkins in 2023-24 and Kadary Richmond last season.
When Jackson transferred from North Carolina in April, Pitino hailed him as “our next great point.”
Jackson, a sophomore from the Bronx, is averaging 11.3 points and 2.3 assists per game since rejoining the starting lineup. He has committed one turnover in both of the last two games.
“As he keeps improving, if we can get some wins, we’ll have ourselves a respectable point guard,” Pitino said.
