"I wanna die": Rick Pitino shares his mindset after losses ahead of St John's clash against Dan Hurley's UConn

National champion and St. John's coach Rick Pitino is among those who treat games as life-and-death situations, once saying he wants to "die" when his team loses.

The72-year-old Pitino, who guided Kentucky to a national title in 1996, will try to lead No. 10 St. John’s (23-4, 14-2 Big East) to a regular-season sweep of Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies (18-8, 10-5) on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

In a recent episode of "Pitino: Red Storm Rising" on Vice Sports, the legendary coach made his feelings about losing clear — especially against a younger rival in two-time champion Dan Hurley.

“If I lose to Danny Hurley, if I lose to whoever, I’m in a miserable mood. I wanna die,” he said.

Pitino led the Red Storm to a 68-62 win over UConn in their first 2024-25 regular-season meeting on Feb. 7 in Storrs. It was the Hall of Famer’s first win against Hurley in five meetings since 2022-23, helping St. John’s solidify its first-place standing in the Big East.

St. John's currently holds a two-and-a-half game lead in the conference standings, and Pitino’s attitude toward losing is clear. This is the Red Storm’s first time atop the conference since 1985-86, and he is eager to win the regular-season title.

Since losing to Creighton on Dec. 31, 2024, the Red Storm have won 12 of their last 13 games, including Pitino’s first career win against Hurley.

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St. John's center Zuby Ejiofor backs Rick Pitino's mentality

St. John’s center Zuby Ejiofor supports Pitino’s win-or-die mentality. For Ejiofor, the hatred of losing fuels Pitino’s drive to adjust his game plan and devise new strategies.

"I’m right there with (Coach Pitino), I hate to lose as well," the 6-foot-9 junior slotman said. "And obviously we want to win every single game from now on, and especially with what’s ahead of just the Big East title. So all these games matter and it’s going to be a big one against UConn."

Ahead of the game, Pitino said he knows his team will face a different UConn team.

“It just it’s a tough, competitive league, and they came back with a great win against Villanova,” Pitino said. “We know they’re very talented. We know they’re very good.”

Since losing to St. John’s, UConn is 2-1, with wins over Creighton and Villanova. Despite trailing in the standings, the Huskies remain dangerous as back-to-back national champions, and Hurley is still searching for ways to turn the season around.

Adding to the challenge, St. John’s may be without guards RJ Luis and Kadary Richmond, who sustained groin injuries. Pitino hopes at least one of them will be available for the high-stakes matchup against UConn.

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