"He was pretty mad": St John's' RJ Luis gives inside details on what Rick Pitino refused to say in front of cameras vs UConn

St. John's star RJ Luis Jr. joined ESPN Countdown to GameDay on Saturday to discuss the team's thrilling 68-62 comeback victory over No. 19 UConn at Gampel Pavilion. The Red Storm trailed 26-12 in the first half but rallied to secure the win.

With 11 minutes left in the opening period, a TV timeout was called. Typically, during these breaks, ESPN cameras capture coaches addressing their teams in the huddle. However, this time, St. John's coach Rick Pitino waved the cameras away, refusing to let them in.

Host Sam Ravech asked Luis what Pitino said in that critical moment that helped fuel the Red Storm’s comeback against the defending national champions.

"(Rick Pitino) was pretty mad, so that's why he didn't want the cameras in there," Luis said (0:55 mark). "But he just told us that we've been in this position before. We've been down before, and it's really just about keeping on fighting, coming back, and sticking to our defensive principles that we kind of got away from a little bit."

"We were doing some things uncharacteristically, but we honed in on that. Really, the defense is what got us going, and that led to offense."

Dan Hurley's Huskies jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but St. John's clawed its way back, eventually taking a 37-35 lead into halftime.

"They were making some great shots, and I felt we had to get them out of rhythm," Pitino said on the changes he made (via ESPN College GameDay).

"We don't usually press the whole game, but we just put it on them, tried to get their legs out, tried to take away some of their jump shooting and tried to make fatigue a little bit of an element."

Rick Pitino gives RJ Luis his flowers after the UConn win

St John's led 64-62 with less than 11 seconds left when RJ Luis Jr., a 6-foot-7 guard, hit a crucial jumper to give the Red Storm breathing room. Junior forward Zuby Ejiofor then sealed the victory at the free-throw line.

"There’s no better scorer, I think, in the Big East than RJ," Pitino said after the game.

RJ Luis Jr. finished with 21 points — his seventh 20-point game this season — along with seven rebounds and one assist. The Miami, Florida, native is averaging 17.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.