“Played our best game of the season”: Rick Pitino responds to Dan Hurley’s “championship level” defense comment after St. John’s win vs UConn

The No. 10-ranked St. John's Red Storm, coached by Rick Pitino, continued their remarkable 2024-25 campaign with another conference win. Earlier on Sunday, Feb. 23, they defeated the defending national champions in the UConn Huskies in Madison Square Garden by 14 points, 89-75, for their third straight victory.

Pitino and his squad now have an outstanding 15-2 Big East record, 24-4 overall, with three regular season games left, including a matchup against the No. 16-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles in the Fiserv Forum. As the season progresses, the Red Storm have shown that they could be a sleeper pick to win the national title in March.

During the post-game presser, Pitino addressed UConn Huskies' main tactician Dan Hurley's comment about championship level skills. The 72-year-old was asked about his thoughts on whether his team is on that level.

"I thought we played our best game of the season. But, when you get into the Big East tournament and you get into the NCAA tournament, it becomes all matchups, all styles. You got to change a lot going into the tournament because the film work is so extensive. So, you got to make your tweaks and your offense tweaks in your defense but it's all matchups," Pitino explained. (12:20)

"You hope for good matchups. We hope we get a great seed. We hope we finish this thing out and keep playing great basketball," he then added.

The St. John's Red Storm face the unranked Butler Bulldogs on the road on Wednesday as they aim to earn conference triumph No. 16, 25th overall.

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Kadary Richmond could sit out the remainder of the regular season

During the post-game press conference, Rick Pitino revealed that fifth-year standout Kadary Richmond, who's a candidate for the Big East Player of the Year award, is playing through injuries.

For the tenured tactician, he's confident that his team will continue to play well, but he and his coaching staff will think twice about Richmond's availability.

"But, I am a little concerned about Kadary right now. I am concerned about him. We may have to sit him out, and just give him a lot of rest to prepare for this season. If necessary, we're going to do that," Pitino shared. (12:50)

In his first and final stint with the St. John's Red Storm, Richmond is leading the squad in assists and steals, averaging 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest.