"Practiced like we haven't eaten in a week": St. John HC Rick Pitino drops blunt reaction to buzzer beater OT win vs Marquette

The St. John's Red Storm, coached by Rick Pitino, capped off their regular season with an emotion-filled nail-biting conference victory. On Saturday, the sixth-ranked team in the country pulled through with a tight 86-84 win over the No. 20-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles with a buzzer-beating floater following a loose ball sequence.

In the post-game press conference, Pitino spoke about how his team prepared for their last game of the regular season, lauding key cogs like forward Zuby Ejiofor, who hit the game winner, and guard RJ Luis Jr., the team's top-scorer.

"We practiced like we haven't eaten in a week," Pitino claimed.

The coach detailed about how each of his players contributed in the clutch, a testament to their preparations for the bigger picture in their national tournament berth.

"I think Kadary making the tip, Sim(eon) making the pass, Zuby making the shot, we played this game like I told them, 'You're one and done. You lose this game, this season's over. That's the way you got to play it to prepare for March Madness. You don't just show up at March and say, 'Okay, this is what we're going to do,'" Pitino said. (4:55)

"You prepare for it now, you prepare for it at the Big East tournament. They did a fabulous job, just a tough *ss team, toughness you can't believe," he added.

Ejiofor finished the game with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with an assist and a steal. Meanwhile, Luis Jr. dropped a team-high 28 markers on 10-for-19 overall shooting and 11 boards.

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Rick Pitino is in awe of his favorite win of the season

In the same presser, Rick Pitino shared his thoughts about the hotly contested postseason victory by his squad. The tenured tactician said about his "favorite" win of the season (4:10):

"There's not a whole lot to say except, 'Wow.' The resilience to play it in front of a sold-out road game, and to just never never give up (in) regulation, overtime, just keep digging and keep digging in, making play after play. The last play of the game when Kadary tips it, Sim makes the steal and the pass, indicative of the way the game was played," Pitino shared.

"We had a very difficult time switching on to Kam Jones, and couldn't guard his left hand. Outside of that, we played a terrific, pretty game as we always do. It's a hell of a win, probably my favorite win of the season by far," he concluded.

Pitino and the rest of the St. John's Red Storm will wait for the victor of the Big East matchup between the Providence Friars and the Butler Bulldogs, in the quarter-final on Thursday.