Rick Pitino drops 5-word reply and walks away from NCAA insider’s question about 1st half during Butler vs St. John's

After winning the Big East conference regular season championship, Rick Pitino's St. John's Red Storm are vying for more success in the 2024-2025 season. On Thursday the No. 6 Red Storm played against the Butler Bulldogs in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal.

Despite the great start for St. John's with a double-digit lead, the Bulldogs were slowly catching up due to their adjustments on offense. They finished halftime with 37-26 but Rick Pitino was not happy.

During the halftime break, NCAA basketball insider John Fanta interviewed Pitino and asked him about his thoughts on fifth-year guard Kadary Richmond.

"I know it didn't go the way you wanted to end the half, but Kadary Richmond with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. How do you like what you've seen from him?," Fanta asked.

This prompted Pitino to have a bold and straight-to-the-point five-word statement.

"Got to play better defense," he said before walking away right after.

In disbelief, Fanta was left speechless before giving his own closing statement.

"Says it all," he asserted.

Check out the full interview below.

Fortunately enough, Richmond maintained his outstanding performance, finishing with 15 points on 7-of-13 overall shooting, eight boards, nine dimes and two stocks (steals plus blocks) in 29 minutes logged. Meanwhile, junior RJ Luis Jr. led with 20 points, to go with seven rebounds and two stocks in 31 minutes played.

The Red Storm went on a tear in the second half, ballooning their lead to 21, 78-57, by the final buzzer as they nabbed the triumph and moved on to the Big East conference tournament semifinal on Friday against the fifth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles.

Aaron Scott posts the most steals by a St. John's Red Storm player in the tournament since 2002

Perhaps Rick Pitino's call out for his team as a whole to play better defense worked as Spring, Texas native Aaron Scott secured five steals for the fixture, which is the most by a player from their program in the Big East conference tournament since Marcus Hatten did it in 2002. He then finished with 15 markers on a 6-of-10 clip, four rebounds and a dime in 22 minutes of action.

As the favorites to win this season's Big East conference tournament title, the St. John's Red Storm will then test their might against the top schools in the nation when they take on the NCAA Tournament later this month.