Though his No. 2 St. John's Red Storm were shockingly eliminated by the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, fiery SJU head coach Rick Pitino kept things classy and respectful in his postgame press conference.
"It goes back to we just didn't do the little things to win that game," Pitino told reporters, "and you gotta give [Arkansas] the credit. They were the better basketball team by far."
The Red Storm managed to, at one point, claw back from a 13-point deficit, before losing, 75-66. Neither team put up a stellar shooting performance, but the Storm's was particularly bad, shooting just 28% from the field and 2-21 from behind the arc.
"They were the better basketball team by far."
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2025
Rick Pitino has a lot of respect for the way Arkansas played today. pic.twitter.com/W3lrLMqfLh
Considering his squad's early elimination, Pitino also made sure to shout out three of his team's seniors in the postgame remarks.
"I'm just very appreciative for Aaron Scott. He had a bad game but he gave me his heart and soul with a broken finger. I'm very appreciative of Kadary Richmond. He was a true pleasure to coach. He had a bad game tonight defensively and [I] took him out of the game, but he was pure joy to coach. I'm very, very appreciative of Deivon Smith, who's been hurt and gave me everything he had. ... I hate to see them go out this way. ... I don't mind going out with a loss; I just hate to see us play that way offensively.
"You gotta live with it. You put a lot of time and effort, the coaches did, and it's just a bitter pill to swallow with that type of performance. We'll give the credit to Arkansas and I'll be very, very thankful to those three guys for giving me everything they had and we move on."
Watch that below:
Coach Pitino was very grateful for his team's effort. 👏 pic.twitter.com/67yxGBhip0
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2025
In the end, Arkansas' win was definitely a victory few saw coming, but that makes it even sweeter for the Razorbacks, who will now advance to play the winner of Drake vs. Texas Tech.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as St. John's' Rick Pitino Salutes Arkansas for Upset Win But Calls Loss a 'Bitter Pill'.
