NEW YORK — Rick Pitino hugged Richard Pitino and quickly exchanged pregame pleasantries as he walked toward the St. John’s bench.
From that point on, it was all business.
Rick Pitino emerged victorious Sunday afternoon in the highly publicized father-son showdown, as No. 22 St. John’s used his size advantage and fast-paced offense to beat Richard Pitino and New Mexico, 85- 71, at Madison Square Garden.
All five St. John’s starters scored in double figures, led by 6-7 forward RJ Luis Jr., whose 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists each served as game highs.
The balanced attack helped St. John’s pass its first real test of the season to improve to 4-0, while 72-year-old Rick Pitino improved to 3-1 against his 42-year-old son.
Chants of “Who is your daddy?” » filled the garden at the end of the second half.
“As a New York Yankees fan, all I could think about was Pedro Martinez,” Richard Pitino said afterward. “Other than that, I laughed about it. I didn’t think much about it. That’s what our obnoxious New York fans do, and I’m one of them.
The convincing victory served as an early-season statement for St. John’s, which topped New Mexico (3-1) by a 49-32 margin and turned 22 offensive rebounds into 25 second-chance points.
“Without a doubt, we won the game on the backboard,” Rick Pitino said.
Zuby Ejiofor, a 6-9 forward, finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for St. John’s, while 6-6 guard Kadary Richmond added 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Johnnies attacked the basket repeatedly, scoring 48 points in the paint to help win a track meet between two of the fastest teams in college basketball.
“The worry I had before the game kind of came true,” Richard Pitino said. “I thought their size, their strength, their physicality definitely opened up the game at times.”
St. John’s jumped out to an early lead Sunday, using an 11-0 run to go up 25-13 before taking a 40-29 advantage into halftime.
At the forefront of that first-half attack was senior point guard Deivon Smith, who made five layups before halftime and scored 12 of his season-high 15 points before the break.
Smith, a prized transfer from Utah, hadn’t scored more than 13 points or attempted more than nine shots in the Red Storm’s first three games, functioning more as a facilitator.
He took nine shots – and made six – in the first half alone on Sunday.
St. John’s led by as many as 15 points in the first half, then held on as New Mexico made several runs.
The Lobos cut the lead to four points when center Nelly Junior Joseph — who played under the elder Pitino at Iona — finished a layup with 8:01 left.
But Aaron Scott responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession, and less than two minutes later, the Richmond right-hander completed a contested left-handed floater to put the Johnnies back up nine.
Smith added a 3-pointer with 4:28 left, increasing St. John’s lead to 75-63.
Luis, a junior in his second season at St. John’s, scored 16 points in the second half.
He was also the primary defender against New Mexico’s star point guard Donovan Dent, who averaged 19.0 points and 9.7 assists per game but managed just 12 points and six assists on Sunday .
Luis is now averaging 17.5 points per game in what has been an exceptional season so far. He averaged 10.9 points per game last season while playing through nagging shin injuries.
“I think it’s mostly just me being healthy,” Luis said. “Just the person I am, I put a lot of work into my craft. Now I am establishing myself as one of the best defenders. …I’m going to play make. I’m going to score. I really play both sides of the ball.
Sunday marked the first meeting between the Pitinos since 2022, when New Mexico defeated Rick Pitno’s Iona team. Rick Pitino won the first two meetings when he was Louisville’s head coach, beating his son at FIU in 2012 and at Minnesota in 2014.
“The reason we booked (Sunday’s game was because) I thought it was great for New Mexico to come to the Garden,” Rick Pitino said.
“He’s my son, so I’m going to brag about him.” He’s a great young coach,” he said. “His offensive mind is brilliant. He puts you in situations that really hurt you defensively. … He’s one of the bright, young offensive minds in the game today. He is very different from me. He handles defeat much better than me. I learned to accept it when I came to Queens.
Ranked for the first time since 2019, St. John’s crushed Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner before Sunday’s decisive test against New Mexico.
An even bigger test awaits them, as St. John’s faces No. 12 Baylor in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in the Bahamas on Thursday night.
“I think we have great potential,” Rick Pitino said. “But we’re just solid now. We are a good and solid team. You all have new players. You’re not supposed to be great in November.
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