The Louisville Cardinals came out flat against the St. John’s Red Storm on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in a 74–55 blowout loss, despite getting an 18-point, 6-rebound effort from future pro Samardo Samuels.
However, the clearly distracted team had good reason for its inability to focus. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino denied rumors that he was interested in the New Jersey Nets head coaching job earlier in the day after the New York Daily News broke the story that Pitino used intermediaries to inform the Nets of his desire for the position.
“I’m done with coaching professional basketball. I’ve put the professional ranks behind me,” Pitino said.
Last year, Pitino expressed interest in the Sacramento Kings coaching vacancy, but the Kings did not hold mutual interest. It was reported that Pitino desired a return to the NBA after two previous coaching stints.
From the opening tip, it looked like the Cardinals were elsewhere mentally. The Red Storm bursted out to a 12–0 lead that they would never relinquish and held Louisville scoreless for the first 6:37 of the game.
Although St. John’s has let halftime leads against Cornell, Providence, Louisville, Villanova, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia slip away, they came out ready to play in the second half on Thursday night and extended their 33–23 halftime lead to as many as 28 points.
Louisville got no closer than six early in the second half before the Red Storm stepped on the accelerator. Top scorer D.J. Kennedy led the charge with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
The loss may have burst the Cardinals’ NCAA Tournament bubble. Last year’s overall No. 1 seed now sits at 15–9 with no wins against ranked opponents and plenty of losses against unranked ones.
Already on the bubble before the game, the loss to a previously 2-8 Big East team in the toughest conference did not help the Cardinals’ cause.
With only six conference wins and upcoming games against No. 2 Syracuse, No. 7 Georgetown, Connecticut with a recovered Jim Calhoun, and a home finale against No. 2 Syracuse, the Cardinals do not have many places to pick up wins.
The St. John’s road game was supposed to be easy pickings, but alas, Louisville squandered possibly their final run at an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm improved to 13–10 with only their third Big East victory.
St. John’s snapped a five-game losing streak with the win.
With Kennedy’s talent, you have a team that can make plenty of noise in the 16-team conference, including several more bubble-bursting upsets in the making.
As for the Cardinals, life just got tougher, with or without Pitino.
However, the clearly distracted team had good reason for its inability to focus. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino denied rumors that he was interested in the New Jersey Nets head coaching job earlier in the day after the New York Daily News broke the story that Pitino used intermediaries to inform the Nets of his desire for the position.
“I’m done with coaching professional basketball. I’ve put the professional ranks behind me,” Pitino said.
Last year, Pitino expressed interest in the Sacramento Kings coaching vacancy, but the Kings did not hold mutual interest. It was reported that Pitino desired a return to the NBA after two previous coaching stints.
From the opening tip, it looked like the Cardinals were elsewhere mentally. The Red Storm bursted out to a 12–0 lead that they would never relinquish and held Louisville scoreless for the first 6:37 of the game.
Although St. John’s has let halftime leads against Cornell, Providence, Louisville, Villanova, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia slip away, they came out ready to play in the second half on Thursday night and extended their 33–23 halftime lead to as many as 28 points.
Louisville got no closer than six early in the second half before the Red Storm stepped on the accelerator. Top scorer D.J. Kennedy led the charge with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
The loss may have burst the Cardinals’ NCAA Tournament bubble. Last year’s overall No. 1 seed now sits at 15–9 with no wins against ranked opponents and plenty of losses against unranked ones.
Already on the bubble before the game, the loss to a previously 2-8 Big East team in the toughest conference did not help the Cardinals’ cause.
With only six conference wins and upcoming games against No. 2 Syracuse, No. 7 Georgetown, Connecticut with a recovered Jim Calhoun, and a home finale against No. 2 Syracuse, the Cardinals do not have many places to pick up wins.
The St. John’s road game was supposed to be easy pickings, but alas, Louisville squandered possibly their final run at an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm improved to 13–10 with only their third Big East victory.
St. John’s snapped a five-game losing streak with the win.
With Kennedy’s talent, you have a team that can make plenty of noise in the 16-team conference, including several more bubble-bursting upsets in the making.
As for the Cardinals, life just got tougher, with or without Pitino.
