St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies at PeoplesBank Arena. David Butler II-Imagn Images

St. John's Rick Pitino takes blame for lousy performance vs. UConn

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Feb 26, 2026 12:25 AM ET

St. John's Red Storm men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino didn't want to speak with the media long after a deflating loss to the Connecticut Huskies on Wednesday night.

The 73-year-old coach spoke with the media for just over a minute before walking out of the session. His behavior was petulant but understandable.

Why would Pitino want to answer the tough questions after a blowout, where his team turned in a mind-blowingly terrible second half?

St. John's looked pathetic in second half of loss to UConn

The No. 6-ranked Huskies (26-3, 16-2 Big East) crushed the No. 15-ranked Red Storm (22-6, 15-2 Big East) 72-40. St. John's missed 24 straight shots to end the game, with their last coming at the 17:28 minute mark in the second half. According to ESPN Insights, that is the longest streak of missed field goals by an Associated Press-ranked team in the last eight seasons.

St. John's missed 24-straight field goals to end their game vs. UConn, with their last coming at 17:28 in the second half

That is the longest streak of missed FG by an AP-ranked team in the last eight seasons pic.twitter.com/jaZ0r8VoTv
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) February 26, 2026

Guard Joson Sanon led St. John's in scoring on Wednesday night (10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field). He's the only player for the Red Storm who cracked double figures. The team finished a dreadful 11-of-56 from the field.

As you'd expect, Pitino was fuming after the loss. He took the blame for his team's shooting struggles but added that its performance mirrored that of one of the weakest squads he has ever coached in his 37 seasons as a collegiate HC.

"That's probably only happened to me two times in my career. Once was my first year at Kentucky when we went into Phog Allen at Kansas, but I was playing with a very much inferior team with some walk-ons, not with this type of team," the coach said, referencing a 150-95 loss in December 1989. "So, it's all on me. I'm very disappointed in our performance, especially offensively, in sharing and moving the ball. It's all on me."

Rick Pitino full post game after 72-40 loss to UConn in Hartford: "It's all on me, very disappointed in our performance, offensively especially" pic.twitter.com/tytfBheNYB
— Storrs Central (@StorrsCentral) February 26, 2026

St. John's will host the Villanova Wildcats (22-6, 13-4 Big East) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Fox). The Red Storm must shoot much better in that matchup, or else we could be in for an even more irate Pitino in a postgame news conference.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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