St. John's matinee game vs. Georgia could bolster its non-conference resume

NASSAU, Bahamas — A year ago, in Rick Pitino’s first season at St. John’s, the Red Storm struggled in their marquee non-conference matchups, a string that included a blowout loss to Michigan and losses to Boston College and Dayton.

“We made up our mind that wasn’t going to happen again,” Pitino said.

Now, with Sunday’s game against Georgia, his team has a chance to return from the Bahamas with a winning record on the island excursion, just a Baylor double-overtime buzzer-beater away from being undefeated.

“It hurts. It would have been an awesome win,” said Pitino, still irritated by critical officiating issues against the Bears. “But if we get Georgia, we’ll be fine.”

Tennessee leaves the Caribbean with the Baha Mar Hoops championship trophy, Baylor exits with the swagger from its comeback win over St. John’s and Virginia flies back to the States with a pair of black eyes from lopsided losses.

The No. 22 Red Storm, however, remain behind for one final non-conference contest, a stand-alone game against the Bulldogs in Paradise Island, just five miles from the Baha Mar Convention Center, where the first two games were played.

“That’s very important,” Aaron Scott said of finishing the trip strong. “Unfortunately, we didn’t win the first game. We bounced back last night and we’ve got a hard team [in] Georgia. It would be very good for us if we walked out 2-1.”

For Pitino, he’ll definitely take away a new level of respect for his team after its win over Virginia on Friday.

“We fought really, really hard and we do have a bad taste in our mouth, the way it ended,” Pitino said of the last-second loss to Baylor. “But the way we responded is what’s important. We have the makings of a very good basketball team. You can see it.”

Pitino saw his team display character, saw RJ Luis Jr. continue his emergence as a star at both ends of the floor, and saw his team’s athleticism and versatility on full display.

Last year’s non-conference setbacks ultimately were the difference when the Red Storm missed out on the NCAA Tournament, snubbed despite 20 victories and wins in six straight before falling to UConn in a Big East Tournament semifinal.

That’s part of the reason Pitino wanted to be in the Bahamas this week, to strengthen the Red Storm’s resume for March.

Pitino noted that last year’s early-season struggles were, in part, attributable to newness in the program.

“Last year, we weren’t ready early in the year,” he said. “We were feeling [it] out.”

This year, St. John’s made it a point to play better sooner.

That started with a quality win over New Mexico on Nov. 17 in a game that matched Pitino against his son, Lobos coach Richard Pitino.

If not for Baylor guard Jeremy Roach’s three-pointer at the double-overtime horn Thursday, the Red Storm’s resume would include a win over the No. 13 team in the country. That loss also robbed St. John’s of the chance to bolster its strength of schedule by meeting No. 11 Tennessee in the championship game.

Instead, the Red Storm settled for a lopsided whacking of Virginia, rebuilding under interim coach Ron Sanchez. The Cavaliers were the only unranked team in the four-team Baha Mar field.

Now St John’s faces a Georgia team that took a 5-0 record into its 80-69 loss to No. 15 Marquette on Saturday morning in Paradise Island.

Pitino gathered his players to watch the early game before holding a practice. Afterward, Scott said even the close loss to Baylor has ramped up the team’s confidence level.

“That Baylor loss, we know we should have won that game,” Scott said. “We were all mad, all heated after the game. As you could see, we bounced back. That just shows how mature we are, how we put that loss behind us.”

Notes & quotes: Pitino hopes sophomore wing Brady Dunlap, who has been dealing with a hip injury, will be available to play against Georgia. Dunlap, who has averaged 9.2 points, sat out Friday’s win over Virginia.