St. John's a Broadway hit with win over quality opponent New Mexico

There had been three dry runs in the small, old, intimate theater in Queens — which played to mostly positive reviews — to prepare.

For Broadway. For the bright lights. For the iconic spoked ceiling. For the historic artifacts hanging from the walls and overhead.

For the big stage. And potentially for the bigger houses to come.

The curtain lifted exactly one minute after noon on Sunday with 12,310 filling the Garden. And when the matinee show came to an end two hours and three minutes later, the maestro was more than pleased.

He was satisfied.

“It was a great win with a great crowd. A great day,” Rick Pitino said a few minutes after No. 22 St. John’s earned an 85-71 victory over New Mexico, coached by his son, Richard Pitino.

Perhaps it was a win that could be foundational for the Red Storm (4-0), who will travel to the Bahamas for games against No. 12 Baylor (Thursday), either No. 11 Tennessee or Virginia (Friday) and Georgia (Sunday).

“This was our first big test,” Pitino said. “And now we really go into the gauntlet.”

All five starters finished in double figures, with RJ Luis Jr. finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Deivon Smith added 15 points and shot 7-for-13. Kadary Richmond and Aaron Scott each had 14 points and Zuby Ejiofor contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds.

St. John’s outrebounded the Lobos 49-32 overall and 22-16 on the offensive glass.

“Their size, their strength, their physicality,” said the younger Pitino, listing St. John’s attributes one by one. “We just could not get rebounds. They’re big and they’re strong. They are bigger than a lot of teams. And they’re really, really good.”

There will be time in the near future for the elder Pitino to dissect the tape with his players. To show them the mistakes. To learn from them. To correct them.

In the immediate aftermath, though, the overarching theme is that St. John’s, in its first game against a high-caliber opponent, was in a fistfight and found a way to win.

Despite leading by 16 in the first half, the Red Storm found themselves clinging to a 63-59 advantage after a layup by Nelly Junior Joseph (16 points) with 8:01 remaining.

Any hope the son had about taking down his father for the second time in four head-to-head matchups dissipated 27 seconds later when Scott drilled a three-pointer from in front of St. John’s bench.

With one flick of his wrist, the Red Storm had a 66-59 lead.

“I had an open three,” Scott said. “Confidence is key. My teammates, my coaches give me a lot of confidence. And I made the three.”

Scott’s three-pointer began a game-ending 22-12 run.

New Mexico (3-1) did close the gap to 77-69 on Donovan Dent’s three-pointer with 2:20 remaining. On the ensuing possession, however, Luis bulled his way to the basket for a layup with 1:48 left to extend the Red Storm’s lead to 79-69. Moments later, Scott dived onto the court to corral a loose ball after Tru Washington missed a jumper.

With the outcome essentially decided, the partisan crowd began chanting “Who’s your daddy?” toward the New Mexico coach, who took great pains to say he was not offended.

“As a New York Yankees fan, all I could think of was Pedro Martinez,” Richard Pitino said. “Other than that, I laughed it off. I didn’t think much of it. This is what our obnoxious New York fans do and I’m part of it.”

After the postgame handshakes and quick on-court conversations, the Hall of Fame coach offered an assessment of his team.

“We’re a good, solid basketball team,” the elder Pitino said. “We have greatness potential.”

If so, the Red Storm could find themselves playing meaningful games in March.