St. John's coach Rick Pitino bemoans defensive rebounding after one-point loss to Iowa State at Players Era Festival
Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson grabs a rebound over St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor during the second half on Monday. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
LAS VEGAS
The idea of St. John’s scheduling a powerhouse program in Alabama for the second game of the season on Nov. 8 was to see where it stood, to identify weaknesses and begin to address them.
More than two weeks elapsed between that loss at the Garden and Monday’s Players Era Festival game between the 14th-ranked Red Storm and No. 15 Iowa State.
It’s hard to tell how much progress actually was made in that time.
St. John’s held a four-point lead with 8:46 to play — and a one-point lead with less than two minutes left — and couldn’t make the plays needed to close out the win, walking out of Michelob Ultra Arena with an 83-82 loss.
It’s almost the same as what happened against the Crimson Tide. The biggest factor in the late going of both defeats was the Red Storm’s inability to get a defensive rebound, end their opponent’s possession and finish on top.
Iowa State (5-0) had 22 second-chance points, including 16 after halftime. It got five offensive rebounds and turned them into nine points in a four-minute span in which it turned a 72-68 deficit into a 79-74 lead with 3:07 to play.
Oziyah Sellers of the St. John's Red Storm reacts after being called for a foul against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of a Players Era Championship tournament on November 24, 2025 in Las Vegas. Credit: Getty Images/Ian Maule
St. John’s managed to get the lead back with a pair of three-pointers by Oziyah Sellers, with the second giving the Red Storm an 80-79 lead with 2:09 to play. But the Cyclones scored four unanswered points and Sellers missed a jumper and a drive. Joshua Jefferson rebounded the second miss, got fouled and made two free throws with 9.6 seconds left for an 83-80 lead.
Zuby Ejiofor’s long three-pointer for the tie grazed the front of the rim and Dillon Mitchell put the miss back for the final points of the game. He didn’t have time to kick it out for another attempt to tie it.
The Red Storm (3-2) again were in a position for their first high-profile win of the season and again came up short.
Dillon Mitchell dunks over two Iowa State players in the first half. Credit: Getty Images/Ian Maule
“It was another tough game for us,” a clearly irritated coach Rick Pitino said. “The effort was great. The play was terrific. We just, with the game on the line, didn’t come up with the rebounds necessary to put the other team away.
“So we take the loss because we couldn’t come up with the rebounds. [It’s] unfortunate that we lost another good game.”
St. John’s will face Baylor in Tuesday’s second round at 4:30 p.m. ET. They are almost assuredly not going to play in the title or third-place games. There are five consolation games on Wednesday and two on Thursday, and a loss to the Bears in this 18-team tournament could force the Red Storm to spend Thanksgiving here.
Since the Alabama loss, Pitino has been talking about the Red Storm becoming more physical. He has said “hit someone” when rebounding. He called St. John’s a “finesse team,” which — whether intended or not — sounds as if his players don’t embrace contact. And he was there again after this loss when asked about getting defensive rebounds.
“It’s a car crash, [and] who wins the crash?” he said. “If they crash into you, they move you to the baseline. If you crash into them, you win. And we’ve struggled with that fundamental all season. It’s been a weakness of ours and with veteran players as well.”
Maybe, but not exactly. On Monday, Ejiofor had 16 points and nine rebounds, Bryce Hopkins had 16 points and seven rebounds and Mitchell had 12 points and nine rebounds. Those veterans had 25 of their 36 boards.
The question mark — as was the case in the Alabama loss — is the guard play. Yes, Sellers had a season-high 20 points, but Dylan Darling, Joson Sanon and Ian Jackson totaled 16 points, shot 5-for-20 and had a single rebound among them.
Sure, rebounding and the lack of physical play is an issue that stands out. There are others, too.
The Red Storm haven’t come out of the locker room well. In the first half, they were down 25-15 after 11:07 as ISU made eight of its first 11 shots; St. John’s recovered behind its press and led 45-43 at halftime. Then the Red Storm were outscored 19-8 in the first 6:47 of the second half before recovering from that.
Pitino thinks they hesitate too long on open three-point opportunities, something he’s brought up more than once and again after the ISU loss.
But for a program whose biggest strength was rebounding last season, the weakness there is an eyesore.
“It’s a . . . . very disappointing loss for us, but we’ve got to do something,” Pitino said. “You can’t lose the game by giving second shots up. You’re not going to win games that way.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
