Rick Pitinos full-court press decision changed the game for St. Johns

STORRS, Conn.— Over the game’s first 8:22, Connecticut scored 26 points.

The Huskies were getting any shot they wanted, threatening to run away from St.John’s at revved-up Gampel Pavilion. So Rick Pitino went to his full-court press.

Over the remaining 31:22, the No.19 Huskies managed just 36 points. “Sometimes you go into a game with a mindset of how you’re going to play defense and it totally changes,” Pitino said after the 12th-ranked Johnnies stunned the two-time defending national champions 68-62 Friday night for their 10th straight win.

“Sometimes your game plan goes out the window because the other team tears it apart.” That decision changed the game.The press contributed to forcing 22 UConn turnovers, which led to 18 St.

John’s points.When the pressure wasn’t leading to Huskies mistakes, it was taking time off the clock, giving them less time to get quality shots.

They wound up with three shot-clock violations, missed 17 of their final 20 3-point attempts and standout sophomore Solo Ball was blanked after halftime. “I felt they were shooting the ball too well, and what the press has done for me for 40 years is worn people out legs-wise where they don’t shoot the ball as well,” Pitino said.“It’s always been the gift that my teams have.

If we can wear out their legs, they won’t shoot it as well.They were coming at us, and they were getting too many easy shots.

So I felt the full-court press would take a little starch out of their shots, take a little time in the backcourt and make us ultra aggressive.” “We pressed more than we usually have, but that’s because of what they were doing to us offensively early on.” UConn star freshman Liam McNeeley returned after a monthlong absence from a high ankle sprain and scored 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench.This marked St.

John’s first win in front of fans at Gampel Pavilion since 2000.The last time the Johnnies started 12-1 in Big East play was 1984-85....