At the most critical juncture of his team’s dream season, with a second-round NCAA tournament matchup against Arkansas hanging in the balance, legendary St. John’s coach Rick Pitino made a curious choice.
He removed Big East Player of the year RJ Luis Jr. from the floor with 4:56 to play after he had just drained a pair of foul shots to cut the Johnnies’ deficit to two.
For the rest of his team’s season-ending 75-66 loss, Luis did not reenter the game. He watched solemnly from the St. John’s bench, powerless to help a cold-shooting Johnnies team that tallied just four points the rest of the game.