St. John’s Rick Pitino puts Providence fans on blast after heated ejection-filled game

Multiple ejections happened in the St. John’s game against Providence. St. John’s prevailed despite ejections and played hard. After the game, former Providence head coach and current St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino spoke about the ejections and the fans, per ESPN.

“You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” Pitino said after the victory “You can’t fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can’t fight any more, so toughness has to come between the lines.”

Overall, four players from St. John’s would be ejected while two players from Providence got the boot. Pitino made sure to address the situation after the game

“We’re getting out of here before the fans beat the coaches up,” Pitino said jokingly. “Get me [Big East Commissioner] Val Ackerman on the phone.”

Pitino coached at Providence from 1985 to 1987. In his final season, and second of two years with Providence before heading to Kentucky, he led Providence to the Final Four. He would go on to spend eight years at Kentucky before a stint in the NBA and thenat  Louisville. Still, he made comments about Providence after the game.

“The crowd lost objectivity of what they’re here for,” Pitino said. “If they’re just here to poke fun at Bryce Hopkins and not get a win for the Friars, that’s not the Friars I remember in ’87.”

Providence dropped to 11-15 with the loss, while St. John’s moved to 20-5. The Red Storm returns to the court on Wednesday against Marquette, while the Friars return to the court on Saturday against DePaul.

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