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St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino had some advice for the NCAA after the Red Storm’s heartbreaking loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 Friday night: Let the losers go first.
Pitino opened his news conference with a point of order after he said his team was left “hanging” for over a half-hour after its narrow loss to Duke.
“One suggestion for the NCAA. When you have interviews on the court for Duke — for the winning team — is to have the losing team go first because you left us disappointed in the locker room while the other team is celebrating, rightfully so.
“You should let the losing team go first and let the winning team have as long as you want. Just a suggestion.”
Waiting on the sidelines added to a tough night for St. John’s.
Duke rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to knock No. 5 seed St. John’s out of the NCAA tournament with an 80-75 win and advance to the Elite Eight, where the Blue Devils will face UConn.
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“It was our defense that broke down,” Pitino said during the news conference. “It wasn’t so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country. We couldn’t defend the bully drives.”
Caleb Foster also made his return from a broken foot, scoring 11 points in the second half, while Isaiah Evans added 25 points and Cameron Boozer totaled 22 points and 10 rebounds.
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Duke is 3-2 against UConn in the NCAA Tournament but has lost the last two, including the 1999 title game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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