Madison Square Garden is supposed to feel like home for St. John’s, yet on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t. The Red Storm entered their latest matchup against the Providence Friars as heavy fan favorites. Even ESPN gave them an 86% chance to win. However, by the final buzzer, Providence had flipped the script, leaving head coach Rick Pitino frustrated after a collective poor performance he couldn’t overlook.

After St. John’s dropped a 77–71 decision to Providence, Pitino didn’t hold back during his postgame interview.

“Look, every now and then, not this type of night, you’re going to have a night like this,” Pitino said. “Even the crowd was like 50% Providence, which was disappointing. It was disappointing by us, disappointing all the way around.”

For a program trying to reassert itself in the Big East, his comments carried weight. A home loss is one thing, but feeling outnumbered by opposing fans is another, especially when the crowd is almost 20,000 people.

In the game, the Red Storm men burst out of the gate with a dominant start, using aggressive full-court pressure to fuel a 15–3 opening run. But as the game wore on, the momentum shifted. Providence took advantage of missed shots and foul trouble, slowly chipping away before Jamier Jones’ tip-in gave the Friars their first lead with 4:44 left in the first half. Despite St. John’s regaining control before the break and entering halftime with a seven-point lead, the tone had already changed.

While Rick Pitino’s team held onto its lead for most of the second half as well, with only 2:28 minutes left on the clock, the Friars’ Jamier Jones made a free throw to put them in the lead. From there on, the Friars gave the game their all. Though St. John’s briefly responded, Stefan Vaaks delivered the decisive blow, drilling a deep three-pointer to put the Friars ahead for good.

While Providence thrived on balance, St. John’s leaned almost entirely on one player. Zuby Ejiofor delivered one of his best performances so far, finishing with 33 points and 15 rebounds. No other Red Storm player except him reached double figures, as they struggled mightily, shooting a combined 21.8% from the field.

“I’ve said it all along, these guys are great, but they just had an awful night collectively except for Zuby,” Rick Pitino admitted. “Every single player had their worst night of the season, and it mushroomed into overflow with the defense.”

We just lost our confidence when we kept missing,” coach Pitino added. “Then, they just wanted to feed Zuby the ball almost every time down the court because they lost their confidence.”

For Providence, it was a statement road win fueled by resilience and collective effort. But for St. John’s, it was a missed opportunity that raised uncomfortable questions early in conference play. As the Red Storm head into a tougher stretch, they will look to regroup quickly, hoping the disappointment from Saturday serves as a wake-up call rather than the start of a troubling trend.

What’s next for Rick Pitino’s Red Storm?

With this loss under their belt, the Red Storm men now sit at 9-5 in the 2025-26 NCAA season, while 2-1 in the Big East. While this was their first conference loss, the other four losses came against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Iowa State Cyclones, the Auburn Tigers, and the Kentucky Wildcats. Offensively, they are currently averaging 86.5 points per game, while holding up their opponents to just 72.8.

With Ejiofor leading the game with the most points (14.6), rebounds (7.4), assists (3.1), and blocks (2.4) per game, the Red Storm will lock in with the Butler Bulldogs for their matchup on January 6th in Indianapolis, a game predicted to be in favor of the Red Storm with 54.6%. Following this, they will play against:

• The Creighton Bluejays on January 10th.
• The Marquette Golden Eagles on January 13th.
• The Villanova Wildcats on January 17th.

The recent loss to Providence leaves Rick Pitino with questions about his team, about consistency, and about leadership on the floor, and as they hit the road against the Bulldogs and prepare for a tough run through the Big East, one thing is clear: they’ll need more than one star to carry them if they want to avoid another upset.