NEW YORK, NY — On Monday night—one day removed from Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California—the Pitino Bowl went down at Madison Square Garden as Rick Pitino and the St. John’s Red Storm hosted the Xavier Musketeers, led at the helm by his son Richard Pitino.
A father-son coaching matchup, the 24th ever in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball history and sixth between the Pitinos, with Rick, 73, leading the all-time series, 4-1, on Richard, 43, prior to Monday’s tip at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
- 1/24/2026: Rick Pitino (St. John’s) vs. Richard Pitino (Xavier) | St. John’s 88-83
- 11/17/2024: Rick Pitino (St. John’s) vs. Richard Pitino (New Mexico) | St. John’s 85-71
- 12/18/2022: Rick Pitino (Iona) vs. Richard Pitino (New Mexico) | New Mexico 82-74
- 11/14/2014: Rick Pitino (Louisville) vs. Richard Pitino (Minnesota) | Louisville 79-55
- 12/19/2012: Rick Pitino (Louisville) vs. Richard Pitino (FIU) | Louisville 79-65
And for this one, forty minutes of regulation was not enough to determine a victor.
The Pitino Bowl on Monday night at Madison Square Garden was the 24th all-time father-son coaching matchup in College Basketball DI history – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
The Musketeers, successfully capitalizing on many second-chance opportunities to force overtime, were able to go blow for blow with the Johnnies, who seemed to be a bit sluggish as a team after their big time win on No. 6 UConn last Friday at MSG.
A tad tired perhaps as well since Monday’s affair marked the third game for the Red Storm in the last six days—@ DePaul last Tuesday, vs. UConn last Friday and vs. Xavier on Monday.
But then again, great teams, ones that are well-coached units, still get it done even if it may not be their best night on the floor, which is what St. John’s accomplished.
Despite it taking an extra five minutes in OT, paired to a poor shooting performance from the free throw line as a team, 28-41 (68.3%), the Red Storm, coming out on top, 87-82, improved to 19-5 on the year and 12-1 in Big East Play—the second straight year where St. John’s has started league play at 12-1.
After dropping their first game of 2026 to Providence, No. 17 St. John’s has rattled off 10 straight wins, tying for the second longest winning streak in the program’s Big East history – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
Zuby Ejiofor (25), Bryce Hopkins (19) and Dylan Darling (16) combined for 60 of the 87 points recorded on the night by the Johnnies with 21 rebounds as a trio.
On another winning note, as St. John’s extended their winning streak to 10, Monday’s victory marked Pitino’s 904th of his legendary coaching career at the DI men’s collegiate basketball level, surpassing Roy Williams (903) for sole possession of third most all-time behind Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) and Jim Boeheim (1,116).
“(I’m) happy with the victory, but I’m much more proud of my son,” he said in regards to the milestone. “I thought my son, in the two times we played him, did things to really hurt our defense and did things to really hurt our press. I think he’s an extremely brilliant young coach.
I come away tonight not thinking about 904 (wins), I come away being really proud of my son.”
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