Dillon Mitchell had 17 points and 11 rebounds as St. John’s rallied from 15 down in the second half to beat Seton Hall 65-60 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, giving Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino his 899th career win.
Pitino can reach 900 on Saturday at Xavier with a win over his son, of all things. Richard Pitino is in his first season coaching the Musketeers.
Bryce Hopkins added 13 points and eight boards for the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1 Big East), who sit just outside the AP Top 25 this week. St. John’s has won five straight and seven of eight.
AJ Staton-McCray scored 16 points to pace the rugged Pirates (14-5, 4-4), who lost their third game in a row. Tajuan Simpkins added 14 off the bench, and Stephon Payne had 13 points and 15 rebounds.
After a one-week stint at No. 25 in the AP poll, Seton Hall didn’t receive any votes this week following home losses to then-No. 3 UConn and Butler.
Seton Hall took a 38-32 lead into halftime and scored the first nine points of the second half to open a 47-32 cushion — matching the largest deficit for St. John’s all season.
But the Red Storm got more aggressive on both ends and chipped away, aided by some poor free-throw shooting by the Pirates.
Mitchell’s layup with 4:53 remaining put St. John’s ahead 55-54, its first lead since there was 6:43 left in the first half.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
