Pitino not picking fight with refs

OMAHA, Neb. — Despite a number of calls that didn’t go St. John’s way, Rick Pitino declined to criticize the officiating.

The Johnnies attempted 13 fewer free throws than Creighton and were called for 12 more fouls. There were also two non-calls in the final 20 seconds of their 66-65 loss to No. 22 Creighton that were significant in the agonizing loss.

Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner appeared to foul Daniss Jenkins going for a loose ball that led to two Trey Alexander gamewinning free throws with 12.3 seconds left, and Jordan Dingle looked to get fouled by Francisco Farabello on his putback attempt at the buzzer.

The Hall of Fame coach went into detail on his approach to referees.

“I don’t yell at officials during the game. This is going to sound absolutely berserk: I think it’s a form of cheating when you’re trying to get calls on every play and cursing at the referees, inciting the crowd,” Pitino said. “You’re trying to get calls. I don’t believe in that. I’ve said to referees throughout my tenure maybe 1,000 times: Stop listening to the other coach, you’re getting paid to referee, not to listen to coaches. Most of them adhere to it, the ones that aren’t great don’t adhere to it.”

There’s a certain coach in Connecticut, Dan Hurley, who is known for getting on the officiating, among many others around the country. Pitino has drawn headlines recently for saying he wants to play the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena next year, which hasn’t happened since 1990. There is a burgeoning rivalry between the schools.

A major bright spot in the defeat was the play of the bench. St. John’s reserves outscored Creighton’s, 29-4, and keyed a 14-2 run in the second half. Backup center Zuby Ejiofor (six points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals) was particularly important in that spurt.

“I was very impressed by the way our bench was playing. We just played great defense,” Pitino said. “Zuby was very intense inside, did a lot of great things defensively.”

Freshman Brady Dunlap (ankle) was questionable, but played 10 minutes off the bench. He went scoreless with three rebounds.