St. John's coach Rick Pitino earns 900th career win
St. John's coach Rick Pitino is congratulated by his team after earning his 900th career coaching win on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, against Xavier in Cincinnati. Credit: AP/Kareem Elgazzar
CINCINNATI — It’s a breathtaking thing to contemplate, Rick Pitino earning his 900th career win. And on Saturday against Xavier, St. John’s got him that milestone with a victory that would take anyone’s breath away.
The Red Storm came back from a 16-point second-half deficit and recorded an 88-83 victory over the Musketeers — coached by Richard Pitino, Rick's son — that sent the hostile crowd of 10,399 at Cintas Center quietly home into the snow.
During an on-camera interview after the game, the Red Storm players donned T-shirts marking his 900th win and mobbed their coach. Then they doused him with water and Gatorade in the locker room in celebration of the win that moved Pitino past Bob Knight into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time list. Roy Williams is next up at 903 victories.
“I always hope for a championship, always hope for a Final Four, but never thought about number of wins,” Pitino said. “I've always hoped that we get to another Final Four, get to another championship [game], but I've never thought about number of wins.”
Adding to the moment was the fact that Xavier is coached by his son. When the teams came out of the locker rooms before tipoff, Richard Pitino and his coaching staff went with suits and ties instead of their usual garb of sweatsuits. It left the elder Pitino laughing.
“That was a nice compliment, because he hates wearing suits,” Rick Pitino said. “I really appreciate that. Actually, it's probably my suit.”
The Red Storm (15-5, 8-1), who have won six in a row, overcame a big second-half deficit for the second time this week — they rallied from 15 down to beat Seton Hall on Tuesday — with enormous late plays from guard Dylan Darling.
Darling accounted for all 11 of his points by hitting three three-pointers and a driving layup in a stretch in which St. John's turned a 67-62 deficit into an 84-82 lead. He drove through traffic for an 81-79 lead with 1:20 left, and after Filip Borovicanin converted a three-point play that fouled out Zuby Ejiofor and put the Musketeers back up by one, he drained a three-pointer with 53.2 seconds left to put St. John's ahead for good. Ruben Prey's tip-in with 15 seconds left gave St. John's an 86-82 lead.
“We were running a set play and Dylan just read it,” Pitino said of the go-ahead three-pointer. “The shots he makes and the drives he makes really tell you a lot about his character . . . He's not afraid to take over, and that's the sign of a great point guard. He's not afraid to take over — step-back three, drive to the rim — and make plays.”
“That’s two games in a row,” Dillon Mitchell said of Darling. “He's playing his behind off and he's just out there playing with toughness, playing with heart, giving it all he got for us. He's made a huge impact for us.”
Bryce Hopkins shook off a terrible first half, scoring 14 of his 18 points and pulling down six of his eight rebounds after halftime. Mitchell had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Ian Jackson had 16 points, all in the first half. Ejiofor added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Tre Carroll scored 31 points and Malik Messina-Moore had 18 points for Xavier (13-9, 3-6).
After falling behind 55-39 with 17:05 left, St. John's reeled off a 16-1 run that included eight points by Mitchell — four on a pair of dunks off his own steals — and six points from Ejiofor. Mitchell's second dunk cut Xavier's lead to 56-55 with 12:56 left.
The Musketeers scored the next seven points, but St. John's responded with a 20-7 run for a 75-70 lead.
Darling had a very inconsistent start to the season but has become a key part of the Red Storm’s depth.
“I got a really good coach who believes in me, who challenges me every day to be better, and he's making me better,” Darling said. “And I’ve got really good teammates. I’ve kind of had an up-and-down year, but they keep believing in me and . . . I just made plays down the stretch tonight.”
“I've said this all along . . . how enjoyable they are,” Pitino said of his players. “But tonight was the icing on the cake, because a lot of teams would break, down 12 or down 10, and they never broke. They just stayed with it.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
