Rick Pitino upset with struggling Joel Soriano after technical foul
St. John's Red Storm center Joel Soriano looks on against the Connecticut Huskies in the first half of an NCAA Big East men’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 3. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
MILWAUKEE — There is nowhere to go but up for Joel Soriano after his performance in St. John’s 86-75 Big East loss to No. 7 Marquette on Saturday at Fiserv Forum. The Red Storm captain, who was so impactful when St. John’s built a 4-1 record in Big East play — its best in more than two decades — managed only two points and five rebounds Saturday.
Rick Pitino was especially ticked at Soriano after he picked up a technical foul in the final minute of the first half for pushing Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro during a stoppage in play. He started Zuby Ejiofor at center in the second half.
“That’s because I have a captain who gets a technical foul and I didn’t want him to get his third foul,” Pitino said. “[And] for no rhyme or reason.”
The 6-11 Soriano’s effectiveness has waned, and it has coincided with the team going 2-6 in its last eight games. He averaged 16.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in the first five games and 11.3 and 8.3 since.
Pitino increasingly has opted to lean on Kansas transfer Ejiofor when he needs strong defense in the paint. On Thursday, he spoke about playing Ejiofor more down the stretch of the season.
“We’ve got to get Zuby more minutes,” Pitino said. “We need to get him anywhere from 12 to 16 minutes a game, especially since Joel hasn’t been as dominant as he was in the beginning of the year.”
Notes & quotes: Pitino was especially irked about how effective Marquette was from three-point range early in the second half, and the Golden Eagles were especially pleased about their accuracy.
“We come out, we bang some threes, they got to come out of the zone,” said Marquette point guard Tyler Kolek, who had 27 points, including five three-pointers, and 13 assists. “They start going man-to-man, then it’s just barbecue chicken from there.”
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.
