Overview
- St. John’s visits Xavier on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET, giving Rick Pitino his first chance at an on-court 900th collegiate victory against son Richard’s team.
- St. John’s enters at 14-5 and 7-1 in the Big East on a five-game winning streak, while Xavier is 11-8 and 3-5 in conference play.
- Rick Pitino said he expects his son to “do everything humanly possible to stop it,” as both coaches acknowledged but downplayed the milestone focus.
- The Pitinos have met four times as head coaches, with Rick leading 3-1; Richard called it “like any other game” and joked on X about chasing his own 258th win.
- Pitino’s 899 on-court wins tie Bob Knight for fourth on that basis, though the NCAA credits Knight with 902 and recognizes Pitino with 776 after Louisville vacated 123 victories.