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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — St. John’s can expect a heavy dose of free throws at its next practice.
The charity stripe nearly cost the Johnnies a big win Friday night.
They went 11-for-26 at the line in their 72-70 victory over Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
While St. John’s hasn’t necessarily been a good free-throw shooting team this year, it entered the evening shooting a respectable 70 percent at the line.
Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis combined to miss 11 free throws in 23 attempts and the Johnnies were 9-for-19 after halftime, many coming late in the second half when every point was precious.
“We know we got to work on it. We’re not going out there trying to miss shots,” Ejiofor said. “I think it was a little bit of jitters. Obviously, it’s our first road game in a rowdy environment. It was really loud. That’s something we have to work on.”
Pitino didn’t sound overly alarmed.
He said in practice St. John’s shoots free throws well.
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He believed it got into his players’ heads as the misses piled up.
Ejiofor is already preparing to spend the majority of the next practice working on free throws.
“Close to 500,” Ejiofor predicted.
Kadary Richmond was limited to 22 minutes as his patellar tendonitis flared up.
He was in and out of the game in the second half, and finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
“He was hurting and even though he’s a great player, I’d rather go with players who are 100 percent,” Pitino said.
Pitino doesn’t expect it to linger and expects Richmond to be fine for the next game in eight days against Delaware at Carnesecca Arena on Dec. 28.
