OMAHA, Neb. — In three Big East games, St. John’s has been outscored by 42 points from the 3-point line. It continued in Tuesday’s frustrating 57-56 loss at Creighton.
St. John’s went just 2-for-9 from deep and attempted only two 3-pointers after halftime while Creighton was 9-for-26.
“They weren’t open, for one,” coach Rick Pitino said when asked about a season low in attempts from distance. “They’re taking away Aaron [Scott’s] 3-point shot. He’s not getting a good look and we’re not a 3-point shooting team. But that doesn’t mean we can’t win. We can win big, we can go on and have a highly successful season. It’s just not a strength of the ballclub.
“You can’t try to become something you’re not. Last game, we’re 8-for-12 [from 3], that’s fine. But you can’t be a volume 3-point shooting team when you don’t have 3-point shooters. You have to be who you are and what you’re all about.”
The Johnnies forced Creighton into 19 turnovers, 10 of which were committed by point guard Steven Ashworth.
They did so despite not pressing much at all during the game.
Pitino doesn’t believe that is a strength of this team.
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“We’re not a really good pressing team this year. That’s not our forte,” Pitino said. “We just press on free throws and we press down the stretch to win the game. We were playing a lot of minutes there. We’re not a great shooting team, we’re not a great pressing team. What we are is a very good man-to-man [defensive] team, a very good intensity team. We’re not going to be something we’re not.”