Central Plains FFA Chapter

01/20 20:54 CST Pitino gets 899th win as St. John's rallies from 15 down in 2nd half for 65-60 win over Seton Hall Pitino gets 899th win as St. John's rallies from 15 down in 2nd half for 65-60 win over Seton Hall By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) --- Dillon Mitchell had 17 points and 11 rebounds as St. John's rallied from 15 down in the second half to beat Seton Hall 65-60 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, giving Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino his 899th career win. Pitino can reach 900 on Saturday at Xavier with a win over his son, of all things. Richard Pitino is in his first season coaching the Musketeers. Bryce Hopkins added 13 points and eight boards for the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1 Big East), who sit just outside the AP Top 25 this week. St. John's has won five straight and seven of eight. AJ Staton-McCray scored 16 points to pace the rugged Pirates (14-5, 4-4), who lost their third game in a row. Tajuan Simpkins added 14 off the bench, and Stephon Payne had 13 points and 15 rebounds. After a one-week stint at No. 25 in the AP poll, Seton Hall didn't receive any votes this week following home losses to then-No. 3 UConn and Butler. Seton Hall took a 38-32 lead into halftime and scored the first nine points of the second half to open a 47-32 cushion --- matching the largest deficit for St. John's all season. But the Red Storm got more aggressive on both ends and chipped away, aided by some poor free-throw shooting by the Pirates. Mitchell's layup with 4:53 remaining put St. John's ahead 55-54, its first lead since there was 6:43 left in the first half.

Up next Seton Hall visits DePaul on Saturday. St. John's plays Saturday at Xavier, pitting Rick Pitino against his son for the first time in a conference game. Richard Pitino is 1-3 in coaching matchups with his father, including a loss last season at MSG with New Mexico. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball