Rick Pitino wins 900th career game as St. John's defeats Xavier, son Richard

With St. John’s win over Seton Hall on Tuesday, Rick Pitino picked up his 899th career win. That meant No. 900 was in sight to join an exclusive group of coaches to reach the number – but the road went through Xavier and his son, Richard Pitino.

St. John’s headed to Xavier for a Saturday afternoon matchup as Rick Pitino looked to make history. Only three coaches in the history of Division I men’s basketball had reached 900 wins heading in, and Pitino has now passed Bob Knight for fourth on the all-time wins list. Roy Williams sits third at 903.

It wasn’t easy for the Red Storm, though. Xavier led by as many as 16 points in the second half before St. John’s came all the way back to take a lead in the final minutes. The game went back-and-forth from there as the two teams traded blows.

Ultimately, though, Rick Pitino got the better of Richard in their first showdown as Big East coaches. St. John’s won 88-83, sealing No. 900 for the elder Pitino.

St. John’s erased the second-half deficit and went up by as many as five points with 2:41 to go. But Xavier didn’t back down and went back out in front, 82-81, with 1:12 left. But the Red Storm got a huge three-pointer from Dylan Darling and a tip-in from Ruben Prey to eventually re-gain control and seal the victory.

Rick Pitino: ‘If we lose, I’ll leave my team in Cincinnati’

Heading into the matchup, Rick Pitino knew quite well what was on the line. While his official win total is 777 – the NCAA vacated 123 wins from his time at Louisville as a result of alleged recruiting violations – Saturday marked No. 900 through his historic career.

But facing Richard, who took over as Xavier’s head coach, put more at stake. There were family bragging rights on the line, and Rick Pitino had an idea of just how much Richard wanted to spoil the day.

“I think he will do everything humanly possible to stop it,” Rick said. “The amazing thing about it – I really don’t think about the number of wins. But the amazing thing to me, when Kenny Klein told me about four games ago, he said, ‘If you keep winning, you can have your 900th [win] against your son.’ I said, what’s the chances of that happening? That, you coach … 50 years and your 900th [win] is against your son?

“So I think that’s a big treat for me and the family. Either way, we know we’re going to have a difficult game against them because of their style of play. He’s doing a fabulous job.”

However, in true Pitino fashion, he also had a message for his team. If St. John’s lost the game, he joked the Red Storm would have to find their own way back to New York.

“This is going to be a lot of fun,” Pitino said with a smile. “A great game. If we lose, I’ll leave my team in Cincinnati.”