LAS VEGAS — Dylan Darling only logged seven minutes due to a hamstring injury on Wednesday.
The only true point guard on the roster was on the bench most of a disappointing 85-74 loss to No. 21 Auburn in which St. John’s was outscored by 17 points over the final 9:53.
Darling tried to gut it out late, but was not effective. It was uncertain when he suffered the injury.
Coach Rick Pitino was unsure of the severity of the hamstring issue. Darling already missed the loss to No. 8 Alabama due to a calf strain.
The No. 14 Red Storm clearly missed him. The Johnnies entered the day plus-100 for the season in Darling’s 111 minutes.
In their first two games in Las Vegas against Iowa State and Baylor, they were outscored by 11 points with Darling off the floor, but plus-27 with him in the two games.
“I think he has the ability to get other people shots on offense, but defensively he’s limited,” Pitino said.
St. John’s committed 14 turnovers in the loss, a lot of them coming from loose ballhandling.
“It’s really not knowing scouting, not knowing they’re a slap-down team,” Pitino said. “We told them they’re a team that’s just going to attack the basketball. This is not a great team with adhering to scouting with little time. [Auburn] had nine steals in the game, and that’s not good.”
St. John’s will now have an extended break.
The Red Storm won’t play again until Dec. 6 against Ole Miss, then have another week off before hosting Pitino’s former school, Iona. That’s two games in the span of 17 days.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
