OMAHA, Neb. — Lefteris Liotopoulos is abruptly a key piece for St. John’s.
A hardly ever used reserve a lot of the season, the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Greece has obtained double-digit minutes in three consecutive video games, highlighted by his career-best efficiency Saturday within the Johnnies’ 90-73 rout of Creighton.
Liotopoulos scored 17 factors and hit 5 3-pointers in 29 minutes. He added 4 rebounds and two assists. In Tuesday’s win over Butler, he sparked St. John’s with 10 first-half factors.
“Each time he shoots it, I really feel prefer it’s getting into,” Pitino mentioned. “He will get it off faster than anyone and he’s additionally getting higher at driving the basketball.”
In that sport, Pitino joked with Liotopoulos that if he didn’t cease getting beat defensively, he would ship him again to Greece.
He was higher on that finish towards Creighton.
“At first, I believed I may be going house,” Liotopoulos mentioned with a smile, recalling the dialog.
Added Pitino: “Lefty desires to play as a lot as anyone and he doesn’t complain, and he is aware of the place he has to get higher. He is aware of how a lot confidence I’ve in him, and he’s enjoying nice proper now.”
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Dylan Darling responded to his benching towards Butler with a powerful effort. The Idaho State switch had 11 factors in 19 minutes off the bench.
St. John’s was plus-21 with Darling on the ground.
Pitino mentioned he didn’t play Darling within the earlier sport as a result of he needed extra dimension on the ground to neutralize Butler’s offensive rebounding prowess.
“There’s simply no time to sulk, no time to sulk or complain about it,” Darling mentioned. “I spotted I wasn’t efficient in any respect within the Windfall sport. I perceive why I didn’t play. I attempted to return again at apply, attempt to get higher and apply being aggressive.”
St. John’s picked up its second ever win right here Saturday to enhance to 2-13. The opposite win got here Jan. 30, 2019. … St. John’s is 4-1 in league play for the third straight season.
