The team is also playing three at UBS Arena, the shiny Belmont Park home of the New York Islanders - including Big East games against DePaul and Seton Hall. John’s has doubled its number of home games at MSG to eight. Looking to garner more attention in Pitino’s first season, St. And more importantly, we couldn’t match Michigan.” “We couldn’t match the students and we couldn’t match the fans. We just couldn’t match The Garden,” Pitino said. And the crowd of 14,188 at MSG on Monday night included decked-out rapper Fat Joe sitting in the front row - until he left with 10 minutes remaining in a blowout. The season opener at 5,602-seat Carnesecca Arena on campus in Queens was sold out last Tuesday night for a 90-74 victory over Stony Brook. John’s said sales for season tickets and Madison Square Garden-only packages are up 120% from last year. John’s support while throwing out the first pitch at a Subway Series game between the Mets and Yankees at Citi Field in June, and ringing the opening bell with his team at the New York Stock Exchange on Halloween. Pitino made the rounds during the offseason, drumming up St. “He’s one of five coaches in the country, in my opinion, that come with their own NIL - they come with their own ‘likeness.’ I would say Rick could be the greatest college coach of all time. What does that mean? He won’t need a lot of ingredients,” said Ed Cooley, the new coach at longtime rival Georgetown and, like Pitino, a former Providence coach. Pitino, however, is a New York City native and proven winner everywhere he’s been - besides the Boston Celtics. They haven’t reached the conference semifinals since, even though the event is held annually on one of their home courts at The Garden. The school is 0-4 in NCAA Tournament games since its last victory in 2000, the same year the Red Storm won their most recent Big East Tournament title. John’s, a storied program without much success to speak of this century.

Pitino’s arrival has generated some Big Apple buzz for St. “We’ve got to learn from it,” Pitino said. And while he certainly looked sharp on game day as usual, his overhauled squad featuring 12 newcomers did not. Pitino returned to big-time college basketball Monday night, stalking the Madison Square Garden sideline again in a humbling 89-73 loss to underdog Michigan.

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