The St. John’s basketball team last met Providence six weeks ago and it provided an unforgettable finish as Zuby Ejiofor capped off a 16-point comeback for the Red Storm with a buzzer beating putback.

However, the Red Storm players remember Friar head coach Kim English’s comments after the game much more vividly.

“They do what we talked about,” English told the media after the 72-70 victory for the Johnnies. “They force turnovers and they offensive rebound, pretty much they only thing they do pretty well.”  

It has not been forgotten in the St. John’s locker room.

“Yes, and I disagree,” Deivon Smith said on Friday when asked if he remembers English’s remarks. “I think we do a lot of good other stuff, and we just didn’t play our best basketball in that first half, so he has to come in here at 12 o’clock on Saturday and rejudge.”

Smith, who will be playing for the first time since January 18, after he missed four of the last five games with a shoulder sprain said that the Johnnies are motivated by the statement.

Providence (11-10, 5-5 Big East) has struggled this season but are winners of back-to-back games against Georgetown and Seton Hall and seemingly turned a corner in its season after a 28-point drubbing at home against Marquette on January 31.

Rick Pitino isn’t saying publicly that he used English’s comments as motivation throughout the week, but his players had a different tone.

“It’s definitely something we see as players and it’s something that we feel like we’re just not what he says,” Brady Dunlap explained.

“You don’t want to call it bulletin board material but anytime a bunch of competitors see something like that it’s going to spark some type of fire.”

Dunlap smiled and laughed when asked if Pitino has brought it up to the team. “It’s a pretty tough question for me to answer…no comment.”

To decipher, it’s something that has been brought up, talked about, and discussed multiple times as St. John’s will have it in the forefront of its mind when it takes the floor at Madison Square Garden.

“I think that after losses coaches don’t always say the smartest things – include me on that…it’s not going to make a difference how we play,” Pitino said.

A win over Providence could move St. John’s (18-3, 9-1 Big East) closer to the Top-10 in the AP Poll, a ranking it has not held since the final rankings of the 1999-2000 season, and sets up a battle next week against Marquette for the sole possession of first place in the Big East standings.

The No. 15 Johnnies didn’t need any extra motivation entering its matchup with the Friars but they certainly have found it with Kim English’s comments.