Pitino Seeks Payback, Duke Aims for Repeat

0:00On March 23rd, St. John's pulled off a thrilling upset over Kansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament with a buzzer-beater shot. Red Storm coach Rick Patino quickly referenced a famous loss from his past, the 1-2-9-2 Elite 8 game where Duke's Christian lay in her hit. A game winner against his Kentucky team. Now, Patino squad faces Duke in the sweet 16 on Friday and he's hoping for some payback at the buzzer. Patino reflected on his experiences with close games, saying he's been on both the winning and losing ends. He lightheartedly mentioned wanting his team to top Duke in dramatic fashion to even the score from that iconic moment decades ago. Duke legend Mike Kraszowski responded to Patino's remarks during an appearance on the Pat McAfee show. Coach K pointed out the shot happened 34 years ago, long before any of today's players were born. He praised Patino as one of the all-time greats and admired how he handled that tough defeat with grace afterward.

1:00Meanwhile, Duke had their own early tournament drama, rallying from a halftime deficit to beat 16 seeds the NS-71 to 65. Forward, Malik Brown went viral for calling it no cakewalk after they trailed big and current coach John Shire called it the toughest first round. Game of his career, they bounced back with an easier 81-50 win over TCU. These coaching nods add extra spice to the sweet 16 clash between St. John's and Duke, where history could repeat in the final seconds.