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CHICAGO — Another key St. John’s player is now battling an injury.
Just when Deivon Smith recovered from the bruised right shoulder that bothered him for a month, leading scorer RJ Luis suffered a groin injury.
The Big East Player of the Year candidate missed his first game of the year in Wednesday night’s 82-58 blasting of DePaul at Wintrust Arena.
Coach Rick Pitino mentioned that RJ is likely to miss the Connecticut game due to a pulled groin, which is a new experience for him. RJ is eager to play despite the challenge posed by this injury. Pitino emphasized the difficulty of dealing with a pulled groin.
Luis suffered the injury a few days ago. Pitino doesn’t expect to practice ahead of Sunday, but stopped short of ruling Luis out.
“I’d be guessing. I haven’t been right yet,” he joked. “Deivon [Smith] I thought would be out two to three weeks.”
Sadiku Ibine Ayo is always the first man off the bench to cheer on his teammates. Wednesday night was a role reversal.
RJ, a junior reserve filling in for Luis, capitalized on the opportunity to play significant minutes. He achieved a career-high of 15 points, along with five rebounds and two assists.
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He entered the night with 20 points on the season.
Kadary Richmond, a close friend of RJ, expressed his joy for RJ’s standout performance. He highlighted RJ’s consistent dedication and hard work, noting that RJ never complains and is always prepared. Richmond was happy to see RJ shine in the game.
Said Ibine Ayo: “It’s amazing. Coach [Pitino] is always hard on me all the time. I think it pays off.”