St. John’s RJ Luis Battles Groin Injury

St. John’s leading scorer RJ Luis missed Wednesday’s blowout victory over DePaul, his first game missed this season, due to a groin injury that is expected to sideline him a bit longer.

Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino divulged that the junior guard will “probably” miss Sunday’s matchup at Madison Square Garden against UConn.

“This is new for RJ,” Pitino said (h/t New York Post). “But RJ is a baller, he wants to play. He has never had a pulled groin before. They can be difficult.”

Luis is one of the favorites to win the Big East Player of the Year, averaging 17.6 points with 7.2 rebounds per game, an obvious sizable hole for St. John’s to attempt to replace down the stretch with four games left in the regular season. This after it finally got back Deivon Smith back from a bruised shoulder that had hampered him for the last month.

Currently ranked No. 10 in the nation, the Red Storm holds a 2.5-game lead atop the Big East ahead of No. 16 Marquette, who was one of the three top-25-ranked teams that they had beaten earlier this month.

With Luis out of the lineup on Wednesday in Chicago, Smith led the way with 18 points with Kadary Richmond adding 17 amidst a groin issue of his own.

“We were in tough shape [Wednesday],” Pitino said. “I’m real proud of Kadary Richmond tonight because he had the same injury that RJ [Luis Jr.] did, and he just gutted out practice and gutted out in the game, he played great. He’s shown his great playing ability. Now he’s shown his toughness.”