Steve Lavin says he's a bad conference tourney coach, and he's mostly right

Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer
Steve Lavin says he's a bad conference tourney coach, and he's mostly right

NEW YORK — Following a 74-57 loss to Providence in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, St. John's coach Steve Lavin took some time to reflect on his postseason history.

Asked why his group of seniors was unable to win a game in the Big East Tournament during their careers, Lavin took the blame.

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“I don’t think it’s them,” said Lavin, who has coached St. John’s since 2010. “I’m just a poor Big East…I’m a poor conference tournament coach. We didn’t have one at UCLA either. I know we lost to Cal.

“Probably the trend in the racing form is I don’t think I’ve ever won a conference tournament game as a coach in the Pac-10 or the Big East. I don’t think it has anything to do with our players.”

Lavin’s memory is basically correct, though he sells himself a little short.

His tenure at UCLA ran from 1996 to 2003, but there was only a Pac-10 Tournament for the final two years. In 2002 he lost to third-seeded California in the quarterfinals, only to turn around and earn a Sweet Sixteen bid the next weekend. In 2003, with his termination all but complete, the Bruins knocked off top-seeded (and absolutely stacked) Arizona before falling in the semifinals to Oregon.

He also has one conference tournament win at St. John’s, a 65-63 second round win over No. 13 seed Rutgers in his first season as head coach. The Johnnies bowed out to Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

St. John’s actually started Thursday's loss to Providence up 7-0, but went on a field goal drought that lasted more than 10 minutes and turned its advantage into a 30-13 deficit. The Red Storm got as close as eight early in the second half, but foul trouble, cold shooting and a great effort from the Friars kept the game out of reach late.

Lavin is only 2-7 in the postseason in his tenure at St. John’s, but he’ll get another crack next week in the NCAA tournament, for which the Red Storm are a lock. Lavin is entering the final year of his original deal and the school has said it will reevaluate his standing at the end of the season.