St. John’s Deivon Smith won’t play Sunday against Creighton

When ninth-ranked St. John’s takes the Garden floor on Sunday to face No. 24 Creighton with first place in the Big East standings on the line, it will be without Deivon Smith, coach Rick Pitino said on Friday.

The 6-foot guard, who Pitino has called “the fastest player I’ve ever coached,” has been battling a shoulder injury for more than a month and though he has been in and out of the lineup, Smith hasn’t been the same dynamic player since getting hurt.

“He has a bruised shoulder that’s bothering him and, obviously it’s affecting our team in a large way,” Pitino said. “Our fast breaks are cut in half with him out.”

Pitino added: “He wants to play badly, but I’ve made a decision not to play him . . . because when he came back, he wasn’t a rebounder, he wasn’t a defender, he didn’t play with that reckless abandonment. And at 6-feet, he has to play like that. So we need to get him healthy, mentally and physically.”

Smith is also experiencing something Pitino termed “a pinched nerve” in his neck suffered in practice Sunday.

St. John’s (21-4, 12-2) has been able to win games with Smith unavailable, though they were without him on Wednesday when their 10-game winning streak was snapped in a two-point loss at Villanova. St. John’s is a game ahead of Creighton (18-7, 11-3) and a victory Sunday would give it a two-game lead with five to play. Creighton won their New Year’s Eve matchup in Omaha by one point.

“We understand the magnitude of how important it is — not just for ourselves, but we’re playing for something that’s bigger than just ourselves,” Zuby Ejiofor said. “We’re playing for a Big East championship for the whole community . . . Everybody is totally engaged on what’s at hand and what it takes to win this game.”

When it comes to getting Smith back, Pitino is looking through an even wider lens.

“We’ve been trying to rush him back [and] what happens is we’re cutting off our nose to spite our face,” he said. “If we think we’re an [NCAA] Tournament team — and we want to obviously be a good tournament team — we need him 100%. If he’s not 100%, it could be [a problem] and an early exit.”

Smith is averaging 9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He is also among the best three-point shooters at 37% on a team badly lacking in that department. When he is tenaciously working at getting defensive rebounds, it allows the Storm to get into a fast break much quicker.

But since Smith first suffered the injury in the Jan. 11 win over Villanova, on a first-half collision, his play has fallen off. He came back to play in the three games before Wednesday’s loss and averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds. He shot 5-for-28. 

“He’s a big piece to what we’ve been able to accomplish all year with his athleticism and the way he pushes the pace on offense and how active he is on defense,” Ejiofor said. “But you always have to have that ‘next man up’ mentality.”

Kadary Richmond has ably handled the ball-handling responsibilities with Smith out. Pitino said Friday that Lefteris Liotopoulos could see more playing time. He came off the bench to hit a big three-pointer Wednesday night.

“We’re going to try ‘Lefty’ a little bit more because [he’s] the best shooter on the team,” Pitino said.

Pitino seemed uncertain about a timetable for getting Smith back, but said he had not practiced since Sunday. When asked if it was a “week-to-week” situation, he replied, “It’s a day-by-day type of situation . . . We’re going to play him when he’s 100% mentally and physically.”

“We listen to the doctors, we listen to the trainers, they advise us,” Pitino said. “For the first time, I’ve overridden their decisions. He’s going to stay [out] until he tells me he’s 100% mentally and physically.”

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.