St. John's coach Rick Pitino defended benching star RJ Luis Jr. for the final 4:56 of Saturday's 75-66 loss to Arkansas.

It wasn’t the answer so much as the tone. Thanks to the ever-present Vice TV cameras, we’ve seen Rick Pitino lose his cool plenty this year — sometimes in halftime talks, sometimes in huddles. The edginess is part of the Pitino platform. You don’t hire him and expect to get John Wooden, sitting quietly in a chair, crafting clever aphorisms.

Arkansas outscored St. John's 11-4 the rest of the way, and after the loss, Pitino was pressed about his decision to bench Luis in the final minutes. Initially, Pitino noted Luis