Simeon Wilcher rewards Rick Pitino’s St. John’s suspension restraint

CINCINNATI — Rick Pitino considered suspending Simeon Wilcher for showing up Butler with his attempted dunk in the final seconds of Saturday’s victory.

Ultimately, after asking the team about how it felt, Pitino decided against it.

Wilcher rewarded Pitino with one of his best performances of the season.

The sophomore guard scored 15 points and added three assists off the bench in 28 strong minutes, helping St. John’s knock off Xavier, 82-72, at Cintas Center on Tuesday night.

Pitino considered suspending Simeon Wilcher for showing up Butler with his attempted dunk in the final seconds of Saturday’s victory.

“It means a lot, especially because I know what I did wasn’t smart and it didn’t look good on us at all,” Wilcher said. “For Coach not to suspend me or do anything like that, it feels really good. I just appreciate it and I wanted to say publicly I’m sorry that I did that.”

When Pitino brought it up to the team, Deivon Smith was the most vocal that he felt Wilcher shouldn’t be suspended.

Earlier in the year, Smith himself was suspended after he reacted poorly to being benched in a loss to Georgia in the Bahamas.

At the end of the Butler game, it looked like Wilcher was just going to dribble out the clock.

Then he looked to the sideline, and tried a windmill jam, which he missed.

There were people yelling at him to score from behind the St. John’s bench.

“You can’t succumb to that. I told him why it’s wrong,” Pitino said. “We talked, it’s not a big deal. Young people are going to be young. Sim’ is a five-star person. Not a four-plus, not a four. He’s a five out of five. He just made a mistake. I can count the thousands I’ve made.”

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Perhaps most importantly, Wilcher enjoyed a breakout offensive performance. He had struggled of late. In his previous three league games, Wilcher shot 5-for-33 from the field. He was far better against Xavier.

“For me, it was just having faith and trusting everybody that’s surrounding me,” Wilcher said. “They always make sure that I keep my head up regardless of how I play, and that’s what they did tonight. I owe it to them.”

Freshman guard Jaiden Glover is dealing with a bone bruise in his right wrist, according to Pitino.

He can do everything but shoot. Pitino is unsure if Glover will be able to play Saturday against Villanova.