Friday night's Sweet 16 game in Washington, D.C. should be an epic one.
No. 1 Duke, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, is set to take on No. 5 seed St. John's, led by Rick Pitino. The Johnnies are coming off an epic buzzer-beating win over No. 4 seed Kansas. St. John's led Kansas by double digits for most of the game, only for the Jayhawks to tie it up late. However, the Jayhawks couldn't hold on late, allowing a game-winning layup as time expired.
St. John's is now off to the Sweet 16, where a battle against the top-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament is waiting. Pitino appears to have been waiting years for this moment, too.
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Immediately following his team's win over Kansas, Pitino got the trash talk going early against No. 1 seed Duke.
He's hoping to beat Duke in the same way they beat Kansas: at the buzzer.
“You win some, you lose some. I’m hoping we get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian Laettner shot," he said on Sunday night.
The 1992 loss still lives in Pitino's mind
In 1992, Duke beat Kentucky at the buzzer, in the Elite Eight with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Christian Laettner's insane buzzer-beater remains one of the best shots in the history of basketball.
Pitino was coaching Kentucky at the time, while Coach K was leading Duke.
Duke went on to top Kentucky, 104-103, in one of the best games in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
Pitino is hoping for some payback this weekend.
Duke and St. John's will tip off at 7:10 p.m. E.T. on Friday night. The game will air on CBS.
