Rick Pitino on Dylan Darling: 'He's got balls as big as church bells'

St. John’s rallied from a 16-point second half deficit Saturday afternoon to knock off Xavier 88-83 in the Cintas Center, winning its sixth consecutive game. The Johnnies, led by Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, have now won 11 of their last 13 games following a disappointing 4-3 start to the season.

Pitino earned his 900th career victory thanks to the comeback, taking down his son Richard Pitino‘s team in the process. Junior guard Dylan Darling hit down a massive three-point shot to put St. John’s ahead by two with 1:12 remaining, and sophomore forward Ruben Prey made a tip-in with 15 seconds remaining to put the Johnnies up four and seal the victory.

Postgame, Pitino (as only he can) hilariously said that Darling has ‘got balls as big as church bells’. The Spokane native contributed 11 points on 3-5 three-point shooting in the win.

Pitino on Dylan Darling: “He’s got balls as big as church bells." #sjubb

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) January 24, 2026

Led by Pitino, St. John’s has enjoyed a miraculous in-season turnaround. The Johnnies opened the season ranked No. 5 in the Preseason AP Poll, but quickly fell out of the rankings completely following their 78-66 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 20. They then opened Big East play with a 2-1 record, but have since rattled off the six consecutive victories (Butler, Creighton, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, and Xavier).

Rick Pitino applauded his team’s fight in comeback victory

As Pitino entered the locker room following the win, he was doused in water and Gatorade by his players. He later discussed the moment with the media.

“I’ve said it to you all year long about how enjoyable they are,” Pitino said. “Tonight was the icing on the cake because a lot of teams would break down 12 or 10 and they never broke. They just stayed with it. Dylan Darling has balls as big as church bells. Unbelievable. Bryce Hopkins made big plans. Ian (Jackson) kept us in the game in the first half, so it was a great team performance.”

Sitting at 8-1, St. John’s now enters the meat of its Big East schedule. It still has two clashes against No. 2 UConn on the docket, but will face eight other teams that they already own a victory over. The Johnnies will also get a rematch against a struggling Providence team on Feb. 14. The Friars handed St. John’s its lone conference loss on Jan. 3 (77-71).

St. John’s currently sits at a No. 5 seed in On3’s latest Bracketology.