PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Seven players were ejected from Saturday’s game between No. 17 St. John’s and Providence after a fracas resulting from a hard foul by Friars forward Duncan Powell on Bryce Hopkins sent the Red Storm star crashing to the ground.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, was in the middle of it, trying to hold back his players. But several of them entered the fray as it drifted toward the Red Storm bench.
“You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” Pitino said after the 79-69 victory gave the Red Storm its 11th straight win. “You can’t fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can’t fight any more, so toughness has to come between the lines.”
The game was delayed by nearly 20 minutes while the referees sorted out the punishments: Four St. John’s players were booted along with two from Providence, and by the time the Friars got the ball back they had watched a one-point lead turn into a four-point deficit. A third PC player was ejected after another hard foul later in the game.
“I feel like we responded in the best way possible,” said St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor, who anticipated a frigid reaction for Hopkins in his first game back since he transferred from Providence. “Coming into this game we knew exactly how rowdy this environment was going to be — not only for him, but for all of us. We knew it was going be tough. You have to have a great mindset to come in here and win, and I think that’s what we did.”
St. John’s led by as many 13 points in the first half, but the Friars rallied in the second to take a series of one-point leads and had a 40-39 edge with 14:25 left when Hopkins — who played three seasons in Providence — went up for a fast-break layup and was raked across the head and face by Powell’s arm, taking him to the ground.
Providence coach Kim English didn’t like the foul, either.
“There’s a time to foul hard. There’s a time to foul a poor free throw shooter hard. That’s fouling to not let them get the ball above their head. Fouling their arms. It’s a good, clean basketball play. A good hard foul. You don’t want to give up ‘and ones,’” English said. “He had plenty of opportunity to get in front of him, just playing straight up.”
Hopkins, who was booed during warmups and cheered when he missed shots, got up and moved toward Powell but was held back and guided away by his former teammate, Friars forward Oswin Erhunmwunse. Others in the game got involved and the players from the nearby St. John’s bench couldn’t be held back any longer.
The pushing and shoving continued while coaches, referees and security tried to break it up. Referee Nathan Farrell appeared to be favoring one arm the rest of the game.
During the delay, players for both teams warmed up at their baskets. As the refs updated the coaches on their decision, the fans broke into a chant of “Duncan Powell!” and then cheered for Providence guard Jaylin Sellers as he was led down the tunnel.
He was soon joined by Powell. According to a pool report, Powell was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul and issued a technical foul for fighting and Sellers was ejected for a dead ball flagrant foul; Mitchell was kicked out for a dead ball flagrant technical and the other three Red Storm players were ejected for leaving the bench.
The pool report said the conference will review the game to see if additional penalties are warranted.
Pitino began his postgame media availability by saying with a smile, “We’re getting out of here before the fans beat the coaches up.” And he ended it by joking, “Get me (Big East Commissioner) Val Ackerman on the phone.”
In between, he chastised a reporter for asking Ejiofor about the fight, saying, “We’re not going to address that; let the league address it. If you want to talk basketball, talk basketball. You write what you saw. Don’t ask my players that.”
Hopkins made two free throws, then St. John’s Oziyah Sellers made one of two and followed it with a layup for a five-point play that gave the Red Storm a 44-40 lead. After a Friars miss, St. John’s Dylan Darling hit a 3-pointer for a seven-point lead and the Red Storm were never threatened again.
“I thought we came out really good in the second half,” English said. “And the scrum happened, I thought, at a bad time for us. We got the lead, we’re up 1 … and then everything else ensues.”
Tensions flared again with five minutes left after a hard foul by Erhunmwunse on Ejiofor. That was ruled a common foul, but Providence fans under the basket got the Red Storm players riled up enough for the referees to step in and PC forward Jamier Jones was ejected in the aftermath.
“The crowd lost objectivity of what they’re here for,” Pitino said. “If they’re just here to poke fun at Bryce Hopkins and not get a win for the Friars, that’s not the Friars I remember in ’87.”
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