Big East Day 2: St. John’s Finishes Off Friars

Bryce Hopkins slams one home to put St. John’s up 20-5 early. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John’s Red Storm passed their first test at the Big East Tournament, as they beat Providence, 85-72, in dominant fashion in their Quarterfinal matchup on Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

That was exhibited on the defensive end at first, as they kept Providence off the board for the first four minutes and 47 seconds.

The thing is, though, St. John’s only had nine points at that point, but it wasn’t long before a Bryce Hopkins slam off a fast break made it 20-5 Red Storm at the 13:05 mark. (Pictured above)

This was an emphatic statement by Hopkins against his former team, after he was viciously attacked on a similar play by Duncan Powell in their last meeting on February 14, and occurred right in front of the Providence bench.

St. John’s kept it going, as they built up a 23-point lead, 46-24, on an RJ Luis hook shot at 2:37, and they would take a 48-27 edge into halftime. 

Providence, as expected, made a run in the second half, as they pile to within 11 points, 59-48, on a Ryan Mela layup at the 12:15 mark.

St. John’s responded with a 6-2 spurt that turned into an elongated 17-5 clip capped by a Dillon Mitchell alleyoop at 8:07 that put them up 75-53, a 22-point edge.

Zuby Ejiofor led the way, as he had a double-double with 21 points, on 9-14 from the field, with 10 rebounds, along with five assists and three blocks.

Zuby Ejiofor is able to rise above that Providence defender for this jumper that made it 23-11 midway through the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

A trio of St. John’s players - Bryce Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers, and Ian Jackson - had 14 points apiece. Hopkins had a double-double, as he also hauled in 13 rebounds, while Jackson’s 14 came in 19:11 off the bench.

Just as was the case for Providence against Butler on Wednesday evening, three players were responsible for the lion’s share of their scoring, as Stefan Vaaks (23 points), Jaylin Sellers (21), and Ryan Mela (16) combined for 60 of the Friars’ 72 points.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: 

“Well, we played awesome defense tonight, especially the first half was as good as we played all year. When you go in at halftime with that lead and the assists total are 10-2, the three-point shots, which doesn’t normally happen, we go 0-5 against just an awesome shooting team, and we got 15 points, they got zero. And rebounding-wise, we were 26-13. Fast breaks we were 10-12. 

“So first half was brilliant on offense, brilliant on defense. Second half, it’s tough to play with a lead against a good shooting team, but they made some threes that were amazing. It’s very difficult for our players here because the rules have changed so much. Right now, on every basket the offensive player just buries himself into the defensive player and it’s always a foul. Where before it was 50/50, now it’s 90/10…

“Outside of that, we played a great game. Bryce was tremendous. When you watch Oziyah play, he really doesn’t make many mistakes. He knows how to cut, knows how to play. So he’s a terrific basketball player having - if you look out there and you say what did Oziyah do? He did everything right, nothing wrong. His defense is getting much better than the beginning of the year and I’m proud of both of these guys. They had a really good game.”