Roger Rubin: St. John's coasts past Providence in Big East Tournament quarterfinals
St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins dunks against Providence in the Big East men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s Big East Tournament quarterfinal against Providence was always going to be more than a game, and not just for the obvious reasons.
This one and both regular-season contests had the storyline of Bryce Hopkins going against the team he left after last season to transfer to St. John’s. And certainly the drama was stoked by how the regular-season meetings played out: Providence pulling the upset at the Garden and St. John’s prevailing in Rhode Island after Duncan Powell’s vicious takedown of Hopkins on a breakaway, the ensuing melee and the seven player ejections.
However, there was no chance that Red Storm coach Rick Pitino and star center Zuby Ejiofor were ever going to let Thursday’s game against the Friars be about something personal or settling a score. Pitino is all about winning championships, and Ejiofor has felt the exhilaration of capturing one. The 13th-ranked and top-seeded Red Storm already know they are going back to the NCAA Tournament, but they remain very serious about defending that crown.
And St. John’s absolutely played that way against the Friars. The Red Storm scored 20 of the game’s first 25 points and cruised to an 85-72 victory before 19,812 at the Garden.
St. John’s was sensational in taking a 48-27 halftime lead. Its defense held a team that made 14 three-pointers in a first-round win over Butler on Wednesday without a single three in the first 20 minutes and forced eight turnovers that it turned into a dozen points. The Red Storm outrebounded Providence 26-13 and their reserves outscored their Friars counterparts 16-0.
St. John’s (26-6) led by at least 11 for the final 20 minutes. After the Friars closed within 59-48 with 12:15 remaining, St. John’s built an 83-59 lead.
“The first half was brilliant on offense, brilliant on defense,” Pitino said. “The second half, it’s tough to play with a lead against a good-shooting team and they made some threes that were amazing . . . Outside of that, we played a great game and Bryce was tremendous.”
Ejiofor had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Hopkins added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Oziyah Sellers and Ian Jackson each scored 14 points for the Red Storm, who will face fourth-seeded Seton Hall (21-11) in the 5:30 p.m. semifinal Friday. St. John’s is in a semifinal for the third straight year.
Stefan Vaaks had 23 points and Jaylin Sellers added 21 for Providence (15-18). Vaaks, a freshman, shot 5-for-9 from three-point range a day after shooting 8-for-13 from outside the arc and scoring 28 points against Butler.
The Red Storm last season won the outright regular-season title and then the Big East Tournament crown. Though they have 11 new players, including four starters, they are halfway down a road that only Big East Player of the Year Ejiofor and reserves Ruben Prey, Lefteris Liotopoulos and Sadiku Ibine Ayo have walked.
So Pitino, the master motivator, had everyone watch a six-minute video of clips from the 2025 tournament and St. John’s celebration afterward.
“It was unmatched,” a fired-up Dillon Mitchell said of viewing it. “It’s something you always want to be a part of and . . . we’ve got an opportunity to do it now . . . It’s definitely something that motivates you.”
Added Oziyah Sellers, “It was inspiring — you couldn’t watch that and not be inspired.”
Asked Wednesday about why he wanted the team to see the six-minute video, Pitino replied, “Everybody didn’t experience that and I wanted them to hear Madison Square Garden and what [winning] could be like.”
After spending three seasons with the Friars, Hopkins was the one Red Storm newcomer who needed no additional inspiration. He knew that all eyes would be on him because of the transfer and the brawl, but also because he totaled 18 points and shot 6-for-27 in the two regular-season games against Providence.
He rose to the occasion with a resounding dunk for the 20-5 lead and then scored seven points on three straight possessions in a run that extended the margin to 46-23.
“There was a lot of tension around the matchup because it’s my former team,” Hopkins said. “After the incident that happened in Providence, a lot of the messages that were coming through [was fans] showing support.
“This is the best time to play basketball, in March, and our goal is to win a Big East Tournament championship. Providence just so happened to be our first matchup, so the biggest thing was just coming out today with a win.”
The goal of successfully defending the championship is now the only thing. Could it bring NCAA Tournament dividends in seeding and location? Maybe. But the pursuit of that championship is the next thing, and the Red Storm have one more goal before setting out after that one.
“The tournament is a different feel,” Mitchell said. “We understand what they did last year, and now it’s our year to make it happen . . . Even though we weren’t here, we’re part of St John’s and we represent St. John’s. What they did last year? We’ve got to defend it.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
