COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 14 St. John's at Providence
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Six players received ejections after a massive brawl broke out in St. John’s 79-69 road victory vs. Providence on Saturday. The Friars’ Duncan Powell sparked the scuffle between Big East rivals when he committed a hard foul early in the second half on St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins, who played at Providence from 2022-25 before transferring to the Red Storm. 

Powell, who was assessed a Flagrant-2 for the foul, and Hopkins immediately went after each other, which caused players from both benches to spill out onto the court. It took officials and security guards almost a minute to break up the ensuing scrum. Officials also paused play for 19 minutes so that they could review footage and issue appropriate punishment. 

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, who coached at Providence from 1985-87, also entered the play area in an attempt to remove his players from the situation. Powell was one of two Providence players ejected alongside leading scorer Jaylin Sellers, who immediately joined Powell in shoving St. John’s players. 

Officials ejected St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell for his initial involvement in the scrap. Red Storm bench players Kelvin Odih, Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopoulos were all tossed for leaving the St. John’s bench area. 

Hopkins shot two free throws for the initial foul and St. John’s guard Oziyah Sellers shot free throws for the technical foul assessed on Providence’s Sellers. Oziyah Sellers then scored to expand the St. John’s lead to 44-40 with just over 14 minutes to play in the second half. 

Powell will also be suspended for Providence’s next game against DePaul since he was ejected for fighting after the Flagrant-2.   

The end of the fight caused further tempers to flare. Later in the second half, Providence forward Jameir Jones was immediately ejected after he pushed Hopkins while Hopkins was driving to the basket. Jones did not attempt to play the ball. 

Players from both sides jawed at each other following Jones’ shove and subsequent ejection, but another scuffle was avoided. 

After the game Pitino avoided comment on the incident.