As the St. John’s basketball season came to an end in Washington D.C. on Friday night against Duke in the Sweet 16, perhaps nobody is more crushed about the finality of the year than Bryce Hopkins.
Hopkins, again, put together a spectacular effort in the 80-75 loss that continued a stretch of postseason basketball which was his best games of the season.
The Second Team All-Big East selection finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on 6-of-7 shooting and making both of his 3-point field goals. In the Big East and NCAA Tournaments, he averaged 16.1 points per game on 33-for-52 shooting (63.4-percent) from the field and 13-for-20 (65-percent) from 3-point range.
Bryce Hopkins started hot against the Blue Devils but had to sit for the final 7:27 of the first half due to a questionable foul call that got him his second of the game.
In the second half he delivered a handful of huge shots for the Johnnies, a fadeaway jumper that extended its lead to four, 62-58, and a 3-pointer that gave the Red Storm the advantage immediately following Isaiah Evans’ triple to give Duke its first lead since early in the second half.
“It’s tough,” an emotional Hopkins said in the St. John’s locker room. “Everything I been through with my injury, getting back to a place where I could be 100-percent healthy.”
“I don’t know what the future has played for me, but I will always remember this team and the run we made.”
His layup tied the game at 67 with 4:22 left and a reverse layup with 52.8 seconds on the clock brought St. John’s within three, 77-74.
“It means everything,” he added about what this year meant to him. “I’ve never been this far in the March Madness tournament. All the memories that we made, winning the Big East championship…it means a lot.”
“I’ll always remember this season.”