It was always going to be intense and vulgar in the St. John’s basketball matchup against Providence but the way the game turned ugly and physical was a major shock.
With 14:25 left in the second half, Providence forward Duncan Powell intentionally wacked St. John’s Bryce Hopkins across the face and a brawl commenced. Powell, who was called for a Flagrant 2 foul on the play, threw a punch at Dillon Mitchell in the fight.
Chaos ensued in front of the Red Storm bench, totaling in six ejections.
Ruben Prey, Kelvin Odih, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo were ejected for leaving the Red Storm’s bench. Mitchell was tossed for his actions in the brawl. Providence’s Jaylin Sellers was ejected for his role in the fight along with Powell.
The Red Storm scored eight consecutive points after the fight, led by Dylan Darling. He would score 16 of his team-high 23 points after the skirmish and lead the No. 17 Johnnies to a 79-69 victory, its 11th straight win.
Prior to the altercation, the Friars (11-15, 4-11 Big East) had all the momentum. They erased a 13-point first half deficit and led by one, 40-39, after an 11-6 start to the second half. St. John’s converted three of four free throws with an Oziyah Sellers layup when play resumed.
After a Providence turnover, Darling drilled a 3-pointer to put the Johnnies up by seven, 47-40.
Things were not totally deescalated as Providence freshman Jamier Jones was ejected after a Flagrant 2 foul on Zuby Ejiofor with 5:00 left and the game seemingly in hand with St. John’s leading by 11 points, 69-58.
Jones, who finished 3-for-11 with 12 points, pushed the Red Storm star from behind on a breakaway. He made headlines after the Friars’ upset win over St. John’s in January that he would still start over Hopkins if he were at Providence this season.
Ejiofor had 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists while Hopkins struggled shooting, connecting on just 3-of-14 attempts for nine points, but added nine rebounds and two steals.
St. John’s (20-5, 13-1 Big East) will wrap its two-game road trip on Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, TNT) against Marquette (9-16, 4-10 Big East).