Hard foul sparks brouhaha during St John’s victory over Providence; 6 players ejected

No. 17 St. John’s earned its 11th straight victory with a 79-69 win over Providence Saturday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, but not without some fireworks. 

Six players were ejected from the game.

Providence forward Duncan Powell sparked a brouhaha with a hard foul on St. John’s Bryce Hopkins. Powell stood over him after the foul, and Hopkins got up and charged into Powell, igniting the chaos.

Players from both sides quickly entered the fray, and, eventually, the players from St. John’s bench could not be held back and joined in. Coaches, referees and security tried to break up the pushing and shoving from both sides.

After the game was delayed nearly 20 minutes, four St. John’s players were ejected while two from Providence were tossed. Jaylin Sellers and Powell of Providence were ejected, while Dillon Mitchell, Ruben Prey, Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Kelvin Odih were the St. John’s players ejected. 

The delay was so long players from each team warmed up at their own baskets.

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St. John’s saw a 13-point lead disappear when the hard foul occurred. After the hard foul, St. John’s went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.

For St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, it was a return to one of his previous head coaching stops. Pitino led Providence to the 1987 Final Four.

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The Red Storm, who were No. 5 in The Associated Press preseason poll, fell out of the rankings after opening the season 7-4, losing to three ranked opponents and Kentucky. They reentered the rankings at No. 25 three weeks ago and have been climbing ever since.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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