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Providence, St. John's fight: Fans cheer for Duncan Powell after hard foul on ex-Friar Bryce Hopkins, causing brawl

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax02/14/26BarkleyTruax

Duncan Powell fired up the crowd as Providence fans chanted his name following his ejection against St. John’s in the second half. Powell fouled former Friar star Bryce Hopkins hard on a fast break that led to a fight that resulted in multiple ejections for both teams.

Powell jumped around, waiving his arms in the air to get the crowd rowdy before heading back into the tunnel and into the locker room for the rest of the game.

Hopkins was able to cash in on a pair of free throws after the hard foul was assessed. It was the catalyst for an 8-0 run that helped the Red Storm maintain the lead for most of the second half. St. John’s would go on to win 79-69.

In the end, six players were ejected. Providence has to finish the game without Powell and Jaylin Sellers. Meanwhile, four St. John’s players got tossed: Dillon Mitchell, Kelvin Odih, Ruben Prey, Sadiku Ibine Ayo.

The game remained physical until the final whistle. Later in the second half, Providence’s Jamier Jones appeared to shove Zuby Ejiofor on a layup attempt.

Notably, Powell and Hopkins weren’t teammates despite Hopkins’ transfer from Providence. Powell played for Georgia Tech in the ACC last season. Before tha,t he spent time at Sacramento State and North Carolina A&T, so there’s not much familiarity there.

For Hopkins, he’s in his first season under Rick Pitino at St John’s. Most of his career was spent at Providence, but he began his career at Kentucky playing for John Calipari. He’s St John’s second-leading scorer this season with 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season.

It remains to be seen how these ejections will impact both teams’ lineups moving forward. St John’s will travel to Marquette on Wednesday, while Providence hits the road for a game against DePaul next Saturday.

Saturday’s win improves the Red Storm to 13-1 against the Big East and 20-5 overall. St John’s has also won their last 11 games of the season, with just six left on its regular-season schedule.