Heated brawl breaks out in Providence as Red Storm win 11th straight

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

It was a heated affair on Valentine’s Day as the St. John’s Red Storm looked to avenge their lone BIG EAST loss of the season. This time in enemy territory, the Johnnies looked to fend off a physical Friars team that handed them a 77-71 loss at Madison Square Garden to kick off 2026.

The arena was a powder keg as Bryce Hopkins made his return to Rhode Island after transferring to St. John’s for his final year of eligibility. It felt like something was destined to happen after the first matchup between the Johnnies and Friars, and the home crowd was on their toes waiting for that spark.

That spark came five minutes into the second half of a tight ballgame, as the former Friar was fouled hard from behind. The aggressor, Providence’s Duncan Powell, was quickly swarmed by red shirts as he and Dillon Mitchell took swings at each other.

Six total players were ejected from the game. For the Friars, Powell and graduate guard Jaylin Sellers were thrown out, with the former handed a three-game suspension for “combative actions.” 

St. John’s went without Mitchell for the majority of the second half, ejected for attempting to punch Powell. Ruben Prey, Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Kelvin Odih were tossed for leaving the St. John’s bench during the scrap.

Still, for the visitors, the grit needed to win came between the lines, rather than in extra-curricular activities.

“We didn’t initiate anything,” commented Head Coach Rick Pitino after the game. “We talked about toughness as not turning the ball over, creating steals, getting offensive rebounds. That’s what we believe toughness is, and that’s all we talked about throughout the entire time.”

Pitino, who previously coached at Providence and led the Friars to the Final Four in 1987, was disappointed in the home crowd, who seemed bloodthirsty.

“I think the crowd lost objectivity of what they’re here for,” he said. “If they’re just here to poke fun at Bryce Hopkins and not get a win for the Friars, that’s not the Friars I remember in ‘87.”

Play resumed after a 20-minute delay, and the Red Storm quickly asserted themselves. Free throws and a quick bucket. They would keep their foot on the gas and see out the win, 79-69. It was the 11th consecutive victory for St. John’s dating back to their loss to Providence. Compared to the Johnnies, Providence has lost all but three contests since their upset win at MSG.

“I feel like we responded in the best way possible,” said Zuby Ejiofor, who finished with 14 points to lead St. John’s starters. “We were without [four] of our players and you know, Dylan [Darling] does what Dylan has been pretty much doing for a big stretch now. So I’m really proud of the guys, knowing how we competed for 40 minutes.”

Darling finished with a game-best 23 points, also picking up eight rebounds and three steals. 17 of those points came in the second half, where he was instrumental in the visitors pulling away and maintaining a lead down the stretch.

Darling’s play has been instrumental during the current winning streak and it’s clear St. John’s will need their dynamic guard performing come postseason in both the BIG EAST and NCAA tournament.

“Somebody needed to step up, I just try to bring energy,” said Darling about his performance. “We knew we needed to focus on every small detail to win the game, and that was really just our focus.”

On Monday Darling was named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Player of the Week, following Ejiofor who won the honor the week before. Darling also picked up his first appearance on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

The Johnnies are back at MSG this weekend to finish the season series with the Creighton Bluejays. Tip-off is set for noon on Saturday the 21. 

After this weekend, only a pair of home games remain in the Red Storm schedule. On February 28 they welcome Villanova to Madison Square Garden, before hosting Georgetown in their penultimate regular season matchup on March 3.

Next week the Red Storm head back to New England, this time to play the #5 UConn Huskies in Hartford, CT. It’s sure to be another thrilling contest with the St. John’s streak still going strong and UConn looking to answer following their defeat earlier this month.