Bryce Hopkins helps St. John’s stave off Marquette upset bid as Red Storm sit alone atop Big East
MILWAUKEE — Saturday at Providence, St. John’s was there for Bryce Hopkins in his emotional, drama-filled return to Friartown.
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He returned the favor four days later.
With the 17th-ranked Johnnies struggling and star forward Zuby Ejiofor not at his best, Hopkins came through.
The senior forward made big plays throughout this come-from-behind victory, notching team-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead St. John’s to its 12th straight win, 76-70 over Marquette , at Fiserv Forum.
“It meant a lot to me to see them have my back on Saturday,” Hopkins said. “This brotherhood we keep on building, we love it, and it starts in practice. We just play off of each other and we love each other.”
The Marquette students tried to get under Hopkins’ skin, chanting “Dun-can, Pow-ell” when he was at the free-throw line. Powell, of course, is the Providence player who was suspended three games by the Big East after starting the fight in Saturday’s game with a dirty takedown of Hopkins in transition.
“I was already expecting it coming into the game. I know I was going to hear it — probably going to hear it for the rest of the year,” he said. “I don’t really care about it. I’m just focused on my guys. We’re playing for something much bigger than any narrative that people are trying to build, and that’s that.”
Hopkins scored 10 points in a game-turning 17-5 run, after St. John’s had fallen behind by six. The defense turned it on after Marquette outscored the Red Storm , 21-6, to start the second half. Over an 8:01 stretch, the Golden Eagles managed just five points.
In that span, St. John’s turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead. With the win, they moved into first place all alone atop the Big East, after No. 5 Connecticut was upset by Creighton at home.
Marquette did get within two late, but Ejiofor sank two clutch free throws with 21.7 seconds to go and Hopkins secured the defensive rebound on the other end, and hit another two at the charity stripe.
Hopkins was selected as the “Big Bells” award winner, given to the Red Storm player that contributes the most to a victory. He’s won it in two of the last three games.
After coach Rick Pitino joked that point guard Dylan Darling has “balls the size of church bells,” after a win over Xavier, it became a part of the post-game celebration after victories.
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“One of the more prestigious awards he’ll ever get in his lifetime,” Pitino said jokingly.
Oziyah Sellers scored 12 points off the bench and Ejiofor had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Joson Sanon added nine and Ian Jackson had eight. Nigel James Jr. scored 25 points for Marquette and Royce Parham added 13.
St. John’s (21-5, 14-1) methodically built an early nine point lead and the differential was the same at halftime. But Marquette (9-18, 4-12) came out of the break hot.
James fueled an 11-0 Marquette run to start the second half, as the Golden Eagles went ahead for the first time since the early going.
After five empty possessions to start the period, St. John’s finally got on board with an Ejiofor basket — his first field goal of the game. But on the next possession, the Red Storm turned it over, an issue up to that point.
Marquette and James kept coming, and when the freshman dropped in a scoop layup that hung on the rim before falling, St. John’s trailed by six with 11:49 left.
Pitino called a timeout.
“When momentum swung their way, my message to the guys was, ‘we’ve been here before,’” he said. “ ‘Don’t panic, we’ve been here before. We’re going to have our run,’ and they 100 percent didn’t panic, played like a veteran team.”
St. John’s woke up from there, reeling off the next nine points in the span of 1:35.
They never trailed again.
