Rick Pitino speaks out on brutal brawl between Providence & St. John’s hoopers

St. John’s basketball coach Rick Pitino addressed the brawl between his team and Providence during their Valentine’s Day clash at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Tensions soared between the two teams after Providence forward Duncan Powell fouled his St. John’s counterpart, Bryce Hopkins.

Hopkins reacted to the foul by immediately getting off the ground to confront Powell, with both benches jumping into the fray and escalating the tension. Game officials subsequently spent 19 minutes sorting out the fouls and ejections, with six players eventually ejected.

Powell and Jaylin Sellers were ejected for the Providence Friars. On the other hand, Dillon Mitchell, Kevin Odih, Ruben Prey, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo were ejected for St. John’s Red Storm.

Rick Pitino, who had previously coached Providence in the mid-’80s, responded to questions about the brawl during his postgame press conference.

“I think you saw it as well as me, but I didn’t have the film in front of me to look at everybody,” he said. You’re not supposed to come off the bench (as a coach), but you can’t let your players get beat up.”

Despite being at the center of the brawl, officials did not send Hopkins off. Even after getting in Powell’s face, he had no foul assessed on him.

Pitino went on to acknowledge the difficulty of the officials. However, he criticized the conduct of the Providence fans, calling them out for focusing more on making fun of Hopkins than they did on winning.

“And look, it was a tough game to officiate. Certainly, the crowd, I think, lost objectivity of what they’re here for. 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.”

Will Rick Pitino sanction his players involved in the clash?

Rick Pitino did not express any commitment to sanctioning his players who were involved in the brawl.

The game ended with No. 17 St. John’s beating Providence 79-69. The Red Storm went 20-5 overall and 13-1 in Big East play with the win over Providence on Saturday. St. John’s extended its win streak to 11 games on Saturday, with only six games left on its plate for the regular season.

St. John’s next game will be on the road against Marquette on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Providence will also get back on the road for its next game against DePaul on Saturday.