Tempers flare, six players ejected in St. John's-Providence clash - ESPN

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Six players were ejected from No. 17 St. John's 79-69 win over Providence on Saturday after a fracas resulting from a hard foul by Friars forward Duncan Powell on Bryce Hopkins sent the Red Storm star crashing to the ground.

St. John's coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, was in the middle of it, trying to hold back his players. But several entered the fray as it drifted toward the Red Storm bench.

«You're not supposed to come off the bench, but you can't let your players get beat up,» Pitino said after the 79-69 victory gave the Red Storm its 11th straight win. «You can't fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can't fight any more, so toughness has to come between the lines.»

The game was stopped for nearly 20 minutes while the referees sorted out the punishments: Four St. John's players were booted and two from Providence, and by the time the Friars got the ball back, they had watched a one-point lead turn into a four-point deficit.

«I feel like we responded in the best way possible,» said St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor, who anticipated a frigid reaction for Hopkins in his first game back since he transferred from Providence. «Coming into this game we knew exactly how rowdy this environment was going to be — not only for him, but for all of us. We knew it was going be tough. You have to have a great mindset to come in here and win, and I think that's what we did.»

St. John's led by as many 13 points in the first half, but the Friars rallied in the second to take a series of one-point leads and had a 40-39 edge with 14:25 left when Hopkins — who played three seasons in Providence — went up for a fast-break