The big news to come out of St. John’s media day was that Bryce Hopkins, one of the team’s top transfer portal additions, wouldn’t start in its preseason opener on Saturday.
Rick Pitino wanted to see more aggression and consistency from the versatile forward.
Hopkins responded.
He followed up his two best practices of the fall, according to Pitino, with a strong showing in the fifth-ranked Johnnies’ 73-63 victory over CAA preseason favorite Towson at Carnesecca Arena.
“I try to do whatever coach asks me to do and take it as constructive criticism,” the 6-foot-7 Hopkins said. “I try to take it with a grain of salt and I always know he wants the best for me. With me not starting today, I didn’t take it harshly. When my number was called, I tried to come in and do my part.”
Hopkins finished with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 26 minutes. It was an impressive start for Hopkins, who appeared in just three games last season for Providence as he recovered from a torn ACL the previous season.
“I wasn’t trying to send a message to Bryce, I was trying to teach him about greatness,” Pitino said. “Greatness doesn’t happen without practicing great. … I don’t want him to be the best player on our team, or one of them. I want him to be one of the best players in the country. And unless he understands that, he will never reach that plateau, and I believe he can, and that’s why I said the things I said.”
Hopkins helped the Red Storm overcome a shaky first half.
They outscored Towson by 21 points over the final 18:23. Zuby Ejiofor, Joson Sanon, Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Oziyah Sellers each scored nine points and Dillon Mitchell had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Johnnies struggled against the Towson press late in the game and were outrebounded by five. They were also held to 21 first-half points, but rebounded well after the break to take control.
“We were tight tonight playing in front of the home crowd. Guys were nervous,” Pitino said. “No matter how experienced a team you are, the first exhibition game everybody’s nervous. But we didn’t panic, we stayed with our defense, stayed with our offense — the offense got better.
“Oziyah didn’t play well, Zuby didn’t play well, Ian [Jackson] wasn’t playing well defensively, Dylan Darling didn’t play well, and we won the game. We’re going to play much better than this, but for our first game out, I was very pleased.”
Some of the best minutes came when Pitino went big, using Mitchell, Hopkins and Ruben Prey in a three-forward lineup. That trio sparked a 20-5 run early in the second half.
“I think it looked good,” Mitchell said. “We have a group of guys that are very versatile in the frontcourt between me, Bryce, Ruben, Zuby, That’s an advantage that not a lot of teams have.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
