This is the Bryce Hopkins St. John’s has missed.
The aggressive, attacking offensive creator. The finisher. The player who can impact the game with the ball in his hands.
Tuesday night, he returned.
After a shaky stretch in which coach Rick Pitino has called for the Providence transfer to play with more of an edge, Hopkins went into the holiday break on a positive note.
In one of his better all-around performances of the year, Hopkins had 14 points, added four assists and three rebounds in St. John’s 85-59 win over Harvard at Carnesecca Arena.
Fellow forwards Zuby Ejiofor (14 points, nine rebounds, four assists) and Dillon Mitchell (nine points, five rebounds) also turned it on after shaky performances of late, and St. John’s was plus-17 on the glass and outscored Harvard by 14 points in the paint.
Despite foul trouble, Ian Jackson played well again at both ends, notching 14 points in 22 minutes.
The one-sided victory completed the nonconference schedule for St. John’s.
The Red Storm went a disappointing 2-4 against power-conference opponents, highlighted by Saturday’s loss to Kentucky in Atlanta.
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Predictably, there was a Kentucky hangover. St. John’s started the game like it was sleepwalking, putting up little resistance. Harvard made its first six shots and was 12-for-19 at one point.
The Crimson led by five deep into the first half, when a switch was flipped at the under-eight timeout.
From there, the Johnnies turned up the defensive pressure. They held Harvard to four points over the final 7:46, scoring 22 of 26 points to go into the break up 13. It started by forcing a 10-second violation. In that span, St. John’s forced six turnovers and Hopkins scored seven points.
Ejiofor led the Red Storm in the first half with 10 points and Jackson added seven.
St. John’s picked up where it left off after halftime. Jackson hit a 3-pointer, Ejiofor added two free throws and Jackson hit two more at the line, extending the lead to 20.
