DePaul guard Layden Blocker stripped Bryce Hopkins on a drive and raced the length of the court for a layup to make it a six-point game, prompting the fans at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday night to spring to their feet.
For that moment, with 3 minutes, 35 seconds to play, it looked like maybe the Blue Demons could make a run at an upset against No. 22 St. John’s.
But St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, pacing the sidelines in his black suit, called a timeout, and the Red Storm buckled down. Hopkins, an Oak Park native and Fenwick graduate, responded with his own layup, and St. John’s scored eight of the game’s next nine points on the way to a 68-56 win.
It was the third straight loss for DePaul (12-11, 4-8 Big East) and broke a four-game winning streak at Wintrust Arena on a festive night as the Blue Demons retired the jersey of former All-American Rod Strickland in front of 4,595 fans. DePaul was coming off a tough loss at Xavier, in which it let an 18-point, second-half lead slip away.
But Blue Demons coach Chris Holtmann thought his team showed mettle in its second meeting of the season with the Red Storm. St. John’s won the first 79-66. Pitino said he believes Holtmann is doing the right things with the program because his team played so hard.
“All in all, the fight is there,” Holtmann said. “I’d be real concerned if it wasn’t. That’s always something you’re testing as a coach, what’s our fight? We had a great practice yesterday. What’s our competitiveness? What’s our spirit as a group right now? It’s really good right now.
“But yeah, it’s a tough stretch. It’s a tough business for all of us, so if you’re not tough and tough-minded, you’re going to struggle, and I think we’ve got a group that’s going to respond well.”
St. John’s (17-5, 10-1) won its eighth straight game ahead of its first meeting with No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Red Storm last lost exactly a month ago to Providence. Pitino said his players never looked ahead to the UConn game.
“Never even mentioned it,” Pitino said. “I just stressed this was a much bigger game than Connecticut, much bigger. If we lose this game tonight, it really hurts us. If we lose to UConn, it doesn’t hurt us.”
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DePaul’s defense made life difficult for St. John’s for much of the evening, and the Blue Demons trailed just 29-28 at halftime.
But St. John’s found some answers in the second half, when it went on a 12-0 run midway through to pull to a 46-35 lead. Zuby Ejiofor and Oziyah Sellers each had four points in the spurt. The Blue Demons went nearly seven minutes without scoring a basket. They also had 11 turnovers in the half.
DePaul shot just 34.6% from the field for the game, including 25% from 3-point range. St. John’s made 35% of its shots, including 30% from 3-point range.
“We just kept telling our guys this is a rock fight,” Pitino said. “This is a fight on every possession because they are extremely physical on every screen. On every play, they’re going to hit you, and you’ve got to match their physicality.”
Blocker led DePaul with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks, but also had four turnovers. CJ Gunn added nine points, three rebounds and two steals.
Ejiofor had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Hopkins, a grad student who previously played at Kentucky and Providence, had 15 points and six rebounds while playing in front of family and friends, including former Fenwick coaches and players.
“It felt good to be back in Chicago and play in front of my support system,” Hopkins said. “I felt like I didn’t try to force a lot of stuff. I try to take whatever the defense is giving me. I try to do what our system wants. If it’s open, I’m going to take it. If not, I’m going to look to play-make for my teammates. I’m just trying to make the right reads at all times and make the right play.”