It was not a particularly strong outing for Bryce Hopkins against his former team.
The St. John’s forward heard plenty of boos from the Providence fans in attendance at the Garden and struggled offensively in the 77-71 loss Saturday afternoon.
While Hopkins’ improved rebounding continued — he had 10 boards — he was again off on the offensive end.
Hopkins shot just 3-for-13 from the field and didn’t have a single assist after tallying six in Wednesday’s win over Georgetown.
The 6-foot-7 Hopkins is 5-for-20 in the past two games, and Saturday, he was outplayed by a freshman. Providence’s Jamier Jones had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Afterward, Jones said he was motivated by facing Hopkins.
“I feel like if he was here this year, I should still play over him,” Jones said.
A day after The Post’s exclusive story that coach Rick Pitino considered adding a midseason point guard out of the G-League but decided against it, he was asked if there was any chance he would reconsider.
“I won’t revisit it,” he said. “And by the way, the guys I was looking at I didn’t think were that good and would really make a big difference. We’ll stick with what we have and hopefully get better.”
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Zuby Ejiofor’s 33 points equaled a career high, and his 15 rebounds were a personal best. … St. John’s failed to produce a field goal over the final 3:19. … Defensive rebounding was again a problem for the Red Storm. Providence turned 15 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points. St. John’s is ranked 310th nationally in defensive rebounding percentage.
