Providence's Duncan Powell suspended 3 games for inciting melee vs. St. John's
Providence forward Duncan Powell is escorted off the court after getting ejected following a fight during the second half against St. John's on Feb. 14, 2026, in Providence, R.I. Credit: AP/Mark Stockwell
Providence forward Duncan Powell has been suspended for the Friars’ next three games for his role in the melee that disrupted No. 17 St. John’s 79-69 Big East win on Saturday for 19 minutes and resulted in six of the game’s seven ejections, the conference announced Sunday.
The Red Storm’s Bryce Hopkins — a target of fan venom in his first game back at Providence after transferring to St. John’s last spring — was driving for a go-ahead fast-break layup with 14:25 left in the second half when Powell viciously took him down and set off the fracas.
One game in the three-contest penalty is mandated by the NCAA for a flagrant 2 foul and two additional games are for throwing a punch afterward, what the conference deemed “additional combative actions that constituted a fighting act.”
Providence’s Powell and Jaylin Sellers and four St. John’s players — Dillon Mitchell, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Kelvin Odih and Ruben Prey — were ejected. Later in the game, the Friars’ Jamier Jones was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul committed when he pushed a driving Zuby Ejiofor in the back with two hands on a Red Storm fast break.
Powell was the only player to receive disciplinary action.
It was the 11th straight victory for St. John’s, which plays at Marquette at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
