St. John’s hold off No. 20 Providence to provide rare bright spot

NEW YORK — A grieving David Jones scored 16 points, AJ Storr added 15 and St. John’s beat No. 20 Providence 73-68 on Saturday, handing the Friars a costly defeat in their pursuit of a second consecutive regular-season conference title. 

Joel Soriano had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East), who had lost three straight and five of six. It was his 20th double-double this season — he entered the game second in the nation in that category. 

Posh Alexander added 10 points and a season-high nine assists, and Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 13 for St. John’s, which built a big early lead at Madison Square Garden and led nearly the entire way. 

Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4), who had won four of five. The only loss during that stretch was in overtime at then-No. 16 Xavier. 

Hopkins also grabbed nine rebounds, but Providence shot just 33% from the field. Devin Carter had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Friars, who are in a crowded race with three other teams atop the Big East standings. 

Jones came off the bench after missing two games to go back home to the Dominican Republic following his father’s death. The junior forward entered averaging 12.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. 

St. John’s jumped out to a 25-9 lead after 9 1/2 minutes behind Alexander and Jones, but the Friars closed the first half with a strong push and trailed 37-35 at the break. 

They tied it 39-all early in the second half before consecutive baskets from Soriano, a 3-point play from Storr and three buckets by Jones put the Red Storm in front by six.