As the St. John's basketball program lost in the Sweet 16 to Duke on Friday, 80-75, it put an end to their hopeful dreams of capturing a national championship. While the 2025-26 St. John's basketball team will go down in the school's history, with some thinking it was a disappointment, Bryce Hopkins has another point of view.

The Sweet 16 game came down to the wire with the Red Storm down a few points with little time left remaining, specifically trailing by three with 11 seconds left in the game. However, Hopkins would mention the “miscommunication” that doomed the team, then talk about how head coach Rick Pitino and he are proud of the program.

“I feel like there was a couple plays down the stretch where we had some miscommunication on our behalf,” Hopkins said, according to SNY. “They were able to get downhill, and we got caught up on some switches, and they had a big three down the stretch, and, you know, we had to clean it up on our behalf, but that's pretty much what I saw.”

“[Pitino] said that we miscommunicated on a couple plays down the stretch and we didn't obviously run the play that we wanted to, and we were down three at the end, but he said he's proud of us for all the work that we put in throughout the season,” Hopkins continued. “And, you know me, personally, I'm proud of all the guys, and I'm extremely blessed for the opportunity to play for Rick Pitino and Johnnies Nation.”

Hopkins would score 15 points on six of seven shooting from the field, two of two from deep, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. At any rate, St. John's basketball team completes their season on a heartbreaking note.