The St. John’s Red Storm aren’t the cute underdog story anymore. This year, they came in with title aspirations and a target on their backs, but so far, Rick Pitino’s side just hasn’t matched the hype, losing every single ranked matchup they’ve played. And while it’s never fair to pin it all on one player, Bryce Hopkins’ dip in form has been concerning. It pushed Pitino to go public with one piece of non-technical advice.

“Bryce can be a top-10 player in the country if he changes his personality [on the court], if he becomes an alpha dog,” Pitino said. “It really is tough. We all know we have our personalities. Could we totally change, between the lines?… That’s Bryce. If he wants to become a top-10, top-15, top-20 player in the country, he totally has to do a makeover of his personality because it would make him so much better. He has to develop Zuby’s [Ejiofor] personality.”

In Tuesday’s Big East-opening 79-66 win over the DePaul Blue Demons at Carnesecca Arena, Hopkins had a tough night. In 23 minutes on the floor, he didn’t pull down a single rebound, gave the ball away three times, and scored just six points on 1 of 4 shooting. His performance was frustrating.

Hopkins is still the leading scorer for Pitino’s side. He started the season on a strong note, with the highlight being his 26-point, five-assist, five-rebound outing against the Baylor Bears at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Since then, though, his game has dipped, and the drop-off has been hard to ignore.

Over the last four games, Hopkins is down to nine points and 4.5 rebounds a game, shooting just 41.3% from the field. His mistakes are piling up, too, with a total of 10 turnovers against only five assists.

The 22nd-ranked Red Storm have been outscored by 21 points in Hopkins’ 92 minutes on the floor, while they’re a huge plus-55 when he’s on the bench.

“That’s exactly what I told him… ‘Bryce, you’re going to have a great game one night, and then a bad game like you did the other night if you don’t change your personality,’” Pitino continued of the fundamental change. “Dillon Mitchell had a bad offensive night, but he still got eight rebounds.”

Pitino has been hammering home one message: his guards have to rebound, and Joson Sanon is showing exactly what that looks like. He has grabbed 14 boards over the last two games and, most recently, matched a career high with nine rebounds while adding 15 points, two blocks, and a steal. The coach also pointed to Mitchell as the model, a player who still made a real impact even on a rough offensive night.

Then there’s Ejiofor, who just keeps doing the dirty work on both ends. Put it all together, and the standard is clear.

If Hopkins doesn’t start giving the Red Storm that same all-around effort, it’s easy to see a future where he’s no longer part of Pitino’s starting five.

The senior has to raise his level fast and bring more to the table. The spotlight is only getting brighter, with the next game against his former team, the Kentucky Wildcats, where he appeared in 28 games as a freshman and averaged just 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds.

For Hopkins, it’s a chance to remind everyone how far he’s come.

Which brings us to the question….

Can Rick Pitino’s St. John’s beat Kentucky?

The student vs. teacher matchup everyone’s been talking about since Mark Pope took over at the Wildcats is finally here.

For those who don’t know, Pope was the tri-captain (along with Tony Delk and Walter McCarty) of Pitino’s 1996 national title team at Kentucky, and now, as fate would have it, both coaches find themselves dealing with very similar problems as they get set to face each other.

Both programs have spent big money loading up through the transfer portal, and getting so many new faces to click is a challenge in itself. Pitino knows it well, and he even said Pope is fighting the same battle.

Both teams have had their share of struggles against ranked opponents this season, but that’s about to change, because one of them will finally grab that first big win.

So who gets it, the teacher or the student?

History leans Rick Pitino’s way. He’s 18-4 against former players turned coaches, including 1-0 against Pope, and he’s been just as dominant in Atlanta, going 9-1 in the city with nine straight wins.

ESPN, though, slightly favors the Wildcats, giving them a 51.3% chance to win. A big reason for that could be the expected debut of Jayden Quaintance, the potential game-changer Pope has been waiting for since day one.

Prediction: We’re backing Pitino’s experience to clinch the win.