The Johnnies played Sunday’s game their way in front of a sellout Garden crowd and now hold a two-game lead for first place in the Big East
In a crucial game with Big East regular season title implications, as they have done all season long, St. John’s did it their way.
Despite shooting 38.4% overall, 33.3% from three, and 17-of-29 (58.6%) from the charity stripe, the Johnnies shrunk the court, cranked up the defensive pressure, and ground out a 79-73 win over Creighton on Sunday afternoon in front of a boisterous sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden to take a two-game lead for first place in the Big East with only five more to play.
St. John’s weathered an early 14-4 start by Creighton, taking the lead from a Deivon Smith mid-range jumper with eight minutes remaining in the first half, and went into halftime with a 40-39 lead. The Bluejays countered early out of the second half and held a 53-48 lead with 14:51 remaining, but St. John’s pulled ahead for good thanks to a 10-0 run in which they kept the Bluejays scoreless for nearly seven minutes. In the second half, Creighton was held to only 35.3% shooting and 23.5% from three (4-of-17).
The trio of R.J. Luis (23 points), Kadary Richmond (19 points), and Zuby Ejiofor (18 points) combined for 60 of the Red Storm’s 79 total points and set the tone for a very physical, gravelly game that saw 42 fouls called between the two teams. Richmond and Luis each recorded double-doubles, while Ejiofor came close to joining them with nine rebounds — equaling his board total from the last two games.
Deivon Smith, who Rick Pitino said could miss the remainder of the regular season after multiple injuries, suited up for Saturday’s game and had his best shooting performance since injuring his shoulder versus Villanova on January 11. The fifth-year guard scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting off the bench while contributing three assists.
No. 9 St. John’s flies out to Chicago for their next game when they face the DePaul Blue Demons (11-15, 2-13 Big East) on Wednesday, February 19. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be televised on FS1.