No. 9 St. John's downs No. 24 Creighton for 2-game Big East lead

Field Level Media|published: Sun 16th February, 17:57 2025

Feb 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) gestures after making a three point shot in the first half against the Creighton Bluejays at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond combined to score 10 unanswered points during the decisive second-half run Sunday afternoon, and No. 9 St. John's took a commanding lead in the Big East with a 79-73 win over No. 24 Creighton in New York.

RJ Luis Jr. posted a double-double with 23 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for St. John's (22-4, 13-2 Big East), which moved two games ahead of Creighton (18-8, 11-4) while avenging a 57-56 loss to the Bluejays on Dec. 31.

Richmond (19 points, 10 rebounds) also recorded a double-double while Ejiofor (18 points, nine rebounds) fell one board shy for the Red Storm, who won despite shooting just 33.3 percent from 3-point land (6-of-18) and 58.6 percent from the free throw line (17-of-29).

Steven Ashworth had 23 points and 11 assists for Creighton, which led by 10 points in the first half but shot just 35.3 percent (12-of-34) in the second, when the Bluejays missed 11 straight shots during a drought that lasted nearly seven minutes.

Ryan Kalkbrenner had 12 points and nine rebounds while surviving an injury scare. The fifth-year senior hurt his right foot while being fouled by Luis as the two fell to the floor pursuing a rebound with 9:45 left. He was helped off the court by two teammates but returned to play the final 3:47.

Jamiya Neal had 19 points and eight rebounds while Jasen Green added 10 points.

Creighton opened on a 14-4 run before St. John's responded with a 20-9 stretch. The Red Storm led 40-39 at the half and the Bluejays scored 14 of the first 22 points of the second half before going cold.

Ejiofor's layup with 11:50 remaining put St. John's ahead for good. The Bluejays got within one or two points twice in a 57-second span, the last time at 61-59 on a tip-in by Green with 6:37 left.

Richmond and Luis missed baskets on the Red Storm's next trip and Ashworth missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:07 left. St. John's forward Aaron Scott drained a second-chance 3-pointer with 5:44 left, and the Red Storm led by at least four points the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media

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