Streaking St. John's looks to put clamps on Creighton

The week between Big East games was productive for St. John's, whose final non-conference clash served as a reminder of the type of effort the Red Storm will need to bring in league play.

Creighton is eager to see how much progress freshman Fedor Zugic made in the nine days following his long-awaited Bluejays debut.

St. John's (11-2, 2-0 Big East) and Creighton (8-5, 1-1) will meet for the first time this season Tuesday afternoon in Omaha, Neb.

St. John's earned its sixth straight win Saturday night, cruising to a 97-76 victory over visiting Delaware. Creighton last played Dec. 21 when it beat visiting Villanova 86-79.

Six players scored in double figures Saturday for St. John's, which raced to a 48-29 halftime lead before allowing Delaware to score 47 points while shooting 58.1 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Consistency was an issue for St. John's in its most recent Big East game against Providence on Dec. 20, when the Red Storm overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and earned a 72-70 win on Zuby Ejiofor's jumper at the buzzer.

"We need both halves, honestly, because teams are super talented (in the Big East)," guard Deivon Smith said after he flirted with a triple-double (20 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists) Saturday night. "We need to put together two halves, stop the 3-ball, take our matchups seriously, pay attention to the scouts and get it all together so we can win a championship."

The addition of Zugic should make Creighton deeper as it aims to finish among the top three in the Big East for the fifth time in six seasons.

The 6-foot-6 Zugic missed the first 12 games as the NCAA determined his eligibility. The 21-year-old played several seasons of pro ball in Europe before signing with the Bluejays in August.

Creighton coach Greg McDermott said he was resigned to the idea that Zugic wouldn't play this year before he was ruled eligible hours ahead of tipoff on Dec. 21. Zugic was scoreless with two rebounds in three minutes against Villanova.

"Hopefully we can catch him up and he can be an important contributor, rotational guy for us," McDermott said. "Because he can handle it, he can pass it, he can shoot it. He's just got to learn what the heck's going on. And that's going to take a little time."

--Field Level Media