No. 9 St. John’s is in control of its Big East destiny.
That much was clear after Sunday’s 79-73 win over No. 24 Creighton at Madison Square Garden — a hard-fought victory that improved the Red Storm’s lead in the conference standings to two games with five to play.
St. John’s (22-4) delivered yet another smothering defensive performance, holding Creighton to only 20 points in the game’s final 14 minutes and 50 seconds.
The Johnnies forced 15 turnovers, leading to 20 points, as they improved to 16-0 in home games.
The defensive dominance helped St. John’s overcome a clear size disadvantage against a Creighton team headlined by 7-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner and 6-10 forward Jackson McAndrew.
At 6-9, junior forward Zuby Ejiofor was the Johnnies’ tallest starter.
Kalkbrenner, a fifth-year senior, imposed his will early, with his towering rim protection repeatedly forcing St. John’s into mid-range jumpers and 3-point attempts. That helped Creighton jump out to a 14-4 lead.
But the Red Storm’s effort helped make up for the height deficiency.
RJ Luis Jr., a 6-7 guard, led St. John’s with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Kadary Richmond added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Ejiofor scored 18 points and corralled nine rebounds, including a whopping eight offensive boards, contributing the Johnnies’ 20 second-chance points.
Ejiofor’s defensive physicality also made life difficult for Kalkbrenner, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds despite missing about six minutes in the second half with what appeared to be a foot injury.
With 9:45 left in the game and St. John’s leading 56-53, Kalkbrenner got tied up with Luis and landed awkwardly. He immediately grabbed his right foot and stayed down for a while before being helped to the locker room.
Kalkbrenner returned with 3:47 left in the game.
St. John’s entered Sunday as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big East at 29.2%. But after falling behind early, St. John’s came storming back with a series of 3-pointers.
The Johnnies went 4-of-6 from deep in the game’s first eight minutes, including a two-minute stretch in which Aaron Scott, Richmond and Ejiofor each made a 3-pointer.
They finished just 6-of-18 from 3-point range, but another make by Scott with 5:44 left in the second half helped serve as a dagger, putting St. John’s up, 64-59.
St. John’s also got a boost from Deivon Smith, who was surprisingly active four days after head coach Rick Pitino said the senior point guard could miss the remainder of the regular season. Smith recently tweaked his neck and missed time last month with a shoulder injury.
Smith scored eight points off the bench.
Sunday’s win avenged the Red Storm’s 57-56 loss to Creighton in Omaha on Dec. 31. St. John’s reeled off 10 wins in a row after that defeat before losing at Villanova, 73-71, on Wednesday.
With Sunday’s victory in front of a sellout Garden crowd, St. John’s improved to 13-2 in Big East play, while Creighton fell to 11-4. No. 18 Marquette is 10-4, while UConn is 9-5.
St. John’s has a game apiece remaining against UConn and Marquette, the latter of which will be on the road. Creighton does not have any remaining ranked opponents.
