Creighton’s road upset over fifth-ranked UConn caught the attention of the college basketball world. Although this year hasn’t gone to plan for a preseason top-25 team, that signature victory over the Huskies showed they can still beat the Big East’s best.
The Red Storm weren’t letting that happen to them on Saturday afternoon. St. John’s crushed Creighton in an 81-52 blowout on Saturday to extend their longest winning streak since the 1984-85 Final Four season to 13 games.
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St. John’s held a lead over Creighton for all but 17 seconds on Saturday, setting the tone with a 13-2 start and overwhelming the Bluejays on both sides of the ball for the entire game. The Bluejays were held to 32.1% from the field — their second-worst shooting performance in any game this season — as well as 6-of-22 from three (27.3%). Not a single Creighton player scored in double-figures, with Fedor Zugic’s hat-trick of threes in the first half standing as the only decent performance for anyone in blue and white. If all that wasn’t enough, the Red Storm forced the Bluejays into giving up 18 turnovers, the most in a game for Greg McDermott’s squad this season.
Probably the most underrated part about St. John’s’ performance is that they didn’t need to rely on any single player. Ten players entered the scoring column, four players scored in double-figures, and the team dished out 20 assists on 29 made field goals. Dylan Darling led all scorers with 17 points (5-of-7 shooting) and continued harassing opposing guards by forcing three steals. Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins each scored 15 points, with Hopkins recording a double-double for a second straight game, and Oziyah Sellers also had a round ten points.
Missing from that group is Dillon Mitchell, who still left his fingerprints all over this game despite a six-point day from creating for others and carving up space in transition as he usually does. The senior forward pulled down ten rebounds and dished a season-high seven assists.
Now holding records of 22-5 overall and 15-1 in conference games, the Red Storm will have a four-day break before they make the short trip into Hartford to face the fifth-ranked UConn Huskies (25-3, 15-2 Big East) on Wednesday, February 25, in a game that could ultimately decide the Big East regular season crown. Tip-off from PeoplesBank Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and the game will be streamed on Peacock.
