No. 9 St. John’s rebounded from a mid-week loss to Villanova on Sunday evening at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, defeating No. 24 Creighton 79-73 to keep the top spot in the Big East Conference.
As has become the customary formula, the Red Storm (22-4, 13-2) came back from a 10-point first-half deficit on a poor shooting night to pull out a victory behind 23 points and a career-high 10 rebounds from RJ Luis, a 19-point, 1o-rebound double-double from Kadary Richmond, and 18 points with nine boards from Zuby Ejiofor. That trio alone accounted for 60 of their 79 points on a night in which the team shot a paltry 38.4% from the field (28-of-73), 6-of-18 from three-point range, and 58.6% from the free-throw line.
Once again, it came down to defense and rebounding. St. John’s not only nabbed 20 offensive rebounds compared to Creighton’s 13, but they forced 15 turnovers while giving the ball away just five times. It led to 20 points while the Blue Jays only came away with two off takeaways.
“I think you guys are looking at some basketball history,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said. “When you see a team shoot 38% from the field, 33% from three, and 58.6% from the free throw line, you’re going to lose by double digits. But every single night, this team wins. It’s an amazing thing and I think it’s because they get more possessions. They work so hard at the defensive end.”
St. John’s has now won 18 straight regular-season games at home, which has helped it build a 2.5-game lead for first place in the conference over Creighton. Its 13 wins in Big East play is the program’s highest total since going 14-4 in 1998-99.
Sunday was also the third time in 12 days that the Queens school took down a top-25 opponent, which has allowed it to break the top 10 in both the AP (No. 9) and USA Today Coaches’ (No. 8) polls. It defeated then-No. 11 Marquette on Feb. 4 and then-No. 19 UConn just three days later.
“It feels good going around, being noticed because of the way we play and what we do as a team,” Richmond said. “So, it has its benefits. We’re going hard, we’re staying humble, and we’re going to keep on trying to win every game and play how we’re playing.”
