St. John’s Crushes Creighton, In Prime Position To Win Big East

 

Zuby Ejiofor putting up a layup that gave St. John's a 56-53 edge with 11:16 remaining. Photos by Jason Schott.

This came amidst a game-defining run by St. John's. 

One of many moments the crowd went wild. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm continue to make "some basketball history," as Head Coach Rick Pitino put it, with their latest win, a 79-73 triumph over the Creighton Bluejays, 79-73, in front of a sellout crowd of 19,812 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm are now 22-4 overall on the season, and, most importantly, 13-2 in Big East play, best in the conference, while Creighton is now 11-4 in conference action and 18-8 overall.

With just five games left in the regular season, St. John's, ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 8 in USA Today’s, holds a two-game edge on Creighton. Next is Marquette, 10-4 in conference play, and UConn, who fell to 9-5 in the Big East after a brutal loss at Seton Hall Saturday.

This was the kind of game that you could argue the turning point came pretty early, just five minutes in, when Creighton was up 14-4.

Kadary Richmond buried a jumper outside the paint at the 14:43 mark. Simeon Wilcher then grabbed it off the inbounds pass, but Aaron Scott missed a quick jumper.

Then, incredibly, Richmond stole the outlet pass from Ryan Kalknrenner, and St. John’s took it a little slower this time, and Scott took a three-point attempt and made it, producing a five-point burst.

That turned into an elongated 17-7 St. John’s run that tied it at 21 with 10:28 left in the first half. 

St. John's forced a shot-clock violation at the 7:26 mark of the first half. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Red Storm took a three-point edge, 28-25, when Vince Iwuchukwu drained a hook shot at 7:02.

The rest of the first half vacillated between one- and three-point leads, and St. John’s was up 40-39 at halftime, powered by RJ Luis Jr.’s 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Zuby Ejiofor also had 10 points, with six rebounds and two steals. 

Just as they did in the first half, Creighton came out strong in the second, jumping out to a 53-48 edge on a three-pointer from Steven Ashworth at the 14:51 mark.

St. John's responded with a run we have come to expect, a 10-0 spurt capped by a Richmond layup that made it 58-53 at 9:15. 

Creighton would finally break their scoreless streak when Ashworth buried a jumper in the paint at 7:55. St. John's kept them off the board for an astonishing six minutes and 56 seconds. 

Within that stretch, Creighton lost one of their best players, Kalkbrenner, on a freak play in which he and Luis Jr. were going for a rebound and he hit the deck pretty hard. That happened at the 9:45 mark, and he would not return until there was 3:47 remaining.

At that point, St. John's took a 68-62 lead on a pair of Richmond free throws. They basically maintained that lead the rest of the way, and built it up to eight, at 72-64, on an Aaron Scott layup after a Richmond offensive rebound with 1:16 left.

Aaron Scott putting up his shot in the lane. Photos by Jason Schott.

St. John's was led by RJ Luis Jr., who had 23 points on 6-17 shooting, 1-2 on three-pointers, and 10-13 from the free throw line, with 14 rebounds for a double-double, five assists, and two steals.

Kadary Richmond had 19 points (7-18 FG, 1-3 threes, 4-4 FT) and 10 rebounds for a double-double of his own, four steals, and three assists. Zuby Ejiofor had 18 points (7-12 FG, 2-4 threes) and nine rebounds, as he just missed a double-double, with five assists and two steals.

Creighton was led by Steven Ashworth, who had 23 points on 7-17 shooting, including 4-12 from behind the arc, with 11 assists for a double-double, plus four rebounds and a steal.

Kadary Richmond connecting on a jumper early in the second half. Photo by Jason Schott.

St. John's won this game in their usual fashion, as they forced 15 turnovers and held Creighton to 35.9 percent shooting, or 12-34, and 4-17, or 23.5%, in the second half.

Meanwhile, St. John's only shot 38.4 percent, or 28-73, and 6-18, or 33.3%, for the game, but they did notch 26 points in the paint, 20 points off the turnovers they forced, 20 second-chance points, and dished out 21 assists while only committing five turnovers.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: “I think you guys are looking at some basketball history. When you see a team shoot 38 (percent) from the field, 33 from three and 58.6 percent 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. Ashworth was absolutely fantastic, just a great player. We turned him over 10 times last time, and tonight he's 11 (assists) and 4 (turnovers). These two guys [Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor] are not only great players, but they're just mature winners. I mean, Kadary, 19 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three assists, 1-for-3 from three, 4-for-4 from the line, and then Zuby had 18 points, five assists, one turnover. That also, from a statistical standpoint, is one of the most amazing things. So, I'm real proud of these two guys and the win, and everything that surrounds the win, butt's so much fun coaching these two guys because they're pros. They act like pros, they want to win, and Kadary just keeps getting better and better. I love his confidence. He doesn't think about shooting a three. He just has great confidence right now, and that's why he's playing so well.”

On if he’s surprised by how quickly he’s rebuilt the program: “The only thing I'm really surprised at is the fanbase packing The Garden. I mean, these are now [New York] Knicks crowds, and I think, like last year's Knicks team, the toughness, the New York Strong, we're doing what they did last year and that's why the fans are coming out. So, that's the only thing I'm surprised at. Everything else I was hoping for, see if it would happen.”

On what turned the game around for St. John’s after that early deficit: “You know, I think when you have even if you’re not shooting a high percentage, but anytime you have 21 assists and five turnovers, that's an amazing performance because they did a lot of really good things on offense. But we played a really good game. [Creighton] has a very good basketball team. They're tough to play against. But look, when you play a whole basketball game with this much pressure on it, and only turn it over five times, it's an amazing feat.”

On Deivon Smith coming back from injury, when it appeared he would be out a bit longer: “Biggest shock, I was shutting him down, and I said to Deivon, 'Nobody's deciding now except him. Deivon, when you're 100 percent, you're back in.' He said, 'Coach, do you mind if yesterday I try a Player Development Session?' I said, 'have at it!' He said, 'I feel good, I'm ready to go.' This is one of the biggest shocks of the year for me because I thought we were looking at the earliest after Connecticut (on February 23rd at Madison Square Garden), and to be honest with you, without him tonight, we don't win this game. We do not win because we're pressing the entire game, and if we didn't have him, we don't win the game. It was a real happy thing for us to get him in there. It's going to take a little time, but we need him back. He helps us in so many ways. The pace picks up when he's in the game.  I met with him, and I said, ‘Look, I got to get you 100%; you're rebounding, you're pushing and not thinking about your injury.’ He felt very confident that he could really contribute, and without him, we don't win this game.

On if Smith looked healthier than he had to this point in the season: "He had the best practice of the season yesterday. He was 6-for-7 from three, he was awesome. It's going to take a little time, but we need him back. He helps us in so many ways, the pace picks up when he's in the game."

How important it is to have this team healthy going into the final stretch: "I think what you're seeing is an amazing thing, just like I said statistically. I think what you're seeing from this team is truly amazing. I think that they've gone through a lot of serious injuries, but never wavered, it's been that next-man-up mentality, but look what I like more - look, you're going to see an episode of, I'm sure you're all tuned in at the edge of you seats  to see the next episode of Vice (Pitino:Red Storm Rising), but you're going to see some problems in the locker room, and the result of Sim (Simeon Wilcher), and we've gone through our problems with Deivon early in the year, with Sim, but we never wavered with our discipline of what, the way you should be, and you're going to see that up close and personal on TV, and you're going to see how the team has grown, because the toughest thing, like, you see Auburn right now, they have just about every player back, I think they took one transfer, so that's why they're so good. We're just a bunch of guys, really the guys that came back, we've got all new, I think four new starters, but this team never wavered with their work ethic, but they're getting it now. They've arrived, The Garden is packed, they're playing great. All I say to you is Connecticut-Seton Hall, okay, but we can go to DePaul and lose, and all this hard work down the drain. So that was my message to them. Anybody in this conference could beat anybody. We can go in and lose to DePaul. You see the numbers, it's very easy to do, but because of the way we play, with five turnovers and meticulous with the rebounding down the stretch, it's pretty special."

On how the press has helped his team: “It's a two-half game and I think pressing can wear people’s shooting out. It's helped us now in two games. I think we pressed tonight for 36 minutes, not easy to do without playing your bench very deep. So, we're in great shape right now, physically and mentally. This was a great performance tonight. Great performance.”

 

On the fans at Madison Square Garden and the fan base coming back: “Very appreciative to the fans, The Garden. For me, it's extra special to see St. John's, so happy, to see The Garden, so happy. As a New Yorker growing up on 26th street, between Second and Third Avenue, growing up a Knicks fan. To me, I look at this with great pride, and not for myself or anything I'm doing, but just for St. John's and the fans coming back. How do you get the fans back? How do you get the fans back? Well, you form a team. We're a team with The Garden. We told them, we want you to own St. John's University, and that's the way they've treated us."