Three takeaways from St. John’s men’s basketball’s blowout win over Creighton

The Johnnies brought home a twelve-game win streak to Madison Square Garden for a rematch with the Creighton Blue Jays. Fans were cautiously optimistic as the Blue Jays had recently upended the Connecticut Huskies in Storrs. With several long-range bombers led by leading scorer, Josh Dix, the Red Storm would have to handle screens and smothering Bluejay long-range shooters.

With Ian Jackson out due to a sprained ankle, fans wondered if this would provide an opportunity for Lefteris Liotopoulos to continue his success from the successful jump shooting he displayed against Marquette days before.

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First Half

Another change was made to the starting lineup due to Jackson’s absence for St. John’s: Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell, and Joson Sanon returned for a second consecutive game, while Oziyah Sellers was back to 100% health from a slight ankle injury that forced him to come off the bench against Marquette.

The Johnnies started with Ejiofor winning the tip and then grabbing an offensive rebound and being fouled on a put-back attempt. He made two out of two free throws for a 2-0 lead. Over the next four minutes, the Red Storm, behind a Mitchell drive, then a Sellers fast break and layup, built an early 6-0 lead. Hopkins then followed that with a coast-to-coast layup to give the Johnnies a 8-0 lead.

Mitchell received the defensive assignment to keep the Bluejays’ top scorer, Josh Dix, in check. Dix finally scored on a 13-foot pull-up jumper to get the Blue Jays on the board, but a driving layup by Hopkins extended the lead to 10-2 at the 17:25 mark.

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The Red Storm’s defense was applying pressure, and Creighton was putting up shots with less than five seconds on the clock.

As the Johnnies’ defensive pressure was intense, their offense was moving the ball fluidly. With 15:42 to play in the half, Mitchell drove into the paint and found an open Sanon on the left wing. Sanon obliged with a three-pointer, giving the Johnnies a 16-4 lead.

After…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/three-takeaways-st-john-men-220522149.html

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Publish date : 2026-02-23 22:05:00

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