Creighton vs. St. John’s analysis: The Red Storm's Crossover Examination

Creighton won their first conference game on Wednesday night against St. John’s in Omaha, Nebraska 77-74.

Bluejays forward Toby Hegner had 21 points, and hit key free throws to give Creighton the lead in the final seconds.

Rysheed Jordan, St. John’s guard, strained his patella in the contest, and did not return to the game. Adam Zagoria reported on Friday that Jordan is listed as day-to-day.

Jordan finished with four in the loss, but Phil Greene IV, D’Angelo Harrison, Sir’Dominic Pointer and Jamal Branch scored double digits in points.

St. John’s comeback efforts in the second half weren’t enough to beat Creighton. The Johnnies are now 13-7 and 2-5 in the Big East.

St. John’s box:

Courtesy of Kenpom.com

Creighton box:

Courtesy of Kenpom.com

Objective Observations:

• St. John’s shot 56% from three, which is better than the team’s average field goal percentage this season.
• The Red Storm had a balanced offense, with four players scoring in double figures.
• The Johnnies average points allowed this season is 64.6, but allowed Creighton to score 77 on them.
• St. John’s outrebounded Creighton 40-34 in the loss, picking up more rebounds than usual versus the Bluejays. The Red Storm averages 25.9 boards per game this season.
• Sir’Dominic Pointer notched his third straight double-double, and his fifth this season.
• The Red Storm was unable to contain Toby Hegner as he scored 21 points on 6-7 shooting from the field, 5-6 from three and 4-4 from the foul line.
• St. John’s utilized their bench more compared to their game against Duke, when the team scored zero points off the bench. Against Creighton, the Johnnies got 22 points from their bench.
• As a team, the Red Storm made the extra pass with more frequency on Wednesday. The team had 19 total assists in the game, which is up from the team’s average of 12.6 per game.

What it means?

After putting up a solid effort against one of college basketball’s best teams, Duke, it looked like the future was promising for St. John’s. But after falling to Creighton, the worst team in the Big East, the same questions are arising for St. John’s that did during their skid.

Although St. John’s is 2-5 in the Big East, the Red Storm still have much of the Big East schedule left to turn their season back around.

On Saturday, St. John’s will stay at home to face Providence, a team that St. John’s defeated earlier in January on the road. Providence is first in the Big East, and while the Johnnies beat the Friars once before, it will still be a significant challenge for them at the Garden.