#10 Men's Basketball Falls at St. John's

QUEENS, N.Y. -- Greg Williams Jr. shot 7-for-10 from three-point range and scored a career-high 21 points as St. John's snapped No. 10 Creighton's five-game winning streak with a 91-71 win over on Sunday, March 1. Williams' heroics came after he entered the day just 7-for-28 from three-point range in league play and helped the Red Storm claim their first win in Queens over a top-10 team since 1975

St. John's improved to 14-14 (4-12 BIG EAST), while Creighton dropped into a tie for second place in the BIG EAST with a 22-7 mark (11-5 BIG EAST) with one week remaining in the regular-season.

Creighton entered the day leading the BIG EAST in league play with 39.5 percent shooting from three-point territory, but shot just 4-of-27 from deep (14.8). St. John's, which was a league-worst 29.5 percent, made 14-of-22 triples (63.6 percent). The 14 makes were a season-high.

Creighton fell behind 28-16 in the early minutes before a 9-2 run featuring four points by Ty-Shon Alexander and five by Damien Jefferson to close within five. St. John's countered with a 7-2 run that included five points by Rasheem Dunn before a Bluejay timeout with CU trailing 37-27. The Bluejays got as close as 37-34 after a 7-0 run that was capped by a Mitch Ballock trey, but the Red Storm owned a 44-37 lead at the break.

Jefferson led CU with 13 points in the first half, making 5-of-6 shots. But the Bluejays missed their first 11 shots from three-point range and were 2-of-14 from deep in the opening half, compared to 5-for-11 marksmanship by St. John's. The Johnnies got points from eight men in the first half, led by 11 by Dunn.

The Bluejays came out strong to start the second half, eventually forging ahead 55-54 on a hoop from Jefferson that prompted a St. John's timeout. CU went up 56-54 after an Alexander free throw, only to see St. John's answer with consecutive three-point baskets by Nick Rutherford, Greg Williams, Jr. and LJ Figueroa returned the hosts' lead to 63-56.

Consecutive three-balls by Dunn and Williams helped the Johnnies move ahead 70-63 with 7:47 remaining. The Johnnies would later unleash a 14-0 run in just over two minutes thanks to treys by Figueroa, Williams (2x) and Julien Champagnie that quickly moved the Red Storm margin to 84-64.

The loss offset a career-high-tying 20 points for CU's Jefferson, who also added eight rebounds. Ty-Shon Alexander contributed 19 points for CU and Christian Bishop had 12 points and matched his career-high with five assists. Creighton otuscored SJU 40-22 in teh paint and had a 17-7 edge in second-chance points thanks to 14 offensive rebounds.

St. John's was paced by 21 points from Williams, 10 more than his career-high. Dunn added 19 points and 10 assists and Figueroa chipped in with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Creighton will play a pair of home games to close the regular-season, starting with Wednesday's 7 p.m. game vs. Georgetown.

NOTES: Creighton has made a three-pointer in 880 consecutive games ... Creighton has made a three-pointer before halftime in 251 games in a row ... Creighton had led at halftime in 13 straight games before today's 44-37 deficit ... Ty-Shon Alexander passed Ray Yost (1,196) to move into 26th on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,207 career points .. Mitch Ballock had three points moving him past Fritz Pointer (965) and David Wesely (967) for 45th on Creighton's all-time scoring chart with 968 points ... SJU's 44 points were the most allowed by the Bluejays before halftime since St. John's had 44 at the break on January 30, 2019 against CU ... Ty-Shon Alexander now has scored 10 or more points and drained a three-pointer in each of the last 13 games ... Creighton's loss gives Seton Hall at least a share of the BIG EAST regular-season title, as the Pirates (13-3) have a two-game lead in the standings over both Creighton and Villanova with two games to play ... Creighton fell to 14-5 all-time as a top-10 team ... St. John's beat a top-10 team at Carnesecca Arena for the first time since a Dec. 9, 1975 victory vs. No. 7 Tennessee.

Next Event

Team Stats

Damien Jefferson

Ty-Shon Alexander

Christian Bishop

Denzel Mahoney

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Christian Bishop

Damien Jefferson