Wednesday, February 23
Queens, N.Y.
5:30 PM
Creighton University
19-8,11-5Big East
81
at
78
St. John's
15-12,7-9Big East
1
2
F
Creighton
39
42
81
St. John's (NY)
46
32
78
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Photo by: Porter Binks
Men's Basketball Overcomes Nembhard Injury To Win at St. John's
2/23/2022 7:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays have won six straight games
QUEENS, N.Y. -- Trey Alexander had a career-high 16 points to help offset the loss of starting point guard Ryan Nembhard as short-handed Creighton won its sixth straight game, 81-78, over host St. John's on Wednesday, Feb. 23rd.
Creighton raced to a 20-10 lead in the first seven minutes, paced by eight points from Ryan Hawkins and then seven straight points from reserves KeyShawn Feazell and Arthur Kaluma. The Red Storm battled back to retake the lead at 34-32 on a three-point play by Montez Mathis that preceded a Bluejay timeout with 4:57 left in the first half. The Red Storm rode that momentum and took a 46-39 lead into the break, with Mathis scoring 13 points to lead the way. CU was paced by 13 points from Hawkins and 12 from Kalkbrenner, including three dunks.
The Johnnies turned 10 Bluejay turnovers into 16 points, including 12 points off miscues in the last eight minutes of the first half.
The Bluejays fought back and rallied within one early in the second half but suffered a major setback when star freshman Ryan Nembhard left the game with 12:55 remaining and CU down 58-57. The Jays then took their first lead since 32-31 on a three-ball by Trey Alexander that put CU up 67-66. Hoops from Alexander and Kalkbrenner pushed the Bluejay advantage to 75-71 with just under five minutes to play before a 5-0 run off Bluejay turnovers returned the lead to the hosts (76-75) with 3:16 left.
CU regained an edge when Arthur Kaluma scored inside with 2:00 left off a pass from Alex O'Connell. The lead grew to 79-76 when Hawkins tipped in a Kalkbrenner miss to narrowly beat the shot clock.
Down 79-76, St. John's called a timeout with 44.7 left. The Jays forced a miss but Dylan Addae-Wusu was there for a putback with 28.8 left. SJU quickly fouled Alexander with 24.1 left and he missed the front end, setting up another chance for the hosts to take the lead. A shot by Mathis was off the mark and Kalkbrenner was fouled. He made both to give CU a three-point lead. SJU then threw away the inbounds pass and CU got the ball back with 4.8 left. CU inbounded the ball to O'Connell, who was hacked with 3.3 left but he missed the front end. A deep three-point attempt from Aaron Wheeler missed at the buzzer as CU held on to win.
Hawkins led Creighton with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Kalkbrenner had 19 points and seven rebounds and Alexander had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Kaluma finished with a dozen points in his first game back after missing the past four. CU shot 51 percent for the game (33-64) and won the rebound battle 42-38. The Jays dished 20 assists, led by seven from Nembhard.
Mathis scored 15 to pace St. John's while O'Mar Stanley added 14 off the bench. Alexander and Stef Smith contributed 13 points as CU held BIG EAST scoring leader Julian Champagnie to eight points on 3-of-16 shooting. SJU outscored CU 26-7 off turnovers and 24-14 in transition.
Creighton returns to the court on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Central when it visits No. 11 Providence in a game that will air on FS1.
NOTES: Ryan Hawkins scored in double-figures for the team-high 20th time this season, and 110th time in his career ... Ryan Hawkins reached 350 career three-pointers on a trey with 13:12 left to bring CU within 56-55 .. Creighton has made a three-pointer in 940 straight games and a three-pointer before halftime in 311 games in a row ... Ryan Kalkbrenner surpassed 500 career points on his fifth basket of the game to put CU in front 30-25 ... Ryan Kalkbrenner has now had a blocked shot in 25 straight games, extending CU's longest such streak since Benoit Benjamin (28) in 1984-85 ... Ryan Hawkins had his 10th double-double of the season and eighth in league play. Both figures lead the BIG EAST ... Creighton is 6-1 this season in games decided by five points or less ... Ryan Hawkins has now had a double-double in all six of Creighton's road wins this season ... Creighton improved to 15-4 in the month of February in the past three seasons ... Creighton's six game win streak is a season-high ... The Bluejays are now 9-5 away from home this season, including a 6-4 mark in true road games and a 5-4 record in BIG EAST road contests ... Ryan Hawkins' teams improved to 178-16 at the college level ... Creighton is now 7-1 this month ... Ryan Nembhard was taken to a local hospital for x-rays during the game, but results are not yet known.
Creighton raced to a 20-10 lead in the first seven minutes, paced by eight points from Ryan Hawkins and then seven straight points from reserves KeyShawn Feazell and Arthur Kaluma. The Red Storm battled back to retake the lead at 34-32 on a three-point play by Montez Mathis that preceded a Bluejay timeout with 4:57 left in the first half. The Red Storm rode that momentum and took a 46-39 lead into the break, with Mathis scoring 13 points to lead the way. CU was paced by 13 points from Hawkins and 12 from Kalkbrenner, including three dunks.
The Johnnies turned 10 Bluejay turnovers into 16 points, including 12 points off miscues in the last eight minutes of the first half.
The Bluejays fought back and rallied within one early in the second half but suffered a major setback when star freshman Ryan Nembhard left the game with 12:55 remaining and CU down 58-57. The Jays then took their first lead since 32-31 on a three-ball by Trey Alexander that put CU up 67-66. Hoops from Alexander and Kalkbrenner pushed the Bluejay advantage to 75-71 with just under five minutes to play before a 5-0 run off Bluejay turnovers returned the lead to the hosts (76-75) with 3:16 left.
CU regained an edge when Arthur Kaluma scored inside with 2:00 left off a pass from Alex O'Connell. The lead grew to 79-76 when Hawkins tipped in a Kalkbrenner miss to narrowly beat the shot clock.
Down 79-76, St. John's called a timeout with 44.7 left. The Jays forced a miss but Dylan Addae-Wusu was there for a putback with 28.8 left. SJU quickly fouled Alexander with 24.1 left and he missed the front end, setting up another chance for the hosts to take the lead. A shot by Mathis was off the mark and Kalkbrenner was fouled. He made both to give CU a three-point lead. SJU then threw away the inbounds pass and CU got the ball back with 4.8 left. CU inbounded the ball to O'Connell, who was hacked with 3.3 left but he missed the front end. A deep three-point attempt from Aaron Wheeler missed at the buzzer as CU held on to win.
Hawkins led Creighton with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Kalkbrenner had 19 points and seven rebounds and Alexander had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Kaluma finished with a dozen points in his first game back after missing the past four. CU shot 51 percent for the game (33-64) and won the rebound battle 42-38. The Jays dished 20 assists, led by seven from Nembhard.
Mathis scored 15 to pace St. John's while O'Mar Stanley added 14 off the bench. Alexander and Stef Smith contributed 13 points as CU held BIG EAST scoring leader Julian Champagnie to eight points on 3-of-16 shooting. SJU outscored CU 26-7 off turnovers and 24-14 in transition.
Creighton returns to the court on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Central when it visits No. 11 Providence in a game that will air on FS1.
NOTES: Ryan Hawkins scored in double-figures for the team-high 20th time this season, and 110th time in his career ... Ryan Hawkins reached 350 career three-pointers on a trey with 13:12 left to bring CU within 56-55 .. Creighton has made a three-pointer in 940 straight games and a three-pointer before halftime in 311 games in a row ... Ryan Kalkbrenner surpassed 500 career points on his fifth basket of the game to put CU in front 30-25 ... Ryan Kalkbrenner has now had a blocked shot in 25 straight games, extending CU's longest such streak since Benoit Benjamin (28) in 1984-85 ... Ryan Hawkins had his 10th double-double of the season and eighth in league play. Both figures lead the BIG EAST ... Creighton is 6-1 this season in games decided by five points or less ... Ryan Hawkins has now had a double-double in all six of Creighton's road wins this season ... Creighton improved to 15-4 in the month of February in the past three seasons ... Creighton's six game win streak is a season-high ... The Bluejays are now 9-5 away from home this season, including a 6-4 mark in true road games and a 5-4 record in BIG EAST road contests ... Ryan Hawkins' teams improved to 178-16 at the college level ... Creighton is now 7-1 this month ... Ryan Nembhard was taken to a local hospital for x-rays during the game, but results are not yet known.
Team Stats
CU
SJU
FG%
.516
.413
3FG%
.292
.368
FT%
.667
.556
RB
42
38
TO
17
6
STL
3
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballMeet the Jays - MBB Blake Harper
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Austin Swartz
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Jasen Green
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Ty Davis
Friday, August 15
