In a
game marked by scoring runs in favor of both sides, the most important one for
St. John’s in their 86-61 win over Creighton yesterday may have come in the
first half. Despite Shamorie Ponds’ return to the lineup, the Red Storm
appeared to be on their heels. A 15-6
run that stretched across the middle of the first half had lifted the visitors
from Nebraska from a 13-13 tie to a 28-19 advantage when freshman guard Marcus Zegarowski
connected on a three-pointer with 6:17 to go in the opening half. From there it
was up to Ponds, who appeared to be moving well even as St. John’s offense sputtered
to that point. Ponds then connected on a three-point shot and a two-point
jumper which began a stretch where the Johnnies connected on eight straight
field goal tries. They closed the half on a 20-6 run and had a 39-34
After
the strong close to the first half there still proved work to be done as
Creighton opened the half on 7-3 run to close the gap to 42-41. Coach Chris
Mullin called timeout just prior to what would have been the first (under 16)
media timeout and the move paid off as his team responded with another strong
run, scoring 10 of the game’s next 12 points. That rally saw continued fine
play from Ponds as well as the start of a strong second half from Mustapha
Heron, who was scoreless in the first half thanks in large part to a pair of
early fouls. His second half would go
much better as St. John’s worked diligently to get him touches on the low
block. He scored all of his 18 points in the second 20 minutes connecting on 7
of 8 shots.
Creighton’s strong young
perimeter kept them within striking distance for much of the game. Zegarowski
led a quartet of Blue Jay double figure scorers with 17 points while center
Martin Krampelj added 14 but St. John’s was continually able to create
quickness mismatches, often with him involved guarding Heron, LJ Figueroa, who
finished with 16 points and 13 boards, or Justin Simon, who also had 16 points.
Ponds would finish with a game high 22 points and 5 assists, helping with his
playmaking to facilitate St. John’s ability to find and take advantage of
mismatches. The win broke a two-game in-season losing streak for St. John’s as
well as a six-game losing streak against Creighton.
The win moved the
Johnnies overall record to 15-3 while pulling them even in Big East play at
3-3. Up next is another crucial game at Butler on Saturday beginning at 4:30 pm.
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