Due to the vagaries of scheduling in the
Year of COVID-19 coach Greg McDermott’s Creighton team found itself in the odd
circumstance of being ranked 9th nationally but looking for their
first conference win as they took on St. John’s last night. Following a tough
home loss to Marquette returned to Carnesecca Arena determined to regain their
footing and earn that first win in league play. Led by their terrific quartet
of perimeter upperclassmen they accomplished both objectives with a 94-76 win.
Junior guard Marcus Zegarowski led the way
with 20 points for the Blue Jays while senior wing Denzel Mahoney added 16.
Creighton hit 6 of their first 9 shots from 3-point distance and sprinted to a 28-12
lead before St. John’s could get anything going. And when they finally did it
seemed as though coach Greg McDermott’s squad always had an answer. They would
either get a great look at the basket thanks to ball movement or, when that
didn’t happen Zegarowski, Mahoney or all-purpose forward Damien Jefferson would
make either a contested shot or a play to set up a team mate. Contested were
few and far between for Creighton which found little resistance to ball
reversal or dribble penetration by St. John’s and outrebounded the Red Storm 44-26.
The Johnnies would trim that first half deficit to 37-34 with 2:09 left in the
half, but while Creighton’s established stars kept St. John’s trailing early,
the role players made key plays at the end of the half. Duke transfer Alex O’Connell,
and freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner each converted on terrific passes at the
end of the half and St. John’s after a furious rally still trailed by 41-34 as the
second half began.
St. John’s would stay close for only a short
time in the second half behind Julian Champagne, who finished with team highs
of 17 points and 5 rebounds, and Dylan Adde-Wusu who finished with 12 off the
bench. The Johnnies pulled to within 2 points of the lead when they scored 5 straight
points out of the locker room. But as teams with championship aspirations in
league play will do, Creighton responded when Zegarowski drilled a pair of
triples. And when Champagne hit again on a triple with 15:16 left it was time
for Creighton’s Matt Ballock to respond. The senior who was limited to 9 points
on just 3-5 shooting came up with a huge basket that helped set the stage for a
game clinching 22-4 run by the Jays that stretched over 8 minutes. Frontcourt role
players Jefferson and Christian Bishop each had 10 rebounds Jefferson added a
team high 8 assists. Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot freshman center had 15 off the bench
moving well around the basket and converting his teammates passes into points.
He may well be a key player in helping Creighton achieve their conference
championship and tournament aspirations. While he’s not a physical player yet,
his length makes him a presence at the rim and as he continues to get up to
speed his role may grow as the season progresses.
As St. John’s gets ready for a Sunday
rematch with Georgetown coach Anderson needs his team to find its “blue collar”
which made defense a part of last season’s strong finish. “We need to get guys
connected. All it takes is one weak link and tonight there was more than one,”
Anderson said. They had better hurry because 0-4 in league play is a deep hole
to dig out of to achieve any success this season.
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