St. John’s basketball predictably dismantled in Creighton
The outcome in Creighton for the St. John’s basketball team was very predictable.
Getting a root canal might be a better utilization of time for the St. John’s basketball team than going to the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Johnnies, coming off of a dismal 49-point showing on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, were hoping for some type of offensive reincarnation on Wednesday night against the Creighton Bluejays and it appeared destined to happen early.
St. John’s scored 12 points before the first media timeout and led 15-12 after five minutes of play.
However, that lead would not last longer than the eight minute mark as the typical route each time the Red Storm have visited Creighton in the last four years was underway.
The final score was a startling 104-76 but it’s the trend over the last four road meetings between the programs that is more concerning.
“Our defense was probably the worst we have played all year,” head coach Mike Anderson said after the game.
St. John’s (13-8, 3-7 Big East) has not even been a little competitive with Creighton when it steps on the floor in Omaha, losing its last four games by at least 12 points.
The Bluejays are outscoring the Johnnies by an average of 20.2 points per game and putting an average of 95.5 points on the scoreboard against the Red Storm in its home gym.
Mike Anderson’s team has allowed 94, 97, 87, and 104 points in his four trips to Omaha.
Greg McDermott saw his team lead by as many as 31 points, 104-73, as Creighton (12-8, 6-3 Big East) scored on 63.9-percent of its possessions and netted 1.4 points per possession. It was a pace of 2.6 points per minute.
“I thought we let them impose their will,” Anderson continued.
St. John’s basketball outcome very predictable
St. John’s was without junior point guard Posh Alexander (left ankle sprain) but that does not give a team, who claims it wants to leave its mark on a game defensively, any reason to allow an opponent to score at will.
The only bright spot for the Johnnies was the play of freshman guard AJ Storr, who continues to show the promise of developing into one of the best players in the Big East.
Storr dropped a career-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and connected on 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point range.
The problem for St. John’s is Wednesday night was very predictable — even before the injury news about Alexander.
It was predictable to think the Red Storm would be bludgeoned by Creighton.
It was predictable to think the Bluejays would have open shots around the perimeter.
It was predictable to think there would be a massive letdown after stunning then No. 6 UConn in Hartford.
And it all came true.
Now, St. John’s will have to quickly regroup and host Georgetown (6-15, 1-9 Big East) on Sunday afternoon (2:00p.m. ET, FS1) at The Garden after the Hoyas snapped its 29-game Big East losing streak on Tuesday against DePaul.