QUEENS, N.Y. — Greg Williams Jr. shot 7-for-10 from three-point range and scored a career-high 21 points as St. Johns snapped No. 10 Creightons 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. Johns 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. Johns, 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. Johns 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. Johns. 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. Johns timeout. CU went up 56-54 after an Alexander free throw, only to see St. Johns 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 CUs 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. Johns 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 Wednesdays 7 p.m. game vs. Georgetown.
