NEW YORK, NY — There was a no fly zone advisory out on the Bluejays Saturday afternoon as the St. John’s Red Storm, ranked 17th in the nation, blew out Creighton, 81-52, at Madison Square Garden.
“This was the best defense we played all season,” said head coach Rick Pitino of the Red Storm’s performance, limiting Creighton to a 17-53 shooting clip (32.1%) and 6-22 from behind the arc (27.3%).
“The guys were totally locked in because of their respect for Creighton and their ability to score. There were so many times where we almost got the shot clock down to twenty-four seconds, which is awesome defense the entire night.”
With the 29-point smackdown that included 18 turnovers from Creighton, a season-high, St. John’s, marking its largest margin of victory against a Big East Conference opponent since February of 2022 vs. Butler—extended its winning streak to 13 games—the longest in program history since the 1984-85 season.
Additionally, the Johnnies’ active 13-game winning streak, as their last loss came on Saturday, January 3rd against Providence at MSG, is the second longest in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball currently.
The only team ahead of the Red Storm in the category or in other words, ‘hotter’ at the DI Men’s College Hoops level is Miami of Ohio, standing unbeaten on the season at an impressive 27-0 record. Liberty, rattling off 17 straight wins, stood second prior to Saturday, but fell to Western Kentucky to snap their streak.
Regardless of the streaks and history, standing tall in Saturday’s win on the offensive end of the floor was Dylan Darling (17 pts), the duo of Bryce Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor (15 pts each) and Oziyah Sellers who made for an impact with 10 points. Along with Dillon Mitchell, compiling a stat line of six points, 10 boards, seven assists and a steal.
St. John’s picked up their 13th straight win on Saturday, blowing out Creighton by a final of 81-52 at Madison Square Garden and now stand 22-5 on the year (15-1 in Big East Conference play) – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
“Preparation wins games,” Mitchell said as St. John’s (22-5 overall, 15-1 in Big East play) now gears up for a Big East battle with No. 5 UConn (25-3 overall, 15-2 in BE play) scheduled for this coming Wednesday, February 25th.
“So it’s getting back to the drawing board, figuring out what we gotta do. We played a great defensive game today and we’re going to need another one next week. There are still some weaknesses from this game that we struggled with and we’ll work on it.”
Celebrating Johnnies Day
Saturday was a day for the Johnnies and its passionate fanbase, marking the fourth-annual Johnnies Day—a once a year celebration of the university’s contributions to New York City—with fans showing their pride for the Red Storm.
While over 19,000 were in attendance, treated to St. John’s beating up on Creighton, those seated in the lower bowl of MSG received a free “We Are St. John’s” vintage poster and the first 2,500 fans in the building got gifted a free hat.
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