Luis, No. 9 St. John's extend Big East lead with win over No. 24 Creighton

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. had 23 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 9 St. John’s strengthen its grip on first place in the Big East with a 79-73 victory over No. 24 Creighton on Sunday.

The Red Storm (22-4, 13-2) lead the Bluejays (18-8, 11-4) by two games. A Creighton win would have given it the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. John’s, which is seeking its first regular-season title since 1986.

Luis made 6 of 17 shots in his eighth double-double this season. He sank six free throws in the final two minutes and made 10 of 13 overall to help St. John’s secure its 10th win in 11 games.

Kadary Richmond had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Storm. Zuby Ejiofor added 18 points and nine boards.

Steven Ashworth scored 23 points for Creighton, which dropped its second straight after winning nine in a row. Jamiya Neal added 19. Ryan Kalkbrenner was held to 12 points and appeared to have limited mobility in his right foot after getting helped to the locker room with 9:45 left.

Kalkbrenner was injured jostling for a rebound under the rim with Ejiofor and Luis. He returned with 3:47 remaining.

Takeaways

Creighton: The Bluejays went 8 of 30 (26.7%) from 3-point range. In its loss to UConn, Creighton shot 29.2% (7 of 24) from 3.

St. John’s: Deivon Smith played 26 minutes and shot 4 of 9 after missing last week’s loss at Villanova with a neck injury. Smith was 8 for 34 in his previous four games after hurting his shoulder on Jan. 11.

Key moment

After missing 11 straight shots, Creighton got within 61-59 on a tip-in by Neal with 6:37 left. But St. John's responded with a 3 by Aaron Scott and a jumper by Luis.

Key stat

The Red Storm shot 58.6% (17 of 29) from the foul line.

Up next

Creighton hosts Georgetown next Sunday. St. John’s visits DePaul on Wednesday.

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