3 takeaways from St. John's one-point loss to Creighton
St John's Kadary Richmond shoots against Creighton on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Credit: St John's University
OMAHA, Neb. — St. John’s had a great opportunity here on New Year’s Eve, but it couldn’t quite cash in.
Creighton may not have performed thus far to expectations, and it also may have lost its top all-around player Pop Isaacs to a season-ending injury, but beating the Bluejays on their home court would have been the Red Storm’s best win of the season.
Instead, St. John’s lost, 57-56, at CHI Health Center when, after cutting an eight-point deficit to one, RJ Luis Jr. couldn’t convert two field-goal attempts on the game’s final possession.
This second straight one-point loss at Creighton snapped a six-game winning streak. The Storm (11-3, 2-1 Big East) have lost their three games by a total of five points.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s defeat:
1. Pulling rank
Even eking out a win at Creighton and following that with a victory over Butler at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday would almost certainly have propelled the Red Storm back into the AP Top 25.
St. John’s was nationally ranked for two weeks in November, the first time that’s happened since the 2018-19 season. They might have kept their number after the double-overtime loss to then No. 13 Baylor in the Bahamas, but not after losing to unranked Georgia in the third of three games in the Caribbean. St. John’s has had the sort of metrics that fit with a national ranking and figures to again be in the Top 25.
The one-point road loss to the Bluejays won’t likely hurt it in many of the metrics used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but they aren’t likely to get fitted for a number again when the poll comes out Monday, even with a Saturday win over Butler. They could get one the following Monday if they beat Xavier next Tuesday in Cincinnati.
2. Momentum time
The Storm have much more difficult stretches down the road this season than the one that lies just ahead. The next four to six games present a real chance for some momentum. St. John’s didn’t win at Creighton but came very close and that, paired with last month’s win at Providence, shows it is capable of succeeding in a hostile environment.
After the Butler and Xavier games, St. John’s welcomes Villanova and Georgetown to the Garden. Winning four straight is attainable. After that is a road contest at Seton Hall. What about five in a row before facing the Hoyas in the nation’s capital?
3. Three not magic number
St. John’s took a season-low nine three-point shots Tuesday, made just two — both by center Zuby Ejiofor — and was outscored 27-6 from the arc. In their three Big East games the Storm are 8-for-37 (21.6%) on three-point attempts and foes have outscored them by 42 points from distance. Aaron Scott is 0-for-8 and Luis is 0-for-6 from the arc in conference play.
While that doesn’t seem like a recipe for winning games, Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino said that’s not necessarily the case.
“We’re not a three-point shooting team, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win,” he said. “We can win big [and] we can go on and have a highly successful season. It’s just not a strength of the ballclub. You can’t try to become something you’re not . . . You can’t be a volume three-point shooting team when you don’t have three-point shooters.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
