St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
7-7, 0-1BE
Creighton
10-4, 1-0BE
St. John's Falls to Creighton in BIG EAST Opener
12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's came up short in its BIG EAST opener falling to Creighton, 80-70, before 4,633 fans at Carnesecca Arena on Thursday. Five of the nine Red Storm players to log minutes were making their BIG EAST debut, while senior Geoffrey Groselle went for a game-high 22 points to lead the Bluejays.
Freshman guard Malik Ellison (Voorhees, N.J.) scored a career-high 17 points to pace St. John's (7-7, 0-1). Durand Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) reached double-figures for the fifth-straight game with a 14-point effort. Yankuba Sima (Girona, Spain) added 12 points, and Felix Balamou (Conakry, Guinea) finished with nine points and five assists in his first start of the season.
The Red Storm shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field in the second half, but could not overcome its halftime deficit. Groselle scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to help fend off St. John's comeback bids. The 7-foot center finished 9-for-10 from the field.
Mo Watson Jr. added 17 points and eight assists and Cole Huff had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double to guide Creighton (10-4, 1-0) to its third-straight win. The Bluejays shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the field, hitting seven 3-pointers, and made 21-of-29 free throws (72.4 percent).
"Getting consistent performance from different guys has been up and down. That is related to [our team's] inexperience," said Head Coach Chris Mullin. "All these experiences will be beneficial in the long term."
The Bluejays opened an early eight-point lead before Johnson gave St. John's a spark off the bench, scoring seven-straight points to make it a 15-13 ballgame midway through the first half. Creighton went up by as many as 11 with five minutes to go in the half before St. John's scored eight-straight points and cut the deficit to 33-29 at the break.
St. John's got within two, 39-37, after Johnson nailed his second 3-pointer with 17:04 to play. Watson Jr. and Isaiah Zierden, however, answered with 3s as the Bluejays opened up an eight-point lead.
The Red Storm deficit was at 10 before a Johnson layup and a pair of Ellison free throws made it 56-50. St. John's still trailed by just six with 9:59 to go, but the Bluejays used an 8-0 run to open up a 14-point lead and the Red Storm would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
St. John's returns to action on Jan. 2 with a 3:30 p.m. road game against No. 12/13 Providence (FS1).
