St. John’s winning streak ends with heartbreaking loss to No. 22 Creighton

OMAHA, Neb. — Again, it was a defensive rebound St. John’s couldn’t get to. Just like at Connecticut. Less than 20 seconds left. The ball on the floor. Creighton got to it. St. John’s didn’t. Trey Alexander hit two game winning free throws and Daniss Jenkins missed on the other end, sending the Johnnies to a heartbreaking, 66 65 defeat at the CHI Health Center, snapping their four game winning streak.

At the horn, the St. John’s players stood around the court motionless, stunned at the result. It was a whirlwind of a game, both teams trading runs like two prize fighters in the middle of the ring. St. John’s had its chances down the stretch but missed its final four shots and seven of the last eight.

It was on the wrong end of the whistle. No. 22 Creighton had an 18 4 advantage in free throw attempts after the break. Joel Soriano led St. John’s with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Jenkins added 11 points and five assists. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 for Creighton. The opening 20 minutes felt lopsided, though the score wasn’t.

St. John’s started sluggish and struggled defending Creighton. The Bluejays, though, missed plenty of open looks and really didn’t get going until late in the first half. Neither team shot well, and there wasn’t a singe double figure scorer from either side in the opening half. Soriano and Jenkins, the St.

John’s stars, shot a combined 4 of 15 from the field while Alexander and Baylor Scheierman both were 2 for 8 for Creighton. The Johnnies were outscored from beyond the arc by 18 after not hitting a single 3 pointer in four tries. Creighton was 6 of 23 from deep. St. John’s was outscored by 11 over the final 9:48 of the first half and went the final 2:24 without a point.

In that span, a six point lead became a five point deficit. The Red Storm started the second half much better than they ended the first. They scored on five of six possessions to take a brief one point lead after a Jordan Dingle 3 pointer. The second unit fueled a 14 2 run that flipped the game, giving St.

John’s a nine point edge after an Zuby Ejiofor hook in the lane. Creighton eventually answered with six straight points to trim the lead to three with 7:45 to go and went ahead on a Kalkbrenner alley oop with 5:46 left..