Creighton meets St. John’s in Big East quarters

No. 9 seed St. John’s (17-15, 6-13) vs. No. 1 seed Creighton (24-7, 13-5)

Big East Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Madison Square Garden, New York; Thursday, 11 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Big East semifinals is up for grabs as St. John’s is set to take on Creighton. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last met on March 1, when the Red Storm outshot Creighton from the field 55 percent to 37.3 percent and made 10 more 3-pointers en route to the 20-point victory.

LEADING THE WAY: Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander has averaged 16.9 points and five rebounds while Marcus Zegarowski has put up 16.1 points and five assists. For the Red Storm, LJ Figueroa has averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while Julian Champagnie has put up 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds.LIKEABLE LJ: Figueroa has connected on 36.5 percent of the 197 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 8 for 20 over his last three games. He’s also made 66.3 percent of his free throws this season.

WINLESS WHEN: St. John’s is 0-11 when scoring fewer than 68 points and 17-4 when scoring at least 68.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: St. John’s is a perfect 5-0 when the team blocks at least seven opposing shots. The Red Storm are 12-15 this season when they block fewer than seven shots.

DID YOU KNOW: The Creighton offense has scored 78.3 points per game this season, ranking the Bluejays 21st nationally. The St. John’s defense has allowed 71.6 points per game to opponents (ranked 221st).