St. John’s faces tough test vs No. 21 Creighton
St. John’s (13-10, 2-8) vs. No. 21 Creighton (17-6, 6-4)
CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 21 Creighton presents a tough challenge for St. John’s. St. John’s has won one of its four games against ranked teams this season. Creighton lost 73-56 on the road to Providence on Wednesday.
TEAM LEADERS: Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander has averaged 16.4 points and 5.7 rebounds while Marcus Zegarowski has put up 15.6 points and 5.1 assists. For the Red Storm, LJ Figueroa has averaged 14.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals while Rasheem Dunn has put up 11.1 points.LOVE FOR LJ: Figueroa has connected on 35.2 percent of the 142 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 10 of 23 over his last three games. He’s also made 68.1 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: St. John’s is 0-8 when scoring fewer than 68 points and 13-2 when scoring at least 68.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Bluejays have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Red Storm. Creighton has 46 assists on 75 field goals (61.3 percent) over its previous three contests while St. John’s has assists on 39 of 77 field goals (50.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The St. John’s offense has recorded a turnover on only 16.4 percent of its possessions, which is the 28th-lowest rate in the nation. The Creighton defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 17.7 percent of all possessions (ranked 287th among Division I teams).
