Zegarowski’s 23 lead No. 21 Creighton past Red Storm 94-82

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Marcus Zegarowski scored 23 points to lead six Creighton players in double figures and the 21st-ranked Bluejays beat St. John’s 94-82 on Saturday.

Creighton shot a season-best 60% from the field and matched its season high with 13 3-pointers but couldn’t separate from the Red Storm until the middle of the second half. That’s when Zegarowski scored on a drive and 3 on back-to-back possessions as the lead grew to as many as 17 points.

Zegarowski, who averages just under 16 points per game, bounced back from a 1-for-10, three-point outing in a loss at Providence on Wednesday.

Denzel Mahoney scored 18 points for Creighton (18-6, 7-4 Big East) and Ty-Shon Alexander and Damien Jefferson added 16 apiece. Christian Bishop and Mitch Ballock finished with 10 apiece.

Marcellus Earlington scored a career-high 25 points for the Red Storm (13-11, 2-9). The sophomore was 3 for 4 on 3s after coming in 3 for 21 for the season.

Bishop hit a jumper and threw down a huge lob dunk off a feed from Zegarowski to send Creighton into the second half with a 47-37 lead.

The Red Storm got 3s from unlikely sources to cut into the deficit. Earlington made two in a row to start the second half and Nick Rutherford, 4 of 25 coming in, hit one to get the Red Storm within 58-54.

Creighton committed only eight turnovers against a St. John’s team that had forced 13 turnovers or more in each of its previous 23 games.

BIG PICTURE

St. John’s: The Red Storm were in the game until the final 10 minutes because they controlled the boards, holding an 18-4 advantage in offensive rebounds, and hit timely 3-pointers. But the defense couldn’t slow down the Bluejays.

Creighton: The Bluejays couldn’t afford a home loss to the ninth-place team in the Big East after losing by 17 at Providence on Wednesday. They improved to 13-1 at CHI Health Center.

UP NEXT

St. John’s hosts Providence, which won the season’s first meeting 63-58 on Jan. 15.

Creighton visits No. 12 Seton Hall on Wednesday in the first of two games between the teams the next three weeks.