St. John's Red Storm vs Creighton Bluejays Match Player Stats On Jan 09, 2021

Denzel Mahoney had 24 points as No. 7 Creighton made 10 of its season-high 16 3-pointers in the first half to win a sixth consecutive game, 97-79 over St. John's on Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

Marcus Zegarowski, the Bluejays' leading scorer at 14.1 points per contest and one of the nation's top players, did not play because of an undisclosed issue. It reportedly was not related to COVID-19. However, his absence did not keep Creighton (10-2, 6-1 Big East) from staying hot.

Mahoney hit four 3-pointers while topping the 1,500-point mark for his career.

Duke transfer Alex O'Connell also made four 3s en route to scoring a season-high 16 points as the Bluejays shot 54.4 percent from the field and 16-of-36 from beyond the arc.

It was a second straight impressive offensive effort for Creighton, which shot a season-high 59.6 percent and hit 13 3-pointers during Wednesday's 89-53 home rout of Seton Hall.

Julian Champagnie, one of the league's top scorers entering at 19.7 points per game, scored a career-high 33 for St. John's (6-6, 1-5 in Big East), which hung tough early and shot 51.6 percent in the first half. However, the Red Storm could not stop a Creighton squad that essentially put the game away with an 8-0 run to take a 28-19 lead at the 10:17 mark of the first half.

Back-to-back 3s from O'Connell pushed that advantage to 37-25. A stretch that included a pair of dunks from Ryan Kalkbrenner and two 3-pointers from Mahoney helped Creighton go into the break ahead 56-39.

Eight different players scored points and five made at least one 3 in the first half for the Bluejays, who recorded 15 of their 25 assists over the first 20 minutes. The 56 first-halfpoints were the most Creighton has scored in a Big East game.

Champagnie, meanwhile, kept St. John's respectably close. He scored the Red Storm's first 12 points of the second half and a layup with 16:17 left in the game got his team within 63-51.

However, a 3-pointer from Mitch Ballock (14 points, four 3s), a bucket from Mahoney and another from O'Connell made up a 7-0 run that extended the Creighton lead to 72-53.

--Field Level Media