Creighton Bluejays vs St. John's Red Storm Match Player Stats On Feb 23, 2022

Ryan Hawkins collected 25 points and 12 rebounds as visiting Creighton rallied in the second half and extended its winning streak to six games with a 81-78 victory over St. John's on Wednesday in New York.

Hawkins shot 10 of 18 from the field. His biggest basket was a put-back layup with 48 seconds left following an airball jumper by Ryan Kalkbrenner, putting Creighton (19-8, 11-5 Big East) up 79-76.

After Hawkins hit his clutch shot, Dylan Addae-Wusu's layup made it 79-78 with 24 seconds remaining. Creighton's Trey Alexander missed the front end of a one-and-one with 23 seconds remaining, but St. John's Montez Mathis missed a layup with five seconds left and Kalkbrenner hit two free throws for an 81-78 edge.

After Kalkbrenner's foul shots, Creighton seemingly had the game in hand when Posh Alexander could not catch Addae-Wusu's inbounds pass. Alex O'Connell missed the front end of a one-and-one with two seconds left, and the game ended when Aaron Wheeler's desperation 3-point try clanged off the rim at the horn.

Kalkbrenner added 19 points for Creighton, which shot 56.7 percent in the second half and 51.6 percent overall to overcome a nine-point deficit. Trey Alexander contributed 16 points, six assists and five rebounds as the Bluejays won their second straight close game.

The news was not all good for the Bluejays as Ryan Nembhard sustained a right wrist injury while going for a steal with 12:55 remaining. He will undergo season-ending surgery, the team announced postgame.

Mathis scored 13 of his 15 points before halftime for St. John's (15-12, 7-9), which was unable to win a third straight. O'Mar Stanley added 14 points while Alexander and Stef Smith chipped in 13 apiece.

Julian Champagnie was held to eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and Wheeler missed nine of 10 shots as St. John's shot 41.3 percent.

Arthur Kaluma's 3-point play staked Creighton to a 20-10 lead with 13:05 remaining in the first half, and his free throws made it 28-19 with 8:29 left. St. John's answered with a 15-4 spurt and took its first lead when a 3-point play by Montez Mathis made it 34-32 with 4:59 left.

The Red Storm then ended the half on an 8-2 run over the final 2:49 and held a 46-39 lead by halftime and took a nine-point lead early in the second half before Creighton rallied.

Creighton took a 75-71 lead on Kalkbrenner's layup with 4:51 left and St. John's took a 76-75 lead on a Mathis layup with 3:16 to go. Creighton never trailed after Kaluma hit a layup with 2:01 remaining.

--Field Level Media