By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)
It’s getting late early in Queens.
St. John’s was outplayed, outclassed and outcoached on its home floor Thursday, falling to Creighton, 94-76, to drop to 0-3 in Big East play.
The beatdown started early for Creighton, which was clearly out to avenge its 89-84 loss to Marquette on Monday. The Bluejays jumped out to an 11-2 lead that eventually ballooned to a 16-point margin midway through the first half.
The Red Storm somehow scratched and clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to just three with three minutes left in the opening stanza. A seven-point Creighton lead at halftime was again slashed by the Johnnies, this time to two points early in the second half. With the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead, Marcellus Earlington was called for a travel and Creighton never looked back, leading by as much as 22 in the contest.
Creighton is everything St. John’s wishes it was. The Bluejays can run, they can defend, they can score (56.7 percent shooting from the field), they can shoot from deep (13 made 3-point field goals), they have depth (five players in double figures), and they do it year in and year out.
Oh, and they can rebound. After getting dominated on the glass, 42-27, by Marquette, Creighton finished with a 44-26 advantage over St. John’s, including 10 offensive boards.
Here are my takeaways from the loss:
The model of consistency
This isn’t exactly breaking news, but Greg McDermott can flat-out coach. Since taking over the Bluejays in 2010, he’s surpassed 20 wins in all but one season. Creighton plays fast, but organized; and almost always finds the best shot on offense, hitting open looks and playing with poise regardless of the situation. Maybe St. John’s will get there under Mike Anderson, but for now all it can do is watch in wonder.
Another nightmare
It seems every team in the Big East has some generational talent that must cost Anderson a lot of sleepless nights. Outside of Big East Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Zegarowski (20 points), it had to be disheartening to watch freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner dominate the Johnnies down low.
The 7-footer has a full arsenal of post moves and already plays with the poise of a veteran. His future is both bright and terrifying for the Bluejays.
Draw it up
The word is out around the league about Julian Champagnie, and coaches are now clearly game planning to stop him. The sophomore still led the Johnnies with 17 points, but 15 came from beyond the arc with Creighton determined to keep him away from the basket. The onus now falls on Anderson and the rest of the St. John’s coaching staff to figure out how to manufacture more looks for Champagnie.
Faint silver lining
Grad transfer Arnaldo Toro provided a nice spark off the bench in the first half. As St. John’s was making its run, it was Toro’s defensive presence that helped make the difference. Toro won’t often flash on the stat sheet, but he’s a solid contributor in the right rotation.
More questions
When things are going bad – and they’re going very bad – it’s easy to nit-pick seemingly minor moves, but once again Anderson’s rotational decisions became magnified. For the majority of the game, Anderson went with the shortest bench he has to this point in the season, eventually subbing in Josh Roberts and David Caraher with a few minutes left and the game out of hand.
Roberts, who didn’t see the floor in Sunday’s overtime loss to Georgetown, looked pretty much as he has through his St. John’s career. The junior was energetic and active around the rim in his limited time. Obviously, he isn’t some magic cure to the ailing Red Storm, but he deserves to show if he can provide a spark in meaningful minutes.
Next up
In full desperation mode, St. John’s will stay at Carnesecca Arena to take on Georgetown at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, looking to exact some revenge from last Sunday’s 97-94 overtime loss at the hands of the Hoyas. The keys to the game are simple: Play some defense and don’t let center Qudus Wahab (17 points, 10 rebounds, nine blocks last Sunday) get a triple-double.
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