No. 17 St. John’s Smacks Creighton, Marking Longest Winning Streak in 4 Decades

Bryce Hopkins had 15 points and 10 rebounds as No. 17 St. John’s breezed past Creighton 81-52 on Saturday for its 13th straight victory — marking the school’s longest winning streak in 41 years. Dylan Darling scored 17 points off the bench and Zuby Ejiofor added 15 for the first-place Red Storm (22-5, 15-1 Big East), who led wire-to-wire and held Creighton to 32% shooting from the field in their 18th victory in 20 games. Dillon Mitchell had 10 rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers on Johnnies Day at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s hadn’t won 13 in a row since a 19-game run in 1984-85 on the way to a No. 1 national ranking, a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Final Four berth under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca. Seeking their second consecutive Big East championship, the Red Storm began the day with a half-game lead in the conference standings over No. 5 UConn, scheduled to play later at third-place Villanova. St. John’s visits Connecticut on Wednesday night for their second showdown this season. A victory would give the Johnnies a 14-game winning streak in Big East play, which would match their 14-0 start in 1984-85 for the program record. Fedor Zugic scored nine points on a trio of first-half 3-pointers to lead the Bluejays (14-14, 8-9), unable to build off a big upset Wednesday at UConn. St. John’s routed the Bluejays in both regular-season matchups and has won the past four meetings, including an 82-66 victory in last year’s Big East title game. Red Storm starting guard Ian Jackson, nursing a sprained right ankle, was available in uniform on the bench but did not play. He was listed as questionable before the game. Up next Creighton hosts DePaul on Wednesday night, after dropping their first matchup this season 72-71 on Feb. 11. St. John’s tries to sweep the regular-season series from UConn for the second consecutive year when the teams meet Wednesday night in Hartford. Reporting by The Associated Press.