St. John’s Red Storm Turns Season Around with Big Win

OMAHA, Neb. — Just a week ago, there were doubts swirling around St. John’s University. People were asking if they still had hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament.

But after a couple of strong performances on the road, it seems Jonny is proving that there’s still some spark left.

In their game against Butler, the team showed promise in the second half, and they were even more impressive on Saturday, overpowering a previously successful Creighton team at CHI Health Center.

It was quite a turnaround, especially with a decisive 90-73 victory, which marked just their second win out of 15 attempts in Omaha. The game had many highlights—from a well-rounded offensive game to a strong defensive effort and the remarkable performance of Lefteris Liotopoulos.

St. John’s has now clinched eight wins in their last ten games, including three in Quad 1. Liotopoulos came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points, while Oziaya Sellers contributed 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Ian Jackson added 12 points, with Zuby Ejiofor also scoring 12 points along with six assists and four steals. Bryce Hopkins matched that with another 12 points.

Creighton had entered this matchup with four wins in their last five league games, including a notable victory at Villanova.

However, they struggled in the latter portion of the game, with their key guards, Josh Dix and Austin Swartz, only managing to score 12 points together on a 5-of-15 shooting performance.

St. John’s defense against the three-pointer had some holes early on, as Creighton capitalized, connecting on six of ten attempts from beyond the arc to take an initial lead. But then, the Johnnys seemed to find their rhythm, with Liotopoulos playing a crucial role, scoring nine points during a 25-4 run in the first half.

In the last 10 minutes and 53 seconds of the game, St. John’s completely dominated, outscoring Creighton 34-11.

At halftime, they held a +13 margin, showing off a 54% shooting percentage and committing only three turnovers. Ejiofor had a notable five assists during that time, four of which were for three-pointers.

St. John’s momentum didn’t wane after the break. With an 18-point lead at halftime, they quickly increased it to 22. Creighton just couldn’t catch up.