Around The Big East: 1.29.15

Creighton 77, St. John's 74 - It was a close call, but the Bluejays finally claimed a win in January.

Thanks to a 21 point outing off the bench from Toby Hegner, Creighton jumped out to a halftime lead and withstood a Red Storm surge to come away with their first Big East win and their first victory in their last 10 games.

The halftime lead had evaporated in the first four minutes of the second stanza, but St. John's couldn't capitalize on their early momentum.  The two teams traded the lead back and forth for the rest of the game, resulting in six ties and nine lead changes.  Neither team was able to get more than four points of separation from the other side, but it was a three-pointer from James Milliken with 3:15 remaining that would give Creighton a lead that they wouldn't surrender again.

That's not to say that the game wasn't without drama coming down the stretch.  After all, St. John's still has D`Angelo Harrison.  The senior guard scored eight of the Red Storm's final 12 points as they tried to stay even with the Jays, including one of the most ridiculous off-balance nothing but net three-pointers you will ever see.  Ultimately, another three from Milliken with 71 seconds left and six free throws in the final 35 seconds, including four from Hegner, iced the game for Creighton.

Hegner went 5-6 behind the three point arc to earn his game high 21, while Harrison scored 18 to lead St. John's.  Sir`Dominic Pointer had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Storm as well.  Click on over to Rumble In The Garden or White & Blue Review for more on this game.