Mussini, St. John’s brace for Creighton

Federico Mussini took his bumps as a freshman, playing out of position at point guard out of necessity, struggling against quicker and stronger opponents. But he never complained.

A year later, he returned to his natural position of shooting guard, but his role was severely diminished, backing up dynamic freshmen guards Marcus LoVett Jr. and Shamorie Ponds. And, again, the native of Italy has never protested.

“He’s a consummate teammate,” St. John’s coach Chris Mullin said. “In general, those European kids are groomed the right way and they grow up, not only learning the game the right way, but are very focused on team and competition and winning.”

That’s why Mussini was so happy on Saturday — the sophomore significantly contributed to a victory, his first time beating Georgetown in four tries. He had 16 points and two steals in the win. Mussini has been at his best lately, scoring in double-figures in three of the last five games. He equaled a season-high 20 points in a loss at No. 13 Butler on Feb. 15.

“I know I need to bring energy every night and do the best that I can from the bench, especially on defense,” Mussini said. “And on offense, I just take my shots.”

He’s averaging 8.0 points in 18.4 minutes after notching 10.7 points in 29.3 minutes last year, and is shooting 42 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range, both higher than last.

St. John’s (13-16, 7-9 Big East) will need his production Tuesday, when it visits Creighton (8 p.m., CBSSN), if it hopes to snap its recent road woes. The Johnnies are 2-5 in the league on the road, have dropped three in a row away from home, and have been manhandled in the five losses.