Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
St. John’s shoots past Creighton
Greg Williams Jr. drained his seventh 3-pointer from right in front of the St. John’s bench, springing delirious teammates onto the court as he bounded into their arms during a timeout.
With an out-of-character shooting display from all over the gym, the Red Storm handed No. 10 Creighton a thorough beating that was hard to see coming.
Williams made seven 3s and scored a career-high 21 points as St. John’s slowed down the streaking Bluejays in a 91-71 rout Sunday in New York that marked its most lopsided win over a top-10 opponent in 28 years.
“St. John’s was terrific,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “When you get outscored by 30 on the 3-point line in somebody else’s building, it’s hard to win.”
Rasheem Dunn had 19 points and a career-high 10 assists for the Red Storm (15-14, 4-12 Big East), who stopped a three-game skid. LJ Figueroa added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Julian Champagnie scored 13.
One of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country, St. John’s went a season-best 14 of 22 (64%) from long range in its biggest victory under firstyear coach Mike Anderson. It was the school’s first win over a top-10 team at Carnesecca Arena on campus since beating Bernard King and No. 7 Tennessee in December 1975.
St. John’s plays many of its high-profile home games at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s amazing when you make shots and that ball goes through the hole, it just energizes your whole team,” Anderson said. “It’s good to see us put 40 minutes together.“
Damien Jefferson equaled a career best with 20 points and Ty-Shon Alexander scored 19 for the Bluejays (22-7, 11-5), who had won five straight and nine of 10.
Creighton could have captured its first Big East championship by winning its final three regular-season games, but now needs help after falling two games behind first-place Seton Hall with two to play.
Buckeyes surge late: Duane Washington Jr. tied a career high with 20 points and No. 23 Ohio State surged late to beat No. 19 Michigan 77-63.
CJ Walker had 15 points, and brothers Andre and Kaleb Wesson each added 14 for the host Buckeyes (20-9, 10-8 Big Ten). They have won three straight and eight of their last 10.
Ohio State swept the season series against rival Michigan, winning 61-58 in Ann Arbor on Feb. 4, and reached 20 wins for the third straight season.
Franz Wagner had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines They lost their second straight after winning five in arow.
Zavier Simpson added 12 points and seven assists for Michigan (19-10, 10-8).
Ohio State didn’t pull away for good until late. The Wolverines knotted the score at 54 on Jon Teske tip-in with 6:51 left in the game. Andre Wesson then hit a falling 3 off the glass and brother Kaleb followed with another 3 to make 62-54. The Buckeyes grabbed momentum from there. Kaleb Wesson hit another 3 with 1:36 left to give the Buckeyes a 13-point lead to touch off a 7-0 run.
Stanford upsets Colorado: Bryce Wills scored 19 points, including a key layup in the final minute, and Stanford beat No. 21 Colorado 72-64.
Oscar da Silva added 16 points, and Deajon Davis and Tyrell Terry each had 12 for the host Cardinal (20-9, 10-7 Pac-12), who won their fourth straight.
Tyler Bey scored 17 points to lead the Buffaloes (21-9, 10-7), who lost a third consecutive game for the first time this season. McKinley Wright had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and D’Shawn Schwartz had 14 points.
Wills gave Stanford a 65-52 edge with 8:13 remaining to play and that’s when the Buffaloes made their move, scoring 10 straight on three baskets by Wright and two more by Bey.
Wills ended a nearly four-minute drought with a short jumper and Colorado missed its next seven shots.
Except for a two-point deficit early, the Cardinal led the majority of the contest.
Stanford led by as many as 15 at 35-20 with 2:27 remaining to play.
The Buffaloes scored the final eight points to pull within seven at 35-28 at the intermission.