A program-record nine-game winning streak in Big East play has allowed No. 24 Creighton to ascend into second place in the conference.
The Bluejays (18-6, 11-2) look to continue their torrid stretch on Tuesday night when they vie for a season sweep of UConn (16-7, 8-4) in Omaha, Neb.
Creighton, which posted a 68-63 road victory over the Huskies on Jan. 18, resides one game behind St. John’s for the top spot in the conference. The Red Storm recorded their 10th straight win on Friday night and handed the Huskies their fourth loss in eight games with a 68-62 decision.
The Bluejays recorded a 77-67 victory over Marquette on Saturday to avenge their last loss — a 79-71 setback to the Golden Eagles on Jan. 3.
Steven Ashworth sank a season-high six 3-pointers to highlight his 22-point performance on Saturday. He averages a team-best 6.8 assists to go along with 16.9 points per game, which is second only to Ryan Kalkbrenner (19.2).
Speaking of Kalkbrenner, he collected 19 points and blocked four shots on Saturday as Creighton matched its best 13-game start in league play since joining the Big East in 2013-14.
That’s quite an accomplishment considering the Bluejays were left with their heads in their hands after losing for the third time in five games following their previous setback to Marquette in early January.
When asked if he thought an 11-2 conference record was possible given the team’s standing at that time, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott was quick with a response.
“What’d (St. John’s head coach Rick) Pitino say? ‘I can’t believe we lost the other two?'” McDermott said. “Maybe he used a little different verbiage than that.”
Jamiya Neal scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half for the Bluejays on Saturday. He erupted for a career-high 24 points in the previous meeting with UConn.
For the Huskies, Liam McNeeley missed that encounter with Creighton due to an ankle injury. The freshman returned from an eight-game absence due to the injury on Friday to contribute 18 points and 11 rebounds against St. John’s.
“It’s a blessing to be back. I didn’t realize how much I was going to miss it until I did, but it’s definitely a blessing to be back,” McNeeley said, per the Hartford Courant. “I’m very happy to be back out there. But I’m not happy anymore.”
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points to go along with his career high-tying 15 rebounds for the Huskies, who saw their 14-point first-half lead vanish due in large part to the Red Storm’s aggressive defense. UConn committed 22 turnovers and shot a season-low 39.2 percent from the floor.
“We’ve been playing with fire,” Huskies head coach Dan Hurley said. “We were fortunate to win at Marquette with 25 turnovers (on Feb. 1), able to mitigate that by some serious shot-making, but we’ve been playing with fire and the 22 turnovers, 47 in the last two games is just really low-level.”
Solo Ball averages a team-best 15.0 points for UConn. Alex Karaban (14.4) and McNeeley (13.9) also are contributing double-digit scoring averages this season.
–Field Level Media
