Daniss Jenkins scored a season-high 27 points and carried St. John’s down the stretch as the Red Storm led virtually the entire way in an 80-66 victory over No. 15 Creighton on Sunday afternoon in New York.
The Red Storm (16-12, 8-9 Big East) kept alive their bubble hopes after entering the game with a NET ranking of 49. St. John’s won its second straight a week after blowing a 19-point lead against Seton Hall that prompted coach Rick Pitino to publicly criticize his players.
Jenkins made 12 of 18 shots and started his surge with consecutive jumpers and a 3-pointer that put the Red Storm ahead 70-56 with 3:43 left. After Baylor Scheierman missed a 3-pointer with 3:12 left, Jenkins sank a jumper in the paint and then hit two free throws for a 74-62 lead with 1:55 left. Jordan Dingle added 12 of his 18 points in the second half for St. John’s.
Creighton (20-8, 11-6) saw its four-game winning streak stopped — unable to follow up its impressive win over top-ranked UConn — and fell into fourth in the Big East. Trey Alexander led all scorers with 31 points, one shy of his career high.
No. 3 Purdue 84, Michigan 76
The Big Ten’s best team, the Boilermakers, rolled into Ann Arbor, Mich. and kept the conference-worst Wolverines at bay. Zach Edey, Purdue’s dominant 7-foot-4, 300-pound center, led all scorers with 35 points, tying his season high set earlier against Northwestern and Alabama.
Edey — who won all six national player of the year honors last season, including the Naismith Trophy — shot 14 of 18 from the floor, hit 7 of 11 free throws and hauled down 15 rebounds. Purdue (25-3, 14-3 Big Ten) has won 11 of its last 12, with the only blemish being an upset loss at Ohio State on Feb. 18.
Short-handed Michigan (8-20, 3-14) has lost 10 of its last 11, with the only win coming Feb. 7 against then-No. 11 Wisconsin. The Wolverines had five players in double figures, led by point guard Dug McDaniel with 19 points.
No. 7 Marquette 88, Xavier 64
Kam Jones scored 34 points for the second consecutive game and Tyler Kolek added a double-double to lead the Golden Eagles past the visiting Musketeers in a Big East matchup. Kolek had 11 points and 10 assists along with a team-high seven rebounds for Marquette (21-6, 12-4 Big East).
Oso Ighodaro had 12 points and David Joplin 10 for the Golden Eagles, who earned their 10th win in 11 games and improved to 13-1 at home. Jones, celebrating his 22nd birthday Sunday, hit 11 of 17 shots, including 6 of 10 from deep, to match his career scoring high, set Wednesday in Marquette’s 105-71 rout of DePaul. Jones has 68 points in his last two games on 23-of-32 shooting, including 14-of-20 from beyond the arc.
Trey Green had 16 points and Quincy Olivari 14 for Xavier (13-14, 7-9 Big East). The Musketeers made just 25 of 70 shots (35.7 percent) and just 4 of 23 from long distance.
-Field Level Media