Alexander's late free throws lead No. 22 Creighton over surging St. John's

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Trey Alexander made the go-ahead free throws with 12.3 seconds left, and No. 22 Creighton ended St. John's four-game win streak with a 66-65 win on Saturday.

The Bluejays (13-4, 4-2 Big East) prevailed in a physical, back-and-forth game that St. John's (12-5, 4-2) had the upper hand in the middle of the second half.

Ryan Kalkbrenner led the Bluejays with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks — none bigger than his swat of Daniss Jenkins' shot in the final minute that led to Alexander's winning foul shots.

Alexander missed a jumper on the other end, but Francisco Farabello scrapped for the rebound and got the ball back to Alexander, who drove the baseline and got fouled by Jenkins.

Jenkins and Jordan Dingle missed shots in the final seconds to give the Bluejays their fourth straight win.

The Red Storm have lost seven straight against the Bluejays and haven't won in Omaha since 2019.

Baylor Scheierman had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Creighton.

St. John's Joel Soriano had 13 points and 11 rebounds for his Big East-leading 10th double-double.

BIG PICTURE

St. John's: The Red Storm came to Omaha with its best Big East start since 2000-01 and just fell short in their bid for their first road win over a ranked opponent. First-year coach Rick Pitino must be considered the early favored for conference coach of the year.

Creighton: The Bluejays are 12-1 at home all-time against the Johnnies, but this wasn't the blowout recent meetings have been.

UP NEXT

St. John's: visits Seton Hall on Tuesday.

Creighton: visits No. 4 Connecticut on Wednesday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball