NEW YORK — Bryce Hopkins had 15 points and 10 rebounds as No. 17 St. John's breezed past Creighton 81-52 on Saturday for its 13th straight victory — marking the school's longest winning streak in 41 years.
Dylan Darling scored 17 points off the bench and Zuby Ejiofor added 15 for the first-place Red Storm (22-5, 15-1 Big East), who led wire-to-wire and held Creighton to 32% shooting in their 18th win in 20 games.
Dillon Mitchell had 10 rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers before a red-clad crowd of 19,328 on Johnnies Day at Madison Square Garden.
St. John's hadn't won 13 in a row since a 19-game run in 1984-85 on the way to a No. 1 national ranking, a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Final Four berth under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca.
Seeking their second consecutive Big East championship, the Red Storm began the day with a half-game lead in the conference standings over No. 5 UConn, scheduled to play later at third-place Villanova.
St. John's visits Connecticut on Wednesday night for their second showdown this season. A victory would give the Johnnies a 14-game winning streak in Big East play, which would match their 14-0 start in 1984-85 for the program record.
Fedor Zugic scored nine points on a trio of first-half 3-pointers to lead the Bluejays (14-14, 8-9), unable to build off a big upset Wednesday at UConn. It was Creighton's largest loss this season.
St. John's routed the Bluejays in both regular-season matchups and has won the past four meetings, including an 82-66 victory in last year's Big East title game.
