SJU vs CU - Game Notes

Scouting St. John’s 

St. John’s is 7-6 on the season, including a 6-2 mark at home (5-2 at Carnesecca Arena), but have lost 3 in a row (Incarnate Word, NJ Institute of Technology and South Carolina) heading into league play since a win over Syracuse. 

Freshman Federico Mussini leads the Red Storm in scoring (14.0 PPG), assists (2.7 APG) and steals (1.3 SPG) per game, while also draining a team-high 30 three-point baskets and topping the club in free-throw percentage (82.9%). 

Durand Johnson, a graduate transfer from Pitt, is second on the team with 11.6 points per contest, 16 steals and 19 three-point baskets. 

Three others average in the neighborhood of 8 points a game, Ron Mvouika (8.8 ppg.), Christian Jones (8.5 PPG) and Yankuba Sima (8.4 PPG). Sima is tied for the national lead with 46 blocked shots. 

SJU had all 5 starters depart from last year’s NCAA Tournament team that finished 21-12.

Scouting Creighton

Creighton is 9-4 on the season, including a 7-1 mark at home and a 2-0 mark on neutral floors.
CU has not trailed at any point of its last four home games, double-figure victories over Nebraska (83-67), IUPUI (Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis; 90-65), North Texas (105-82) and Coppin State (102-77).

The Bluejays are scoring an impressive 87.4 PPG (seventh nationally), with all 5 starters averaging at least 9.8 in points per game.

Boston University transfer Maurice "Mo" Watson Jr. leads Creighton with 6.4 APG and 12.5 points per game, while Geoffrey Groselle tops the club with 6.9 RPG and is second with 12.2 PPG.
He’s made 16-of-17 field goals in the past two games.

Also at or near double-figures are remaining starters Cole Huff (11.5 ppg.), Isaiah Zierden (11.4 PPG, 1.5 SPG) and Khyri Thomas (9.8 PPG).

The Bluejays return 9 lettermen and one starter (Toby Hegner) from last year’s team that finished 14-19 and tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with a 4-14 league mark.

The Bluejays got a head start on the season this summer with 10 practices in Omaha in July and 3 games (and wins) in Italy in August.

The Coaches

Chris Mullin (St. John’s, 1998) owns a 7-6 record  in his first season at St. John’s, which also doubles as his career mark.
The three-time BIG EAST Player of the Year and NBA Hall of Famer, who led St. John’s to the 1985 Final Four, returned to his alma mater in the spring in place of Steve Lavin.
Mullin is assisted by Barry Rohrssen, Matt Abdelmassih and Greg St. Jean.

Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa, 1988) is in his sixth season as head coach at Creighton.
He is 130-61 with the Bluejays.
McDermott has previously been a head coach at Iowa State (2006-10), Northern Iowa (2001-06), North Dakota State (2000-01) and Wayne State (1994-2000). 
He owns a career mark of 410-256 in his 22nd season and is 279-192 in his 15th Division I campaign.
McDermott is assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Preston Murphy. 

The Series With St. John’s

St. John’s leads the all-time series with Creighton by a 7-4 count, including a 6-0 mark in New York. The teams have traded wins and losses over the past seven meetings, and if the trend holds, Creighton will win on Thursday.

Greg McDermott is 2-2 against St. John’s and has never faced Chris Mullin.

Eve of Destruction

Before celebrating the New Year (in Omaha, after chartering home after Thursday’s game), Creighton will first play at St. John’s at 2:15 pm Eastern on Dec. 31st.

Creighton lost 7 straight New Year’s Eve games from 1956 to 2005, but enters Thursday having won 3 of its last 4 since, with wins on Dec. 31 in 2008 (at Indiana State), 2011 (at Wichita State) and 2013 (home vs. Marquette) before last year’s loss (at Providence).

Greg McDermott is 6-1 as a Division I head coach on New Year’s Eve, including a 2-0 record at both Northern Iowa and Iowa State and a 2-1 mark on New Year’s Eve as Creighton coach.

Conference Openers Have Gone Well

Creighton owns a 12-5 record in its last 17 conference openers, including a 67-49 win over Marquette on New Year’s Eve in 2013 in its first BIG EAST game in program history.

Greg McDermott is 7-7 all-time in conference openers as a Division I head coach, including a 3-2 mark at Creighton (1-1 in the BIG EAST). He is 4-1 in CU’s first conference road game of the season.

St. John’s has lost its first BIG EAST game, as well as its first BIG EAST home game, in three straight seasons since a Dec. 27, 2011 win over Providence in Queens.

Creighton is looking to avoid starting 0-1 in league play during consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95.