The Red Storm hope to return to Queens with two Quad 1 wins on their Midwest road trip, as they will take on the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday afternoon, their first matchup since the 2025 Big East Tournament
championship game.
Game information
Who: St. John’s Red Storm (10-5, 3-1 Big East) vs. Creighton Bluejays (10-6, 4-1 Big East)
When: Saturday, January 10, 2026, 2:00 p.m.
Where: CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska
TV: FS1
Radio: ESPN New York 880 / 1050
Series History: Creighton leads the all-time series, 19-13. The Red Storm have won three of the last four meetings, including last season’s Big East Tournament championship game, but have not defeated the Bluejays on the road since 2019.
KenPom Predicted Score: Creighton to win, 77-76 (50% chance of St. John’s win)
Injury news
There are no injury news to report for St. John’s heading into Saturday’s game.
What to watch for in the Storm
Men of Steal – In their win on Tuesday night, St. John’s forced 12 steals on 21 total turnovers from Butler. The Red Storm rank 58th nationally in steals per game (8.6), and they will face a Bluejays team that allows an opponent steal percentage of 10% (220th nationally).
Like a Prey-er – Ruben Prey scored in double-figures for the second time in his career in the 84-70 win over Butler. His shooting form is pretty funky, but it’s getting results. Prey is shooting 7-of-13 from three (53.8%) this season. Look for him to continue stretching the floor.
Lefty Loosey – Another European sophomore who stepped up in the win over Butler was Lefteris Liotopoulos, who matched a career-best with 10 points and helped St. John’s overcome a seven-point first half deficit. It seems like Liotopoulos is ready to fire whenever his name is called, as he’s made two treys in three of his last four games, shooting 6-of-12 in this stretch after starting the season by hitting 3-of-15 from deep.
Scouting the Bluejays
Since the start of Big East play, Creighton has found another gear after an underwhelming 5-5 non-conference campaign. Since falling to Kansas State, the Jays are 5-1 and are second in the conference with a 4-1 record, with resume-building wins over Butler at home and Villanova on the road to put them back in the tournament conversation.
Without four-time Big East defensive player of the year Ryan Kalkbrenner patrolling in the paint, many expected the Bluejays to take a major step back in their paint defense, but it hasn’t been a noticeable drop. After ranking in the top-25 in opponent two-point percentage in every year Kalkbrenner played for the Jays, Creighton regressed to a still-pretty-good 51st nationally with a 47.2% shooting rate allowed inside the arc. They’re also a top-50 KenPom defense once again.
Iowa transfer and Kalkbrenner replacement Owen Freeman was expected to be Creighton’s leading man heading into this season, but he hasn’t panned out at all for whatever reason. One season after averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds with the Hawkeyes, his production has atrophied to averaging 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds this year. Instead, his teammate from Iowa, who followed him to Omaha, is the one guiding the Bluejays’ offense.
Senior guard Josh Dix leads the Bluejays in scoring with 12.3 points per game and also serves as a secondary initiator, averaging 3.0 assists against just 1.1 turnovers per contest. His shooting efficiency has dipped from 51.4% overall and 41.9% from three in his last three seasons at Iowa to 42.3% from the field and 34.5% from deep this season. Dix is going through a slump in his last five games, only shooting 38.9% from the floor and 33.3% from three.
Next to Dix in the backcourt is Miami transfer Austin Swartz, who is quickly turning into an All-Big East player with his explosive scoring, which is a major revelation for the Jays after they lost Jackson McAndrew and Hudson Greer to injury. Since scoring only eight total points in his first six games, Swartz is averaging 16.9 points per game and shooting 49.2% from the floor and 42.3% from deep.
Holding down the starting frontcourt is a pair of returning juniors Jasen Green and Isaac Traudt. Green averages 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on 58.4% shooting and 38.5% from three, and is becoming a better playmaker, averaging 2.7 assists per game and touting an assist rate of 17.7%. Traudt plays closer to the perimeter, scoring 7.6 points per game and shooting 34.9% from three on 5.4 attempts per game.
Off the bench, mid-major transfers Blake Harper and Nik Graves supply scoring depth at the guard position, with each player averaging 9.1 points per game and adjusting to the power-conference level to different degrees of success.
Harper is having a better time playing in the Big East after winning the MEAC Player of the Year award with Howard last season, shooting 44.1% from the field and 36.4% from three. Listed at 6-foot-7, the sophomore guard can elevate and score over smaller guards, as well as attack the rim with his athleticism. On Wednesday, Harper scored 17 points (6-of-9 FG, 1-of-2 3P) in a win over Villanova.
Graves was the starting point guard on opening night, but like Owen Freeman, has since been relegated to the bench. The Charlotte transfer is shooting 39% from the field and 30.6% from three, both career worsts, but is shooting 45% from the field and 47.6% from three in the seven games since he lost his starting spot. Despite his reduced role, Graves is still the team leader in assists with 3.5 dimes dropped per game.
Prediction
Although Pitino has raised the standard at St. John’s over these last three seasons, the CHI Health Center is still a house of horrors for St. John’s. The Johnnies haven’t won in Omaha in seven years and lost by one point in each of their last two meetings, despite holding a nine-point lead and an eleven-point lead in separate games. In each of those two games, St. John’s was still trying to find its identity before they could hit their stride later in the season. The same could be said for Saturday, as Creighton will enter the game as the hotter team playing with the backing of one of the best home environments in the Big East.
Creighton wins, 73-69.
