St. John’s holds off Providence

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St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond dribbles the ball during the second half against Providence on Saturday in New York. Pamela Smith/ap photos

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St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor, right, attempts to steal the ball from Providence forward Christ Essandoko during the second half.

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Associated Press

Kadary Richmond scored a season-high 24 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with three seconds left, and No. 15 St. John’s held off Providence 68-66 on Saturday after blowing a 19-point lead in the final nine minutes.

RJ Luis Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Red Storm (19-3, 10-1 Big East), off to the program’s best start in 39 years. They have won eight straight games and 14 of 15.

St. John’s took a half-game lead in the conference standings over No. 9 Marquette, scheduled to host No. 25 UConn on Saturday night.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim had a season-high 27 points off the bench to help Providence (11-11, 5-6) rally at Madison Square Garden. He made two of his eight 3-pointers during the furious comeback before Bensley Joseph hit a tying 3 with 33 seconds left — his only basket of the game to go with 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Following a timeout, Richmond used a screen by Zuby Ejiofor to get separation from Jayden Pierre and drain a pull-up jumper from the foul line. Joseph missed a heave from just inside halfcourt at the buzzer.

Richmond shot 10 of 14 from the field and had eight rebounds and eight assists. Ejiofor scored 13 for St. John’s, which shot 38% from the floor.

Providence entered averaging 12 turnovers per game but matched that total in the first half and finished with 20 overall.

Meanwhile, St. John’s point guard Deivon Smith looked rusty at times after missing three of the previous four games with a right shoulder injury. He shot 1 for 10 from the field and finished with three points and six assists in 28 minutes off the bench.

Creighton 62, Villanova 60: At Philadelphia, Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 22 points to lead Creighton and Steven Ashworth knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds left as the Bluejays took down the Wildcats.

Kalkbrenner had eight rebounds for the Bluejays (16-6, 9-2 Big East Conference). Neal Jamiya scored 13 points and added nine rebounds. Ashworth shot 4 for 9, including 3 for 7 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points. The Bluejays picked up their seventh straight victory.

The Wildcats (12-10, 5-6) were led by Wooga Poplar, who recorded 24 points and five steals. Eric Dixon added 17 points for Villanova. Jordan Longino also had eight points.

Creighton went into halftime tied with Villanova 29-29. Kalkbrenner put up 10 points in the half. Kalkbrenner scored 12 second-half points for Creighton.

Both teams play again on Wednesday. Creighton visits Providence and Villanova travels to play DePaul.

State

Central Connecticut State 71, Stonehill 63: At Stonehill, Mass., Jordan Jones’ 20 points helped the Blue Devils to the Northeast Conference road win.

Jones also added six rebounds and three steals for the Blue Devils (16-6, 7-2 Northeast Conference). Devin Haid scored 17 points and added five steals. Abdul Momoh finished 7 of 8 from the floor to finish with 14 points.

The Skyhawks (12-12, 4-5) were led by Louie Semona, who posted 20 points. Todd Brogna added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Stonehill. Ethan Meuser also put up 11 points.

Central has now won five straight and sits atop the conference standings with a key game vs. second-place Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday at New Britain.