St. John's basketball can essentially clinch its second straight Big East regular season title if it defeats UConn and Villanova next week, but Rick Pitino and company should not look past Saturday's home game against Creighton. The Blue Jays just muscled the Huskies in their own house and will be looking to do the same versus the Red Storm. Their chances of pulling off another upset will be higher following the latest update. Ian Jackson is out with an ankle sprain, per the New York Post's Zach Braziller.
The St. John's guard suffered the injury in Wednesday's 76-70 win over Marquette and is currently in a walking boot. It is unclear how long he will be out, but his absence could jeopardize the squad's 12-game winning streak. Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino constantly stresses the importance of withstanding adversity, so he should have a speech prepared in light of the disappointing Jackson news.
Regardless of how the offense flows, fans should expect this team to exude girt. The North Carolina transfer embodied that mantra after he initially got hurt. “He’s got a pretty good ankle sprain,” Pitino said, per Braziller. “He showed a little toughness, went back and got re-taped and played through pain [on Wednesday].”
Ian Jackson is scoring 10.4 points in 19.8 minutes per contest and leads the Johnnies with 40 made 3-pointers (36.0 percent). He adds valuable supplemental offense to this Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins-led team. The Red Storm will need to figure out how to replace his production.
St. John's basketball (21-5, 14-1) should have the firepower to compensate for an inactive Jackson — averages 84.0 points per game — but it may also have to rely on intangibles like intensity and tenacity in order to beat Creighton (14-13, 8-8). Tip-off is at noon in Madison Square Garden.
