Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner hurts foot but avoids serious injury in loss to St. John’s

By Canadian Press on February 16, 2025.

NEW YORK (AP) — Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner avoided a serious injury to his right foot on Sunday, but coach Greg McDermott said the 24th-ranked Bluejays’ leading scorer should expect some lingering soreness.

With 9:45 remaining in the second half of Creighton’s 79-73 loss to No. 9 St. John’s, Kalkbrenner jostled with Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr. for position to get a defensive rebound after a missed 3-point try. He appeared to collide with Luis, fell to the floor and was holding the top of his right foot.

After staying down for a few minutes, Kalkbrenner was helped to the locker room for further evaluation. He returned with 3:47 left and Creighton trailing 68-62.

“He tweaked it pretty good but obviously he came back,” McDermott said. “They taped it up and I think he’s going to be sore for a few days.”

Kalkbrenner attempted two shots after returning and finished with 12 points, his second-lowest total in a conference game.

Creighton trails St. John’s by two games for the Big East lead and the injury came at a fortunate time in the schedule. The Bluejays don’t play again until next Sunday against Georgetown.

The Big East Preseason Player of the Year, Kalkbrenner entered Sunday as the conference’s third-leading scorer at 18.7 points per game behind Marquette’s Kam Jones and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.

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Larry Fleisher, The Associated Press

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