Marcellus Earlington hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining and scored 19 points as ninth-seeded St. John's closed the game on a 23-0 run to beat eighth-seeded Georgetown 75-62 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

St. John's (17-15) stormed back from a 15-point deficit to advance to face top-seeded Creighton in the first game of Thursday's quarterfinals, at noon ET.

Earlington scored 10 points during St. John's impressive game-ending blitz that covered the last 6:13.

He hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 62-60 with 4:15 remaining and then turned a steal by LJ Figueroa into a fast-break layup that forged a 62-62 tie with 3:10 to go. After Georgetown's Jamorko Pickett missed a 3-pointer, Earlington hit a 3-pointer from the right side to make it 65-62.

He then hit two free throws with 2:11 left before Figueroa clinched the win with a corner 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining for a 70-62 lead.

Earlington shot 7 of 14 and also grabbed 10 rebounds as St. John's won for the third time in four games and also beat the Hoyas for the fourth straight time in the conference tournament.

Figueroa led the Red Storm with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting as St. John's shot 37.7 percent.

The Hoyas (15-17) missed their final nine shots in the game and ended their season on a seven-game losing streak.

Terrell Allen led Georgetown with 21 points but also cramped up after hitting Georgetown's last basket with 6:31 remaining. Pickett added 13 as the Hoyas shot 45.5 percent but also committed 21 turnovers and missed 13 of 14 3-point tries after halftime.

Mac McClung missed his sixth straight game with a foot injury while Omer Yurtseven returned after missing the previous four games with an ankle injury and scored eight points in 21 minutes.

St. John's jumped out to a 24-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Figueroa with 10:53 remaining but then went more than five minutes without a basket as Georgetown stormed back with an 11-2 run. The Hoyas ended the half with a 25-9 run and held a 42-33 lead by halftime after shooting 54.5 percent and then took a 48-33 lead in the opening minutes of the second half.

--Field Level Media