NEW YORK — On Sunday, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner narrowly avoided a significant injury to his right foot during a game against No. 9 St. John’s, but head coach Greg McDermott indicated that the team’s leading scorer will experience some residual discomfort.

With 9:45 left in the second half of the Bluejays’ 79-73 defeat, Kalkbrenner was involved in a struggle for a defensive rebound alongside teammates Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr. following a missed three-pointer. In the ensuing action, he seemed to collide with Luis, resulting in him falling to the floor while visibly gripping his right foot.

After being down for a few moments, not surprisingly, he was escorted to the locker room for a thorough assessment. Fortunately, he made a comeback with 3:47 remaining in the game, which found Creighton trailing at 68-62.

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

Upon his return, Kalkbrenner attempted a couple of shots and ended the night with 12 points, marking his second-lowest scoring output in a conference matchup this season.

Currently, Creighton is positioned two games behind St. John’s in the Big East standings. The timing of Kalkbrenner’s injury could have been managed better, as the Bluejays have a break in their schedule, not playing again until next Sunday against Georgetown.

Kalkbrenner, who was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year, entered the contest ranked as the third-highest scorer in the conference, averaging 18.7 points per game. He trails only Kam Jones of Marquette and Eric Dixon of Villanova.