So many chances. So many close games. So few victories.

St. John’s again couldn’t close out a tight game against a quality opponent. The game Wednesday night was at Carnesecca Arena, but the location really doesn’t matter. History just keeps repeating itself. This time, the Red Storm wasted a nine-point lead. Even an injury to Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard couldn’t help them.

So, a disappointing season that began with such high hopes continued on its dismal path with an 81-78 loss to the Bluejays after yet another poorly executed finish was the Red Storm’s undoing.

Montez Mathis’ runner in traffic didn’t draw iron with five seconds left, St. John’s threw the ball away with a chance to pull even in the final seconds and Aaron Wheeler’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off as the Red Storm (15-12, 7-9 Big East) fell to 3-5 this season in games decided by five points or less.

“If you look at the last five possessions, I don’t think we executed what we wanted to do,” St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said. “I thought defensively we were good, but you got to be able to make plays. That’s what big-time teams do, big-time players do.”

Julian Champagnie, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, shot 3-for-16 from the field and passed off a chance in the post on the Mathis shot. Wheeler, so good in Big East play, was 1-for-10.

“That’s hard to overcome,” Anderson said.

St. John’s two best offensive players on this night were reserves Stef Smith and O’Mar Stanley, who combined for 27 points on 12-for-14 shooting, but spent almost the entirety of the final eight minutes on the bench.

Mathis, a 22 percent 3-point shooter, had a wide-open look on the corner on that fateful possession with St. John’s down a point, but wanted to get something going towards the rim.

When asked if he regretted not having another shooter in that spot rather than Mathis, Anderson said: “I guess ’Tez is not a scorer, huh? He made shots tonight. I thought he turned down a shot and took a tougher shot, that’s what he did.”

A 13-5 Creighton run gave the Bluejays (19-8, 11-5) a four-point lead with 4:51 left, and St. John’s appeared tight. Its shots weren’t falling and its defense was lagging. But then, Esahia Nyiwe hit a left-wing transition 3-pointer following a Dylan Addae-Wusu steal and Mathis scored inside on the heels of a Posh Alexander steal to get the Johnnies the lead back with 3:16 to go. Creighton answered with four straight points, however, to go ahead for good, as the Johnnies went scoreless over the next 2:42. They had three empty trips in that span, and their two stars — Champagnie and Alexander — didn’t get a shot on those possessions.

With 12:25 left in regulation, Creighton lost Nembhard. Going for a steal at midcourt, the freshman collided with Alexander and immediately grabbed his right arm near his wrist. A replay seemed to capture him saying to the Creighton bench, “it’s broken.” He stayed down for a few minutes and came out, receiving applause from the crowd. He did not return.

At the time, it felt like bad luck for Creighton. The Bluejays were able to overcome it, though, with late-game execution — something St. John’s is still trying to master.

“I don’t think it’s one particular thing. It could be a big offensive rebound the team gets or it could be a turnover,” Smith said. “The positive is that we know we can play with these teams.”

That also makes it more frustrating.

“This one stings a lot,” Mathis said.

Starting center Joel Soriano missed the game due to a left knee contusion. According to a source, he suffered the injury in practice on Tuesday. It isn’t believed to be serious.