MBB Minute: Villanova Earns Third Straight Title, Marquette Edges Georgetown
Kris Jenkins tied a school record with eight 3-pointers to lead Villanova to an 83-62 victory over visiting DePaul on Tuesday and earn the school’s third straight BIG EAST regular-season title. Jenkins finished with a career-high 31 points. Josh Hart added 18 points, which also helped the Wildcats improve to 26-4 overall and 15-2 in league play.
Freshman Eli Cain led DePaul with 14 points. Myke Henry added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Blue Demons will be the No. 9 seed in next week’s BIG EAST Tournament Presented by the Jeep Brand.
Marquette’s 88-87 win over Georgetown did not decide any tournament seeds. It also did not come easily. Luke Fischer made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to give MU the win. That came after D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had put the Hoyas ahead on a pull-up jumper with 5.3 seconds to play.
Fischer had a career-high 23 points. He led six Golden Eagles in double figures. Jajuan Johnson and Haanif Cheatham each scored 15 points. Henry Ellenson had his 17th double-double with 10 points and 11 boards before leaving with a leg injury.
GU’s Isaac Copeland led all scorers with a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds. Smith-Rivera flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, a career-high nine assists and eight rebounds.
The two games on Wednesday include the four teams in positions three through six in the standings.
Seton Hall, in third place at 11-5 and winners of four in a row, travel to 8-8 Butler. A win gives Seton Hall the No. 3 tourney seed. The Bulldogs are looking to sweep the Hall after winning 81-75 on Feb. 10. Butler is 8-8 and tied with Providence for fifth place.
Providence hosts Creighton at 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Friars can finish as high as fourth.Creighton, which finished 4-14 in the league last year, can clinch a winning record with a victory.