When top-seeded Villanova rolls into Madison Square Garden for the BIG EAST Tournament this week, the Wildcats will be coming in as the top seed for the third straight year and will be coming off their third consecutive 16-win conference season.
As if the Wildcats haven’t accomplished enough in the past three seasons there is one more feat they will hope to add to their incredible BIG EAST run as they look to become just the fourth team in BIG EAST history to win back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament crowns. The only others to accomplish that was Georgetown (1984, 985), UConn (1998, 1999), Syracuse (2005, 2006) and Louisville (2012, 2013).
“Anything that we would do in the BIG EAST that is historical is really important to us,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We take great pride in it at Villanova. Just winning it once is huge to us. We’re a northeastern university, we play our basketball in the northeast, we get most of our players from the northeast and we have a big alumni network in New York and the metropolitan area. So going up there is huge to us. We love playing in it and love being a part of it.”
Just what the Wildcats need, more motivation.
The Wildcats will open play in Thursday’s quarterfinal-round opener at noon when they will face the winner of Thursday night’s opening-round game between No. 8 Georgetown and No. 9 DePaul. Villanova swept the season series from both the Hoyas and Blue Demons.
And while Villanova (27-4, 16-2 BIG EAST), which placed Josh Hart on the All-BIG EAST First Team, Ryan Arcidiacono on the Second Team, Daniel Ochefu on the Honorable Mention team and Jalen Brunson on the All-Freshman team, will come in as the top seed, there are plenty of teams that are capable of stealing the crown from the reigning king.
No. 2 Xavier, for instance. The Musketeers (26-4, 14-4) come into the tournament winners of five of its’ last six games and are hungry for a rematch with Villanova in a possible championship game meeting. The Musketeers saw sophomore Trevon Bluiett land on the conference’s First Team while the electric Edmond Sumner was a unanimous pick for the All-Freshman team. Sophomore J.P Macura earned The Sixth Man award.
“Trevon Bluiett is one of the best scorers in our league and I think he’s proven it through an 18-game conference schedule,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “And J.P. had a tremendous sophomore year. To have a freshman and two sophomores honored says a lot about the future of our program.”
And the present as well. The Musketeers will see their first action in Thursday night’s quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of Wednesday’s St. John’s-Marquette game. Xavier swept the season series from both the Johnnies and the Golden Eagles.
Marquette has had nothing but success in New York this season as it won the Legends Classic in Brooklyn back in November (defeating Ben Simmons and LSU and then Arizona State) before knocking off St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena back in January. But Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski is taking nothing for granted.
“St. John’s playing at Madison Square Garden is going to be a very tall task,” Wojo said, whose team went 19-12 overall and 8-10 in conference. “They’re better than anyone in our conference at protecting the basket. We have to do a good job of playing smart and taking care of the basketball and having good shot selection and knowing that we’re playing a team that will be prepared and tremendously hungry.”
The 10th-seeded Johnnies (8-23, 1-17) will be looking to extend their season against No. 7 Marquette but coach Chris Mullin doesn’t think a victory will change the mindset or psyche of his team.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good psyche already,” Mullin said. “We’re looking to prepare and play a good game Wednesday night. We’ve have enough motivation for the next 30 years I think.”
Wednesday night’s first game (7 p.m.) will pit Georgetown (14-17, 7-11) vs. a DePaul (9-21, 3-15) team it defeated twice during the regular season.
“We’re excited to come to New York. We want to put the regular season behind us, Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “There are a lot of lessons to learn from it but we’re excited to get to New York and play DePaul. One part of the year is behind us and a new part of the year is starting. We’re ready to get this second part of the year going.”
DePaul coach Dave Leitao will be coaching his first BIG EAST Tournament and is looking at it as an opportunity to extend his season for awhile.
“Georgetown is a wonderful opponent, we played them twice and they’ve beaten us twice so we have our work cut out for us,” Leitao said. “It starts with (Georgetown senior D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera) and making sure we can somehow get to the point where we limit his effectiveness both as a scorer and a distributor. We have a lot of respect for them and we’re looking at this as not only a challenge but as an opportunity to come to New York and continue playing basketball. We’re going to try a best we can to put our best foot forward.”
No. 4 Providence will battle No. 5 Butler in Thursday’s second quarterfinal game at 2:30 p.m. The Friars (22-9, 10-8) knocked off the Bulldogs in both meetings this season so Butler will hope the third time is the charm. Providence comes in toting a pair of All-BIG EAST First Teamers in Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil while Butler (21-9, 10-8) counters with Second Teamers Roosevelt Jones and Kelan Martin and Honorable Mention selection Kellen Dunham.
“Butler is 7-2 down stretch and playing really well,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “Jones is one of the tougher matchups in college basketball and Dunham is playing at a really high level. Coach (Chris) Holtmann really got those guys believing and playing with a really big-time purpose. Kelan Martin I think is a star in the making. I think Dunham and Jones have done a really good job in their last nine games showing some great leadership.”
The two teams have not met since January 19 but Cooley said it just seems like yesterday.
“They’re too good to forget about,” Cooley said. “They’re very talented, they’re tough to guard, their culture is tough. It just seems like yesterday when we played them at Hinkle. We’ve had some battles with them over the time we’ve been playing against each other and I just hope we have one more winning battle in us.”
The final quarterfinal game on Thursday will pit No. 3 Seton Hall (22-8, 12-6) vs. No. 6 Creighton (18-13, 9-9). The two teams split their season series with each team winning on the road. The Bluejays are paced by stellar junior point guard Maurice Watson Jr., an All-BIG EAST Second Team pick.
“I think Maurice being selected by my peers in this league speaks to the impact that he has had on our program,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “He’s changed the way we’ve been able to play this year from pace standpoint. I think his confidence has permeated through our team. As for Seton Hall, they are playing as well as anyone in our league right now and Isaiah Whitehead might be playing as well as anyone in the country right now. There are not a lot of holes in his game. So I’m not sure if we’re getting them at a great time.”
Seton Hall, which comes in winners of five of its’ last six games, is led by Whitehead, who was a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection while Angel Delgado earned an Honorable Mention selection. Most importantly for the Pirates, though, is that the in-house friction that caused a late-season meltdown last year is but a distant memory this March.
“What’s really gratifying is how excited the kids are. Seeing their excitement and seeing their growth, as a coach that’s what it’s all about,” Pirates head coach Kevin Willard said. “These kids really took to heart the way we ended last year and they were dedicated all summer and they were dedicated all year to work hard and turn it around. To see that happen is the best accomplishment you can have as a coach.”