MBB Minute -- Villanova Topples Xavier, DePaul Edges Providence
After Tuesday’s games, there are no undefeated teams and no winless teams in the league standings.
No. 3/3 Villanova handed No. 15/14 Xavier its first BIG EAST loss of the season with a 79-54 victory at The Pavilion. After the Musketeers had put together a 24-16 advantage in the first half, the Wildcats outscored their opponent 63-30 the rest of the way. VU’s Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart both finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Hart also had five assists. Edmond Sumner was high for Xavier with 11 points. The victory was Villanova’s 46
th straight at The Pavilion which ties a streak set from 2007-11. Villanova moved into first place in the league with a 4-1 mark. Xavier fell to 3-1.
DePaul picked up its first BIG EAST win when Billy Garrett Jr. converted a three-point play with 4.7 seconds to go in a 64-63 victory over visiting Providence. Garrett Jr. scored seven of his team-high 14 points in the final 28 seconds. The Blue Demons outscored the Friars 20-8 over the final 4:48, including 9-of-9 from the free throw line. PC almost snatched the victory at the buzzer, but a streaking Kyron Cartwright had his layup attempt roll off the rim as time expired. Rodney Bullock led the Friars with 18 points.
Wednesday’s schedule has another battle between ranked opponents. No. 8/8 Creighton hosts No. 12/13 Butler on FS1 at 9 p.m. ET. Both teams are 3-1 in BIG EAST play. The No. 8 ranking in the Associated Press poll for the Bluejays is the highest in school history. Freshman center Justin Patton has garnered plenty of attention lately. He was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday and is averaging 14.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and is shooting 74.3 percent from the field, third in the nation, for the season. The Bulldogs have succeeded with a balanced attack, though Kelan Martin is eighth in the league in scoring with a 17.4 average. Butler is 3-0 against top-10 teams this season.
Seton Hall will try to defeat Marquette for the second time in 10 days when the teams meet in Milwaukee. FS1 has the telecast at 7 p.m. Westwood One radio will carry the game nationally. The Pirates won the first contest 69-66 on Jan. 1 at Prudential Center. Angel Delgado led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He is riding a streak of nine straight double-doubles. Marquette was led by Katin Reinhardt’s 17 points in the first game. The balanced Golden Eagles have four players averaging between 13.3 and 11.2 points. Jajuan Johnson is the leader at 13.3, though freshman Markus Howard is averaging 19.2 points in league play.