Marcus LoVett Scored 22 Points In Win Over DePaul.
MBB Minute -- St. John's, Butler, Seton Hall Ring In The New Year With Wins
The BIG EAST schedule does not resume until Wednesday, but St. John’s, Butler and Seton Hall are already feeling good about 2017 after picking up victories on New Year’s Day.
St. John’s is off a 2-0 league start after a come-from-behind 79-73 victory at DePaul. The Red Storm had trailed 40-33 at halftime. Marcus LoVett, playing before family and friends from Fort Wayne, Ind., scored a game-high 22 points and dished six assists. Shamorie Ponds added 15 points. St. John’s won only one BIG EAST game last season. Eli Cain led DePaul with 18 points. Tre’Darius McCallum continued his productive play with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Butler bounced back from a loss at St. John’s on Thursday to defeat Providence 78-61 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs used a very balanced scoring attack, while shooting 61.9 percent from the floor. Kelan Martin led four players in double figures with 15 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. PC’s Kyron Cartwright led all scorers with 26 points. He also had six rebounds and four assists.
Seton Hall and Marquette scraped and clawed for 40 minutes and the Pirates emerged with a 69-66 win at Prudential Center. The Pirates, who shot 51.8 percent from the field, were led by Angel Delgado’s eighth straight double-double. The junior had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while shooting 9-of-13 from the floor. Khadeen Carrington scored six of his 12 points in the final 38 seconds. Marquette was led by Katin Reinhardt’s 17 points, 15 of which came on 3-pointers. Both teams are 1-1 in BIG EAST play.
Wednesday’s slate includes Villanova at Butler, Georgetown at Providence and Creighton at St. John’s.
The No. 1-ranked Wildcats visit Butler for a 6:30 p.m. ET tip on FS1. The Wildcats own a nation’s-best 20-game winning streak. The Bulldogs are 8-0 this season in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Georgetown and Providence will battle for a first BIG EAST win at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Creighton and St. John’s play at Carnesecca Arena at 8:30 p.m. on FS1. The Bluejays are 5-0 away from home this season. The Johnnies are 2-0 in the BIG EAST for the first time since 2010-11.