Marquette's Andrew Rowsey Leads the BIG EAST in Scoring with a 24.8 Average.
MBB Minute - Villanova, Providence, Marquette Produce 3-0 Wednesday
Villanova and Marquette picked up tournament wins and Providence won a home game at the buzzer in Wednesday BIG EAST action.
Villanova, No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press poll, defeated Western Kentucky 66-58 in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 18 points and Mikal Bridges added 17 points. Bridges also had eight rebounds and five steals. The Wildcats used a 12-4 run early in the second half to take control.
Providence’s Kyron Cartwright provided the dramatics of the day with a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Friars a 66-65 win over Belmont at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The top-of-the-key trey was his only 3-pointer of the night. Cartwright finished with 17 points. Rodney Bullock added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Marquette returns to the mainland after a posting a 2-1 record at the Maui Invitational. On Wednesday, the Golden Eagles beat LSU 94-84 in the third-place game. Andrew Rowsey continued his torrid shooting with 30 points, including 16-of-16 from the foul line. He leads the BIG EAST with a 24.8 scoring average.
In between the turkey and the pumpkin pie, BIG EAST fans can feast on six league teams in action on Thursday. Villanova starts the day’s action at 12:30 p.m. ET against Tennessee at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. St. John’s meets Oregon State in the first round of the Advocare Invitational on ESPNU at 2 p.m.
At 5 p.m., Xavier begins play in the Las Vegas Invitational. FS1 will televise the Musketeers’ game against George Washington. Seton Hall battles Rhode Island in the NIT Season Tip-Off on ESPNU at 6 p.m. from Barclays Center. Butler and DePaul are playing in the 16-team PK80 Tournament in Portland, Ore. The Bulldogs meet Texas at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and the Blue Demons take on No. 5 Michigan State at 11:30 p.m.
BIG EAST teams are a combined 34-7 this season going into Thursday.