Georgetown's Patrick Ewing, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim
MBB Minute -- Xavier's Comeback Win Is Only Saturday Victory
After winning 41 of the previous 46 games overall, BIG EAST teams absorbed four losses in five games on Saturday.
No. 10 Xavier was the lone winning team and the Musketeers needed a Cintas Center record rally when they overcame a 22-point deficit in the second half to edge East Tennessee State 68-66. Trevon Bluiett nailed a jumper with seven seconds left to give Xavier the win. Bluiett scored 13 of his team-high 18 points during the second half comeback. Freshman Naji Marshall helped with 15 points.
Georgetown tasted defeat for the first time this season, losing 86-79 in overtime to Syracuse. The Hoyas let a 13-point lead in the second half slip away. GU’s Jessie Govan scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jagan Mosely added 20 points for the Hoyas (8-1).
Seton Hall, DePaul and Butler all had five-game winning streaks end.
No. 15 Seton Hall held a 63-54 advantage with 6:06 remaining at Rutgers, but did not make a field goal the rest of way and lost 71-65 in the Garden State Hardwood Classic. Myles Powell had a team-high 18 points for the Pirates (9-2). Angel Delgado was limited to seven points, but pulled down 21 rebounds.
DePaul got 33 points from Max Strus, but no other Blue Demon reached double figures in a 62-60 home loss to Northwestern. DePaul (6-5) made only 9-of-24 from the foul line. DePaul led by as many as nine points in the first half and 33-28 at halftime.
Butler fell behind early against No. 12 Purdue in the annual Crossroads Classic and had a second-half rally fall short in an 82-67 loss. Kelan Martin led four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points. Paul Jorgensen contributed 15 points and eight rebounds.
After Saturday’s results, BIG EAST teams have won 42 of the last 51 games overall. For the season, the BIG EAST non-conference record is 82-22 (.788).
Two BIG EAST teams are in action in an FS1 Sunday doubleheader. Providence (7-3) hosts Stony Brook at 2:30 p.m. St. John’s (8-2) makes its first appearance at Madison Square Garden this season when it plays Iona at 4:30 p.m. in the MSG Holiday Festival.