Butler's Kelan Martin Scores the Winning Basket in Double OT at Georgetown
MBB Minute -- Opening Night in League Play Goes to the Road Teams
The first night of league play saw the three teams in the dark jerseys – Butler, Xavier and Villanova – grab victories.
For the third straight season, Butler and Georgetown went into overtime in Washington, D.C. and for the third time Butler won, edging the Hoyas 91-89 in double overtime. Kelan Martin, who finished with 27 points, tied the game 89-89 with 50.7 seconds left and sank a floating one-hander with 2.6 seconds remaining for the victory. Kamar Baldwin added a career-high 31 points to help the Bulldogs win their BIG EAST opener for the first time in five seasons in the conference. Butler had trailed 42-22 late in the first half. For the Hoyas, Marcus Derrickson had 23 points and 11 rebounds while Jessie Govan added 19 points and 13 boards.
Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett scored a team-high 23 points and assisted on two crucial baskets in a 91-87 win at Marquette. With the game tied 80-80 with 1:56 to play, Bluiett fed J.P. Macura for a layup and then Kaiser Gates for a 3-pointer with 1:29 remaining. The No. 6 Musketeers (13-1) shot 50.8 percent from the floor and were 22-of-24 (.917) from the foul line. Andrew Rowsey poured in 31 points for Marquette (9-4).
No. 1 Villanova stayed unbeaten with a 103-85 win at DePaul in the first BIG EAST game played at Wintrust Arena. For the first time since 2001, the Wildcats (13-0) placed seven players in double figures. Mikal Bridges had 20 points and Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists. Villanova was 15-of-31 from beyond the arc. The Wildcat starters combined to score 81 points. Max Strus shined for the Blue Demons (7-6) with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
BIG EAST openers continue on Thursday with No. 25 Creighton (10-2) visiting No. 23 Seton Hall (11-2) for a 6:30 p.m. ET tipoff on FS1. The Bluejays are riding a five-game winning streak and already have top 25 wins away from home against Northwestern and UCLA. Three of the last eight meetings between the Pirates and Bluejays two teams have been decided by one point. For the Pirates, it is their first game as a ranked team meeting a ranked opponent since they played a ranked Syracuse team on Jan. 21, 2001.
In the 111th meeting in the all-time series, Providence (9-4) plays St. John’s (10-2) at Carnesecca Arena at 7 p.m. on FSN. The road team won both contests last year. The Friars beat the Red Storm 86-75 at MSG in the regular-season finale and St. John’s won 91-86 in Providence. Rodney Bullock leads PC in scoring (16.8) and rebounding (6.7). A win would give St. John’s its best 13-game start in over three decades. Shamorie Ponds is third in the league in scoring with a 20.4 mark and is first in steals (2.5).
With only three non-league games remaining, the BIG EAST non-conference record stands at 100-23 (.813), the best mark since 1988-89 (.831). Only three non-league games remain.