Marquette's Sam Hauser Scored 19 Points In Win Over St. John's.
MBB Minute -- Butler At Villanova Leads Loaded Wednesday Schedule
Eight of the 10 BIG EAST teams are in action on Wednesday and each matchup holds critical meaning for postseason tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament aspirations.
No. 2/2 Villanova will try to avenge one of its two losses when it hosts No. 22/22 Butler at The Pavilion at 9 p.m. on FS1. The Wildcats lost to the Bulldogs 66-58 on Jan. 4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5) have had a balanced scoring attack with eight players averaging between 12.8 and 5.9 points per game in league play. Villanova has won 48 straight games at The Pavilion. A win gives the Wildcats a record fourth-straight outright league title.
Xavier plays at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 with both teams looking to bounce back from Saturday losses. The Musketeers (18-9, 8-6 BIG EAST) have lost their last two games since Trevon Bluiett has been sidelined with an ankle injury. The Pirates (16-10, 6-8) lost to Villanova on Saturday. Xavier won the first meeting 72-70 at Cintas Center on Feb. 1 when Bluiett scored the winning basket with 4.4 seconds left. In the series, Seton Hall is 6-0 at home against Xavier.
Georgetown’s aim is to stay closer to the middle of the standings when it hosts DePaul at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Hoyas are 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the BIG EAST. DePaul is 8-19 and 1-13. The first meeting went down to the final shot as Georgetown took a 76-73 decision at Allstate Arena on Jan. 31. GU’s Rodney Pryor scored a game-high 26 points, while DePaul’s Billy Garrett Jr. had 25 points.
No. 23/23 Creighton, a half-game behind Butler in the standings at 9-5, hosts Providence (16-11, 6-8) on FSN at 8 p.m. The Bluejays’ Marcus Foster is coming off a 35-point game in Sunday’s 87-70 win against Georgetown. Creighton (22-5) ranks second nationally in field goal shooting, making 52.2 percent. The Friars are led by Rodney Bullock in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (6.1). Providence has won six of the last eight meetings since Creighton joined the BIG EAST.
In Tuesday’s lone contest, Marquette (17-10, 8-7) defeated visiting St. John’s 93-71 on the strength of 12-of-24 shooting from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season with 275. Freshman Sam Hauser led MU with 19 points and Matt Heldt posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. For St. John’s (12-16, 6-9), Bashir Ahmed scored a game-high 21 points.