Seton Hall's Shavar Reynolds and his teammates celebrate his game-winning 3-pointer which beat St. John's.
MBB Minute -- Seton Hall Edges St. John's, Xavier Tops DePaul in League Openers
BIG EAST play opened Saturday with a buzzer-beater and a road win for the defending regular-season champions.
At a sold-out Prudential Center, former walk-on Shavar Reynolds connected on a 3-pointer with .4 seconds left to propel Seton Hall to a 76-74 victory over St. John’s. The Pirates (10-3), who had trailed by 12 points in the first half, took their first lead with a minute left. The Hall’s Myles Powell finished with 15 points and Michael Nzei, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quincy McKnight each added 14 points. Nzei pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
St. John’s took its first loss of the year after a 12-0 start. Mustapha Heron led the Johnnies with 19 points while Marvin Clark II and Justin Simon scored 16 points apiece.
In the other league contest, Xavier closed its game at DePaul with a 19-4 run and recorded a 74-65 win at Wintrust Arena. The Musketeers, who clinched last year’s title on the Blue Demons’ home floor in the final game of the regular season, were led by Naji Marshall’s 19 points, career-high 14 rebounds and four assists. Ryan Welage helped with 17 points. DePaul got a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds from Paul Reed. Jaylen Butz added 16 points, also a career high.
Georgetown improved to 10-3 with a 102-67 victory over Howard. Jessie Govan produced his fourth double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Josh LeBlanc added 22 points and 11 boards. Guard Mac McClung missed the game with an ankle injury. The Hoyas, who scored 102 points in a win against Little Rock on Dec. 22, have recorded back-to-back 100-point games for the first time since 1966-67.
Nothing went right for Butler in its game at Florida. The Bulldogs fell behind 21-0 and lost to the Gators 77-43. Butler had defeated Florida 61-54 on Nov. 23 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. On Saturday, no Bulldog reached double figures. Kamar Baldwin scored nine points.
BIG EAST play picks up on Monday with Creighton visiting Providence at 4 p.m. ET on FS1. The Bluejays (9-4) and Friars (10-3) will be meeting on New Year’s Eve for the third time in the last six years. Last season, each team won at home during the regular season before PC took a 76-68 decision in overtime in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals.
BIG EAST teams have a combined record of 95-31 (.754) record against non-league competition.