Xavier's Trevon Bluiett finishes the night with 37 points.
MBB Minute – Wednesday Wins Go To Providence, Xavier, St. John’s
Wednesday’s BIG EAST action included Providence taking down No. 3 Villanova, Trevon Bluiett pouring in 37 points in a Xavier win and St. John’s staying hot with a road victory.
At the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence used a balanced scoring attack led by Kyron Cartwright’s 17 points to defeat Villanova 76-71. Rodney Bullock and Alpha Diallo each added 14 points and six rebounds. The Friar defense helped force the Wildcats into 19 turnovers. Mikal Bridges had 19 points for Villanova (23-3, 10-3), which shot 50 percent from the field, but only 3-of-20 from 3-point range. Providence (17-9, 8-5) is 7-1 this season in games decided by five points or less.
Xavier’s Bluiett had an impressive, yet unusual stat line in a 102-90 win over Seton Hall. He scored 37 points, all on 3-pointers and free throws. Bluiett shot 8-of-11 from 3-point range, was 13-of-13 from the foul line and missed his only two-point attempt. Bluiett also went over the 1,000-point plateau in BIG EAST games. He has 1,021 points. Naji Marshall added a career-high 20 points for the No. 4 Musketeers (24-3, 12-2), who have won nine in a row. Seton Hall (17-9, 6-7) got a career-high 30 points from Myles Powell and 20 points from Desi Rodriguez.
St. John’s (14-13, 3-11) won its fourth in a row, a 77-76 decision at DePaul (10-15, 3-10). Shamorie Ponds continued his torrid scoring streak with 26 points. He also dished 10 assists. Marvin Clark II helped with a career-high 24 points. All five Blue Demon starters reached double figures in scoring. Eli Cain posted his first career double-double with 19 points and 11 assists.
Saturday’s three-game slate is headlined by a top-five battle between Xavier and Villanova at Cintas Center. FOX has the game at 4:30 p.m. ET. The two teams staged the last top five meeting in BIG EAST play when No. 5 Xavier beat No. 1 Villanova 90-83 on Feb. 24, 2016, also at Cintas Center.
FOX also has Providence at Butler at noon. The Friars beat the Bulldogs 70-60 on Jan. 15. Creighton and Marquette meet for the first time this season at 10 p.m. at CenturyLink Center. The Golden Eagles won both meetings last year, including a 102-94 victory in Omaha.