Naji Marshall scored a career-high 28 points in Wednesday's 70-69 win over Seton Hall.
MBB Minute -- Marquette Moves into First Place on Wild Wednesday
On a night when all 10 league squads were in action, Marquette moved into first place and the BIG EAST standings got scrunched up even more.
Marquette used a strong second half to defeat Butler 79-69 at Fiserv Forum. Markus Howard scored 28 points and Theo John was a force inside with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Butler’s Sean McDermott notched a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The Golden Eagles, ranked 11th in AP and 10th in USA Today, improved to 22-4 overall and 11-2 in league play. Butler fell to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in the BIG EAST.
Marquette is in first place after its win and No. 17/16 Villanova’s 85-73 loss at Georgetown. The Hoyas led 42-32 at halftime and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half. Jessie Govan and Mac McClung each scored 21 points. Govan also had 11 rebounds. Georgetown (16-10, 6-7) moved into fifth place. The Wildcats (20-7, 11-3) were led by Phil Booth’s 26 points.
Seton Hall and St. John’s are both 7-7 and remained tied for fourth after absorbing defeats. The Pirates lost 70-69 to a hot Xavier squad that has won three in a row and moved to 6-8 in the league. The Musketeers’ Naji Marshall scored a career-high 28 points and Tyrique Jones added 18 points and 15 rebounds for this eighth double-double of the year. Myles Cale scored a team-high 21 points for Seton Hall.
Providence beat St. John’s for the second time in 11 days, taking Wednesday’s contest 78-59 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Nate Watson led PC with 21 points and Alpha Diallo added 16 points and 11 rebounds. L.J. Figueroa scored a team-high 16 points for the Johnnies. The Friars (15-12, 5-9) are the only team to hold St. John’s under 60 points and they did it in both wins.
Creighton snapped a four-game losing streak to win 79-67 at DePaul and give both squads 5-9 records in BIG EAST play. The Bluejays closed the first half with a 14-3 run to take some control of the game. Ty-Shon Alexander led Creighton with 16 points and six assists while the Blue Demons got 18 points and eight boards from Max Strus. Both teams placed five players in double figures.
BIG EAST play resumes Saturday with an afternoon doubleheader on FOX. At noon ET, Marquette plays at Providence followed by Georgetown at Creighton at 2:30 p.m. Seton Hall and St. John’s square off at Madison Square Garden at 8 p.m. on FS1.
Home teams are 39-30 (.565) in league games. Thirty of the 69 conference games (.435) have been decided by six points or less or gone into overtime. The BIG EAST is the only D-! conference that does not have a team with a losing record.