MBB Minute – Saturday Schedule Starts Bright and Early
Saturday’s schedule includes four games and begins early – 11 a.m. ET on FOX – when Xavier plays Seton Hall at the Prudential Center.
Seton Hall (16-4, 8-0 BIG EAST) is riding a 10-game winning streak, its longest since 1992-93, which is also the last time the Pirates won a BIG EAST regular-season crown. The No. 10 Pirates are coming off a 64-57 home win against DePaul. Xavier (13-8, 2-6) also played Wednesday, losing to Marquette 84-82 in double overtime. The Musketeers got Quentin Goodin back in the lineup after a two-game absence and he scored a team-high 19 points. In the first meeting between the two teams this season, the Pirates won 83-71 on Jan. 8.
Villanova hosts Creighton at Wells Fargo Center at noon on FS1. The No. 8 Wildcats have won seven in a row after Tuesday’s 79-59 victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. In the first meeting, Villanova rallied for a 64-59 win in Omaha. Collin Gillespie had 24 points. Villanova is 54-4 at home in the current 10-team league alignment. Creighton (16-5, 5-3) beat the Wildcats at Wells Fargo in its first season as a BIG EAST member, winning 96-68 by making a league record 21 3-pointers on Jan. 20, 2014. The record still stands for a conference game. The Bluejays have been off since Sunday’s 77-66 win over Xavier.
Butler hosts Providence at 2 p.m. on FS1. The No. 16 Bulldogs (17-4, 5-3) took the first meeting this season 70-58 at Providence on Jan. 10. In his last three games, Kamar Baldwin has scored 57 points in the second half and overtime, while netting only eight points in the first half. Butler overcame a 14-point deficit to win 69-64 at Georgetown on Tuesday. The Friars (11-10, 4-4) are 4-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler will be PC’s fourth straight game against a ranked opponent.
Marquette and DePaul meet for the 126th time in their longstanding series at 2 p.m. on FSN. The Golden Eagles (15-6, 5-4) are coming off an 84-82 win at Xavier that took two overtimes. After Markus Howard left with a facial injury in the second half, Sacar Anim stepped up to score a career-high 28 points and Koby McEwen added 18 points. The Blue Demons (13-8, 1-7) are 4-3 on away courts this season. On Wednesday at Seton Hall, they held a nine-point lead in the second half before losing 64-57.
Home teams are 24-17 (.585) in league games going into Saturday.