Xavier is the first team in the nation to be 5-0 after a win over Tennessee Tech 79-48 Wednesday night.  The Musketeers won their five games over eight days.

The three other BIG EAST teams in action fell short in their matchups.  BYU handed St. John’s its first loss of the year 74-68 at Mohegan Sun Arena.  Providence also lost a neutral court game, dropping an 88-71 decision to Alabama in the final round of the Maui Invitational.  Seton Hall lost 76-63 in a road contest at Rhode Island.

Xavier placed four players in double figures against Tennessee Tech led by Nate Johnson’s 16 points.  Zach Freemantle and Paul Scruggs each contributed 14 points.  Scruggs added nine assists.  For the fourth straight game, Jason Carter was in double figures in rebounds with 12.  He leads the BIG EAST in rebounding with a 10.6 average.

St. John’s Julian Champagnie scored a game-high 25 points, but BYU’s 3-point shooting was too much for the Johnnies.  From beyond the arc, the Cougars made 10-of-27 while St. John’s was only 4-of-21.  Posh Alexander finished with four points, seven assists and six rebounds.

David Duke and Nate Watson were the top producers for the Friars against Alabama.  Duke had 19 points and six assists.  Watson scored 17 points.  For the three games in the tournament, Watson led PC in scoring at 17.0 ppg.

Seton Hall and Rhode Island were tied 61-61 with six minutes to play, but the Pirates went cold offensively the rest of way in the loss at Rhode Island.  Sandro Mamukelashvili had a game-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.  He leads the BIG EAST in scoring at 21.7 ppg.

Thursday’s schedule has just one game.  Connecticut will meet USC in the Legends Classic at Mohegan Sun at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.  The Huskies (2-0) will be playing the Trojans (3-0) for the first time ever.  James Bouknight leads UConn in scoring with a 19.0 average. The game will be the first regular-season contest for the Huskies at Mohegan Sun.

The BIG EAST’s overall record is 22-8 (.733) going into Thursday.