MBB Minute – Marquette’s Howard Becomes BIG EAST’s All-Time Scorer in One-Point Loss at Villanova
With a 3-pointer in the final seconds of a 72-71 loss at Villanova, Marquette’s Markus Howard became the BIG EAST’s all-time scorer in league play. The senior guard, who tallied a game-high 24 points, has scored 1,408 points in league games. He passed Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten (1991-95), who has 1,405 points.
Villanova ended a three-game losing streak with the win over the Golden Eagles (17-7, 7-5). Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led the No. 15 Wildcats (18-6, 8-4) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Koby McEwen helped Marquette almost overcome an 18-point deficit in the second half with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
No. 23 Creighton notched its second road win over a top-10 team in the last 12 days with an 87-82 victory at No. 10 Seton Hall. Four Bluejays – Ty-Shon Alexander, Marcus Zegarowski, Damien Jefferson and Denzel Mahoney – each scored 18 points. Creighton is tied with Villanova for second place with an 8-4 record. Quincy McKnight led Seton Hall (18-6, 10-2) with 20 points and six assists.
Two other three-game streaks ended on Wednesday. No. 19 Butler stopped Xavier’s three-game winning streak with a 66-61 victory. Sean McDermott helped the Bulldogs (19-6, 7-5) with team highs of 14 points and six rebounds. Butler led by 17 points in the second before the Musketeers (16-9, 5-7) made a late run. Naji Marshall finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
St. John’s ended a three-game losing skid with an 80-69 win against Providence at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies (14-11, 3-9) used a 17-3 run midway in the first half to take control. L.J. Figueroa had 19 points and Julian Champagnie added 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Alpha Diallo led PC (13-12, 6-6) with 19 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and four assists.
BIG EAST play resumes on Saturday with three games – Georgetown at Butler, DePaul at Creighton and Seton Hall at Providence.
Home teams are 34-25 (.576) in league games going into Saturday.