MBB Minute – BIG EAST Has Five Ranked Teams for Second Straight Week
For the second week in a row, the BIG EAST has five teams ranked in the national polls.
Villanova is 12th in the Associated Press poll and 13th in USA Today. Creighton moved up eight places in the AP poll to 15th. The Bluejays are also 15th in USA Today. Seton Hall is 16th in AP and 14th in USA Today. Marquette is 19th in both polls. Butler is 21st in AP and 23rd in USA Today.
In the lone game on Monday’s schedule, St. John’s hosts Xavier at Madison Square Garden at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The Johnnies (14-11, 3-9 BIG EAST) are coming off an 80-69 win over Providence last Wednesday. On the same night, Xavier (16-9, 5-7) had a three-game winning streak end at Butler 66-61. In the first meeting between the two teams, Xavier beat St. John’s 75-67 on Jan. 5 at Cintas Center behind Naji Marshall’s 20 points. The Musketeers have won 10 straight in the series.
On Sunday, Villanova exploded with a 50-point second half in a 76-56 win at Temple. Collin Gillespie led the charge with 29 points and shot 7-of-11 from 3-point range. Jermaine Samuels added 13 points and seven rebounds. With the win, the Wildcats improved to 19-6 overall and claimed the Philadelphia Big 5 title with a 4-0 record.
Home teams are 36-26 (.581) in league games going into Monday.