Seton Hall Meets Villanova Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on FOX.
MBB Minute -- Seton Hall-Villanova Headlines Four-Game Saturday
A four-game Saturday includes Seton Hall at Villanova, a battle between the top two ranked teams in the league and the top squads in the standings. Seton Hall, 9-1 in the BIG EAST and ranked 12th by Associated Press, meets Villanova, 7-3 in league play and ranked 10
th. The game will tip at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX at a sold-out Wells Fargo Center. Both teams are 17-5 overall. Four of the last six meetings have been decided by four points or less.
No BIG EAST squad has more than a two-game winning streak and two of those teams, Providence and Xavier, will meet at Cintas Center at 8 p.m. on FS1. The Friars (13-10, 6-4) are coming off a win at Butler and a home victory against Creighton. The Musketeers (15-8, 4-6) have won at Seton Hall and at DePaul. As BIG EAST members, Xavier holds a 7-6 edge in the series. The road team won both meetings last season.
In commemorating the BIG EAST’s 40th anniversary, the teams in the Seton Hall-Villanova and Providence-Xavier games will wear throwback uniforms with “40” patches.
The BIG EAST television day starts at noon ET when Georgetown hosts DePaul on FSN. Both teams are 13-10 overall. The Hoyas have been without leading scorer Mac McClung for the past two games due to a foot injury. They continue to lean on Omer Yurtseven, who ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in scoring (16.3) and third in rebounding (10.2). DePaul’s Paul Reed boasts similar numbers with averages of 15.7 points and 10.8 rebounds. Teammate Charlie Moore leads the league in assists at 6.7.
No. 21 Creighton hosts St. John’s at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Bluejays have won four of their last five games and are one of four league teams with a 6-4 conference record. Creighton is 3-1 at home in league play. In the series between the two teams, St. John’s won twice last year after Creighton had taken six straight. In BIG EAST games, Creighton ranks first in assist/turnover ratio at 1.3 and St. John’s is first in turnover margin at +5.5.
Home teams are 27-23 (.550) in league games going into Saturday. Road teams have won 11 of the last 16 games.
BIG EAST Shootaround is hitting the road for the Top-12 showdown between Seton Hall and Villanova, with a special edition of the conference's weekly men's basketball digital show airing live at 1 ET Saturday from the Wells Fargo Center. Airing live on Twitter and Youtube, host John Fanta is joined by former Wildcat and 2016 national champion Darryl Reynolds (Class of 2017) and BEDN correspondent Matt Schumacker. FOX College Hoops sideline reporter Andy Katz will stop by with his latest on #BIGEASThoops, plus the show will feature a conversation with Marquette senior star Markus Howard.