Sandro Mamukelashvilii had 17 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's win at Villanova
MBB Minute -- Seton Hall Moves to 10-1 in League Play after Win at Villanova
League-leader Seton Hall used a strong second half to beat Villanova 70-64 at a sold-out Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. The 12th-ranked Pirates, who have won 12 of their last 13 games, improved to 18-5 overall and 10-1 in the BIG EAST.
The Hall’s Myles Powell tallied a team-high 19 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili had his best game since returning from a wrist injury, scoring 17 points, pulling down eight rebounds and blocking two shots. Down 31-27 at halftime, Seton Hall outscored the 10th-ranked Wildcats (17-6, 7-4) 42-33 in the second half. Saddiq Bey scored a game-high 22 points for Villanova.
Creighton moved into a second-place tie with Villanova at 7-4 in the league standings after a 94-82 win over visiting St. John’s. The Bluejays, 18-6 overall, shot 60.3 percent from the floor and placed six players in double figures. Marcus Zegarowski scored a team-high 23 points. For St. John’s (13-11, 2-9), Marcellus Earlington registered career highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds in only 23 minutes of playing time.
In a game that featured 11 lead changes, Xavier (16-8, 5-6) wrestled a 64-58 decision from Providence at Cintas Center while winning its third straight game. In each of the three victories, the Musketeers’ Tyrique Jones had 18 rebounds. He scored a team-high 13 points on Saturday. Paul Scruggs added 13 points. Nate Watson posted team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds for the Friars (13-11, 6-5).
Georgetown’s Jahvon Blair registered his second career scoring high in his last three games with a 30-point effort that helped the Hoyas (14-10, 4-7) to a 76-72 come-from-behind win over DePaul. Blair also played 40 minutes for the third straight game. The Hoyas were still without the injured Mac McClung. Jalen Coleman-Lands led five Blue Demons (13-11, 1-10) in double figures with 17 points.
On Sunday at noon ET on FS1, Butler at Marquette completes the weekend schedule. Both teams are 6-4 in BIG EAST play. The Bulldogs won the first meeting 89-85 in overtime on Jan. 24. Marquette’s Markus Howard needs 39 points to become the BIG EAST’s all-time scoring leader.
Home teams are 30-24 (.556) in league games going into Sunday.