All three BIG EAST games on Saturday ended in the 60s. In two of the three, the road team got out of town with close victories. A third visiting team rallied, but came up short.
“In this league, you don’t apologize for anything, you just take a W,” said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott after his Bluejays edged Providence 67-65 at Alumni Hall on a dunk by Christian Bishop with less than a second left.
Creighton (8-2, 4-1 BIG EAST) had a 13-point lead with 7:14 to play before the Friars came back and tied the game 65-65 on a basket by Noah Horchler with seven seconds left.
Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski scored a game-high 20 points and had seven rebounds and four assists, including the critical dish to Bishop. Zegarowski made 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Damien Jefferson added 18 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Nate Watson and David Duke led Providence (7-4, 3-2 BIG EAST) with 13 points each. Horchler finished with 12 points.
Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski could relate to McDermott’s feelings after his Golden Eagles rallied from a 36-20 halftime deficit to take a 64-60 decision at Georgetown. Jamal Cain scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Marquette (6-5, 2-3 BIG EAST). Freshman Dawson Garcia had nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while classmate Justin Lewis had 10 points and nine boards. Jahvon Blair led Georgetown (3-6, 1-4 BIG EAST) with 20 points.
Butler could not make it a clean sweep for the road squads. The Bulldogs cut a 13-point second half deficit to one on multiple occasions at Seton Hall, but the Pirates (8-4, 5-1 BIG EAST) prevailed 68-60. The Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili posted game highs of 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Jared Rhoden contributed 19 points and seven boards. Butler made 11-of-22 from 3-point range. Freshman Myles Tate led the Bulldogs (2-5, 1-3 BIG EAST) with 22 points, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Aaron Thompson missed a fifth straight game because of a knee injury.
The BIG EAST schedule picks back up on Tuesday when Villanova visits DePaul and Marquette hosts UConn.