Going into Wednesday’s play, home teams were only 12-11 in BIG EAST games, but the home squad picked up a victory in each of the three Wednesday contests.

Butler scored the last 10 points of the game in a 63-55 win against Georgetown.  The Bulldogs welcomed the return of guard Aaron Thompson after a five-game absence due to a knee injury.  The defensive ace helped hold the Hoyas (3-7, 1-5 BIG EAST) to 24.1 percent shooting in the second half.  Freshman Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs (3-5, 2-3 BIG EAST) with game-highs of 18 points and five assists.  Georgetown’s Jamorko Pickett posted his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Xavier also closed strong in a 69-61 victory over St. John’s.  The Musketeers (9-2, 2-2 BIG EAST) put together a 16-1 streak late in the second half.  Freshman Colby Jones scored a team-high 16 points and Jason Carter posted 11 points and 16 rebounds, the most boards in a league game this season.  Xavier enjoyed a 57-40 rebounding edge.  Rasheem Dunn was high for St. John’s (6-5, 1-4 BIG EAST) with 17 points.  Julian Champagnie added 15 points and nine rebounds.

There was little drama in the Creighton-Seton Hall game.  The Bluejays made their first seven shots from the field, jumped out to a 17-4 lead, and registered to an 89-53 win.  Damien Jefferson led Creighton (9-2, 5-1 BIG EAST) with 19 points and four steals.  Denzel Mahoney helped with 14 points.  Sandro Mamukelashvili had 14 points for Seton Hall (8-5, 5-2 BIG EAST).  Creighton, ranked seventh this week by AP and fifth by USA Today, has a five-game winning streak.

BIG EAST play continues on Saturday.  The day starts with an FS1 doubleheader at noon ET.  St. John’s plays at Creighton before Seton Hall travels to DePaul at 2 p.m.  UConn plays at Butler at 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.  Georgetown steps out of conference competition to meet longtime rival Syracuse at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Going into Saturday, home teams are 15-11 in BIG EAST play.