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Julian Champagnie had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the win against Villanova.
Julian Champagnie had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the win against Villanova.

Men's Basketball

#BIGEASTmbb Minute: St. John's, Georgetown Pull Upsets

Coach Kevin Willard Earns 200th Win at Seton Hall

It was quite a Wednesday night in the BIG EAST with the league’s two ranked teams taking a loss and a head coach achieving a milestone victory.

St. John’s used a swarming defense to knock off No. 3 Villanova 70-59 at Carnesecca Arena.  The win gave the Johnnies (12-7, 6-6 BIG EAST) a five-game league winning streak, their longest since 2014-15.  Posh Alexander was the catalyst with 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.  Julian Champagnie, who did not score in the first half, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  The Wildcats (11-2, 6-1 BIG EAST), who had a nine-game winning streak end and went into the contest leading the nation in fewest turnovers per game, committed 17.  Jeremiah Robinson-Earl finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Georgetown gained its first win away from home, defeating No. 15 Creighton 86-79.  The Hoyas (5-8, 3-5 BIG EAST) used an 11-0 run midway in the first half to take a lead they would not relinquish.  Jahvon Blair led Georgetown with 22 points and seven assists.  Chudier Bile scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.  The Hoyas shot 50 percent from the floor, including 10-of-21 from beyond the arc.  Denzel Mahoney had 22 points for the Bluejays (13-5, 9-4 BIG EAST).  Christian Bishop finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Seton Hall played a strong second half to earn a 60-43 victory at Providence.  The Pirates (10-8, 7-5 BIG EAST) outscored the Friars (9-9, 5-7 BIG EAST) 38-18 in the second half.  Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with a game-high 20 points.  Myles Cale added 19 points and six rebounds.  The 43 points for PC were the fewest ever allowed by Seton Hall in a BIG EAST game.  Kevin Willard became the third Pirate coach to win 200 games.  Providence got 10 points and eight rebounds each from Nate Watson and Noah Horchler.

Home teams are only 28-27 (.509) going into Saturday when eight teams are in action.

The FOX broadcast network has Seton Hall at Connecticut at noon ET and Creighton at Marquette at 5 p.m.  FS1 will televise DePaul at Butler at noon and St. John’s at Providence at 2 p.m.