For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, Villanova has claimed at least a share of the BIG EAST regular-season crown, defeating Creighton 72-60 on Wednesday.  Connecticut clinched the No. 3 tourney seed with a 69-58 road win against Seton Hall.  St. John’s fortified his position in the middle of the standings with an 81-67 victory over Providence.

Tenth-ranked Villanova built a comfortable 42-23 lead at halftime before No. 14 Creighton rallied and cut the deficit to five before the Wildcats (16-4, 11-3 BIG EAST) took back control.  The victory was overshadowed by a first-half knee injury to VU’s Collin Gillespie, who did not return.  Teammate Justin Moore scored a game-high 24 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds.  Mitch Ballock led the Bluejays (17-7, 13-6 BIG EAST) with 14 points.  Creighton will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s BIG EAST Tournament.

The Huskies used a strong second half in their win against the Pirates.  Isaiah Whaley led UConn (13-6, 10-6 BIG EAST) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Adama Sanogo had 16 points and nine boards.  UConn held a 40-28 edge on the glass.  Seton Hall (13-11, 10-8 BIG EAST) got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Sandro Mamukelashvili, who posted his fifth double-double of the season.   

St. John’s also enjoyed a strong second half in its win against PC.  The Johnnies (15-10, 9-9 BIG EAST) outscored the Friars 51-26 after the break.  Posh Alexander missed the game with a thumb injury, but guard Rasheem Dunn picked up the slack with a game-high 21 points.  Julian Champagnie added 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Nate Watson scored a team-high 19 points for Providence (12-12, 8-10 BIG EAST).

Going into Saturday, the final day of the regular season, home teams have recovered from a slow start and are 52-39 (.571) in BIG EAST play, winning 16 of the last 21 contests.