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Coach Ed Cooley won his 200th game at Providence on Saturday.
Coach Ed Cooley won his 200th game at Providence on Saturday.

Men's Basketball

MBB Minute -- Saturday Ends with 4-0 Mark, PC's Cooley Wins 200th

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the four BIG EAST teams in action on Saturday, but the day ended with all four claiming a homecourt victory.

Providence was down by a point at halftime to Saint Peter’s, but the Friars pulled away in the second half to record an 85-71 win. Noah Horchler and Nate Watson provided the scoring punch with 25 points and 23 points, respectively. Horchler also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The Friars (6-1) shot 64.1 percent from the floor. Coach Ed Cooley won his 200th game at PC.

St. John’s held a 16-point lead midway through the second half against NJIT before the Highlanders ended the second half with a 21-5 run and forced overtime. Joel Soriano scored the first five points of OT and St. John’s (5-1) prevailed 77-68. Soriano and Posh Alexander had 16 points each. Julian Champagnie finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Creighton trailed SIU-Edwardsville most of the way, and by 16 points in the second half, before rallying and closing the game with a 11-0 run that lifted the Bluejays (6-1) to a 70-65 victory. Ryan Hawkins had team highs of 14 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots. Creighton is 6-1 for the sixth time in 12 seasons under coach Greg McDermott.

Marquette had the easiest time, defeating Northern Illinois 80-66. The Golden Eagles (6-1) led 39-28 by halftime and held on to their double-digit lead. Justin Lewis led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points. Freshman Stevie Mitchell added 11.

Three games are slated for Sunday. FS1 has a doubleheader that starts at noon ET when Seton Hall hosts Bethune Cookman. The Pirates (4-1) have not been home in two weeks, but they will be at home for the next five games.

DePaul aims for a 6-0 start when it hosts Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. Javon Freeman-Liberty leads the BIG EAST in scoring (23.8), is second in rebounding (9.8) and fourth in assists (4.8).

Villanova (3-2) plays La Salle at the Palestra at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 in the first of three Philadelphia Big Five games this week for the Wildcats.