MBB Minute – Villanova, Creighton, Providence Ring in New Year’s Wins - Big East Conference Skip To Main Content

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MBB Minute – Villanova, Creighton, Providence Ring in New Year’s Wins

Two of the three New Year’s Day games were loaded with drama.
 
In a tussle between ranked teams, No. 22 Villanova prevailed at No. 15 Seton Hall 73-67. Creighton won at Marquette 75-69 in double overtime. No. 21 Providence took the suspense out of its game at DePaul with a red-hot first half and cruised to a 70-53 win.
 
A jumper by Justin Moore with 1:36 left in the game gave Villanova (9-4, 2-1 BE) the lead for good against Seton Hall (9-3, 0-2 BE). The Wildcats’ Collin Gillespie scored a team-high 21 points and Brandon Slater contributed 17 points and seven rebounds. The Pirates, who had overcome a nine-point deficit before Moore’s late basket, were led by Bryce Aiken, who scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. Jared Rhoden helped with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 42-28.
 
Marquette (8-6, 0-3 BE) had recovered from a 17-point deficit to force overtime against Creighton (10-3, 2-0 BE), but Bluejay Alex O’Connell forced another extra period with a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the first overtime. Creighton outscored Marquette 8-2 in the second OT to nail down the win. Ryan Kalkbrenner posted career highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked five shots. MU’s Oso Ighodaro scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Tyler Kolek added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. It was the 14th time in the last 15 meetings between the two teams that the game was decided by eight points or less. 
 
Providence (13-1, 3-0 BE) broke away from DePaul (9-3, 0-2 BE) with a 22-3 first-half run that lifted the Friars to a 42-15 advantage at the break, while extending its winning streak to eight games. Al Durham led a balanced PC scoring attack with 17 points. Justin Minaya and Jared Bynum added 12 points each. Minaya grabbed 11 rebounds. The Friars held the Blue Demons to 29.8 percent shooting from the floor. Javon Freeman-Liberty had a game-high 22 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Providence has started 3-0 in BIG EAST play for only the second time since 2008-09.