MBB Minute – Creighton and Marquette enjoyed comfortable wins on Thursday which kept BIG EAST teams unbeaten with a 13-0 record.
 
The Bluejays, ranked ninth in both major polls, put together an early 17-0 run and cruised to a 96-61 win against North Dakota at the CHI Health Center. Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 24 points, while connecting on 10-of-11 shots from the field. The junior played less than 23 minutes. In all, 10 players saw at least 12 minutes of action. After a sub-par 3-point shooting night in their opener, the Bluejays shot 12-of-27 from beyond the arc.
 
Marquette had little trouble with Central Michigan, registering a 97-73 victory on campus at the Al McGuire Center in a “students-only” game. Sophomore David Joplin netted a career scoring high with 23 points, which included 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Four other Golden Eagles reached double figures led by Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s 13 points.
 
Friday’s slate shows four contests. Villanova, ranked 16^th in the Associated Press poll, takes the bus over to Temple for a Philadelphia Big 5 battle at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
 
The other three Friday games are on FS2. At 6 p.m., Connecticut hosts Boston U. at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies have won their last 11 games at Gampel. BU was picked second in the Patriot League.
 
Xavier will play Montana at a sold-out Cintas Center at 8 p.m. It’s the second of four straight home games for the Musketeers. The Grizzlies were picked third in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll. The meeting with Montana will be the first between the two schools.
 
At 10 p.m., DePaul hosts Western Illinois at Wintrust Arena. Forward Nick Ongenda missed Monday’s opener against Loyola, Md., with a hand injury and is considered day-to-day. After the Western Illinois game, the Blue Demons play at Minnesota on Monday in the opener of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.