MBB Minute – Creighton’s recent strong play continued Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse when the Bluejays defeated Butler 73-52 in the only game on the BIG EAST schedule.
Creighton (11-8, 5-3 BIG EAST) took advantage of the absence of Butler center Manny Bates, who was out due to a knee issue, and scored 44 points in the paint. Guard Ryan Nembhard scored 12 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds. Greg McDermott became the 13th BIG EAST coach to amass 100 regular-season league wins. Simas Lukosius had a game-high 18 points, which included 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, for the Bulldogs (11-9, 3-6 BE).
Two ranked BIG EAST teams collide Wednesday at Fiserv Forum when No. 20 Marquette (14-5, 6-2 BE) hosts No. 22 Providence (14-4, 6-1 BE) at 9 p.m. ET on CBSSN. PC outlasted Marquette 103-98 in double OT on Dec. 20 in Providence. Bryce Hopkins had 29 points and 23 rebounds. Tyler Kolek matched Hopkins’ point total. Three of the last five meetings between the two teams have gone into overtime.
No. 8 Xavier aims to stay undefeated in BIG EAST play when it travels to DePaul for an 8:30 p.m. tip time on FS1. The Musketeers are 7-0 in conference play and are riding an 11-game winning streak. It’s the longest winning streak since XU started 12-0 to start the 2015-16 season. DePaul (8-10, 2-5 BE) has been led recently by Da’Sean Nelson who has averaged 17.5 points and 6.0 rebounds over the last four games. The road team won in last season’s two meetings.
Wednesday’s action starts at 6:30 p.m. when Seton Hall hosts No. 15 Connecticut on FS1. The Pirates and Huskies are both 4-4 in the league. UConn is 15-4 overall, while Seton Hall is 11-8. The Pirates lead the BIG EAST in field goal defense, allowing only 39.9 percent shooting from the floor, and are second in scoring defense at 63.9 points per game. The Huskies are coming off their first home loss of the season, an 85-74 decision to St. John’s. Jordan Hawkins scored a career-high 31 points, which lifted him to second on the team in scoring (15.4) to Adama Sanogo (17.3).