MBB Minute – In Wednesday’s battle of ranked teams, No. 18 Connecticut beat No. 20 Providence at home, while St. John’s and Butler picked up victories in their road jerseys.
 
The Huskies used a powerful inside game to knock off the Friars 87-69 at Gampel Pavilion. UConn (21-7, 18-7 BIG EAST) outscored Providence (20-8, 12-5 BE) 42-24 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 40-20. Jordan Hawkins led the Huskies with 20 points and six rebounds. Alex Karraban and Adama Sanogo each added 16 points. Bryce Hopkins had a team-high 16 points for PC, which fell into a three-way tie for second place with Xavier and Creighton at 12-5.
 
St. John’s has won three of its last four games after taking a 79-70 decision at Georgetown. The  Red Storm (17-12, 7-11 BE) also used a strong inside game en route to a win, scoring 54 points in the paint. David Jones came off the bench to post 14 points and 12 rebounds in only 23 minutes for St. John’s. Joel Soriano added 16 points and eight boards. Brandon Murray led the Hoyas (7-22, 2-16 BE) with a game-high 25 points.
 
Butler made a defensive stand on the final possession of the game and pulled out a 59-58 win at DePaul. The Bulldogs (14-15, 6-12 BE) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half. Simas Lukosius and Ali Ali each scored 15 points for Butler. The Blue Demons (9-19, 3-14) were led by Umoja Gibson’s game-high 25 points.
 
Thursday is dark on the BIG EAST schedule. The lone game on Friday has No. 16 Xavier at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. on FS1. The Musketeers (20-8, 12-5 BE) lost 64-63 to Villanova on Tuesday. The Pirates (16-12, 9-8 BE) are coming off a 64-55 defeat at UConn last Saturday. Xavier won the first meeting against Seton Hall 73-70 on Dec. 20.