MBB Minute – In Wednesday’s action, Providence extended its homecourt excellence, while Creighton and Villanova recorded wins with strong second-half runs.
 
No. 20 Providence defeated Georgetown 74-62 with four Friars reaching double figures. Bryce Hopkins had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists for PC. Sophomore Bradley Ezewiro scored a career-high 19 points, making 8-of-9 from the field, for the Hoyas (6-9, 1-13 BIG EAST). The Friars (18-6, 10-3 BE) are 13-0 at home this season.
 
No. 23 Creighton broke away from Seton Hall midway in the second half and posted a 74-62 road victory. CU’s Baylor Scheierman sank a season-high five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Bluejays (16-8, 10-3 BE), who have won seven straight, shot 61.4 percent from the field. The Pirates (15-10, 8-6 BE) got 19 points from Al-Amir Dawes, who also made five 3-pointers.
 
Villanova used a late 11-0 run to pull away from DePaul in an 81-65 win. The Wildcats (11-13, 5-8 BE) had all five starters reach double figures. Caleb Daniels hit for 18 points while Justin Moore and Cam Whitmore each contributed 17. The Blue Demons (9-16, 3-11 BE), who led by nine points in the first half, got 18 points each from Umoja Gibson and Javan Johnson. Gibson went over the 2,000-point plateau for this career.
 
BIG EAST play resumes Friday when No. 13 Xavier visits Butler at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. Musketeer coach Sean Miller spent three years as an assistant at Xavier under current Butler head coach Thad Matta before becoming Xavier’s head coach in 2004. Butler is coming off a 68-66 win over St. John’s on Tuesday. The two teams have split the last four meetings. Butler’s last two wins have come in overtime in the last two BIG EAST Tournaments. Xavier won 87-72 last year at Hinkle.