MBB Minute – A two-game Tuesday in the BIG EAST resulted in victories for No. 17 Creighton at home and Butler on the road.
Creighton and
Xavier put on their usual 40-minute battle before the Bluejays (15-5, 6-3 BIG EAST) prevailed 85-78 over the Musketeers (10-9, 4-4). A quick 8-0 spurt gave Creighton a 68-63 advantage that was enough to hold on to the win. Trey Alexander led the Jays with 27 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Baylor Scheierman added 20 points. Desmond Claude and Dayvion McKnight each netted 20 points for Xavier. The Bluejays have won six of their last seven games.
Butler used a 15-0 spurt midway through the first half to take control of its game at
Georgetown and enjoyed a comfortable 90-66 victory. The Bulldogs (13-7, 4-5) had all five starters reach double figures. Pierre Brooks II scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Hoyas (8-11, 1-7) got 16 points from Jayden Epps. Butler shot 56.9 percent from the floor and led by as many as 29 points in the second half.
The first of three Wednesday games is
Providence at
Seton Hall at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. On Jan. 3 in Providence, the Pirates beat the Friars 61-57, which began a five-game winning streak for SHU that ended with a triple OT loss to Creighton this past Saturday. Providence’s Devin Carter ranks first in scoring in league games only with a 22.4 mark. In his last four games, Carter is averaging 24.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals.
At 8:30 p.m. on FS1,
St. John’s hosts
Villanova at Madison Square Garden in another regular-season rematch. The Red Storm (12-7, 4-3) won the first meeting 81-71 on Jan. 6 at Finneran Pavilion. St. John’s will be aiming for its first regular-season sweep of Villanova since 1992-93. Both teams were beaten at home by one point on Saturday. St. John’s lost 73-72 to Marquette and Villanova lost to Connecticut 66-65.
No. 14
Marquette will be looking for its second straight road win when it visits
DePaul on CBSSN at 9 p.m. The game marks the debut of DePaul interim head coach Matt Brady. The Golden Eagles (13-5, 4-3) and Blue Demons (3-15, 0-7) will be meeting for the 134
th time. When the teams have played in Chicago, DePaul holds a 34-33 edge in the series.