Standings | Stats
 
MBB Minute – St. John’s and Villanova registered homecourt league victories on Tuesday in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.
 
St. John’s played what coach Rick Pitino called its best game of the year after an 89-61 win against DePaul at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies (9-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) locked up on defense, holding the Blue Demons (8-3, 0-2 BE) to 39.2 percent from the field and only 6-of-20 from 3-point range. RJ Luis Jr paced four St. John’s players in double figures with 19 points. Layden Blocker led DePaul with 17 points.
 
Villanova built a 37-29 halftime lead against Seton Hall and held off Pirate comeback attempts in the second half to record a 79-67 victory, the fifth straight win for the Wildcats (8-4, 1-0 BE). Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, hit his average of 25 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Tyler Perkins came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points. For the Pirates (5-7, 0-1BE), Isaiah Coleman netted a career-high 22 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. 
 
Wednesday’s schedule shows three conference tilts with all six teams starting league play. Creighton visits Georgetown at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN. FS1 has a doubleheader with Xavier playing UConn in Hartford at 7 p.m. followed by Butler at Marquette at 9 p.m.
 
BIG EAST teams are 81-36 (.692) against non-conference competition.