Standings | Stats
MBB Minute – In three league games on Saturday, UConn and Marquette held on to grab close wins on the road while Creighton returned home with a bounce-back victory. DePaul dropped a non-league game to a local rival.
No. 11
UConn won its sixth straight with a 78-74 victory at
Butler. The Huskies (10-3, 2-0 BIG EAST) got off to a 14-2 start and were in control until a late Bulldog rally. Alex Karaban had a game-high 21 points, including a pair of clutch 3-pointers down the stretch. Liam McNeeley helped with 17 points, a collegiate-high seven assists and five rebounds. Andre Screen and Patrick McCaffery each had 17 points for Butler (7-6, 0-2). Screen had a game-high 10 rebounds.
No. 9
Marquette (11-2, 2-0) led 59-44 with 7:25 remaining before
Xavier (8-5, 0-2) rallied and took a 64-63 lead. The Golden Eagles recovered to notch a 72-70 win. Kam Jones scored 20 points and dished eight assists. David Joplin added 19 points. The Musketeers’ Marcus Foster scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Dailyn Swain posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
After a Wednesday loss at Georgetown,
Creighton beat visiting
Villanova 86-79. The Bluejays (8-5, 1-1) used a 14-2 run early in the second half to grab control before holding off the Wildcats (8-5, 1-1). Creighton got 20-point efforts from Ryan Kalkbrenner (23 points), Steven Ashworth (20) and Jamiya Neal (20). Ashworth dished 11 assists for his first career double-double. Villanova’s Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, pumped in 27 points. Wooga Poplar added 19 points and 10 rebounds. VU committed only one turnover.
DePaul got into a hole early at Northwestern and could not recover in an 84-64 defeat. The Blue Demons (8-4) were led by Jacob Meyer’s 18 points.
The Sunday schedule has one game –
Georgetown at
Seton Hall at 7p.m. ET on FS1. The Hoyas (9-2, 1-0) are coming off an 81-57 win over Creighton. The Pirates (5-7, 0-1) lead the league in scoring defense at 61.6 ppg. The Hall was 8-2 at home in league play last season.