MBB Minute: Seton Hall engineered another second half comeback win, Georgetown used stout defense to tally its third straight win, Xavier’s Filip Borovicanin’s turnaround jumper at the buzzer propelled the Musketeers to victory, and UConn’s long-range shooting was key in a win at Creighton.

Saturday, Jan. 31

Seton Hall 69, Marquette 64 - Box Score 
Budd Clark scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as Seton Hall engineered another comeback win at home.  The junior point guard also dished out six assists in the victory.  Marquette led much of the first half, building up a nine-point advantage on the backs of some pinpoint shooting from the perimeter.  The Golden Eagles made 8-of-12 from the outside over the first 20 minutes and led 41-33 at the break.  Seton Hall used a 16-5 run to start the second half, after which the Pirates would not trail.  Clark accounted for eight of the 16 points during the run.  Marquette would tie the score three times over the final five minutes, including with 1:46 to play after a Royce Parham layup made it 64-64.  AJ Staton-McCray drilled a deep 3-pointer with 1:18 to go providing some distance between the two teams - he would finish with 11 points.  For SHU, Stephon Payne narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards, while Tajuan Simpkins added nine points and Josh Rivera six points on 3-of-3 shooting - all in key late second half stretch.  For the Golden Eagles, Parham led with 17 points while Nigel James Jr. added 16 and Ben Gold 10.

Of Note:

• Seton Hall is 10-2 when allowing 65 points or fewer this season.
• Two of the top teams in the BIG EAST in forcing turnovers, Seton Hall (16) and Marquette (14) combined for 30 turnovers on the day.
• Marquette's Nigel James Jr. continues to lead the BIG EAST in scoring in conference games, averaging 19.4 ppg.

Georgetown 77, Butler 64 - Box Score 
The Hoyas' Vince Iwuchukwu and KJ Lewis each scored 17 points to lead the way in the Hoyas' third straight win.  The first half saw eight lead changes and four ties. A 16-3 Georgetown run - capped by a 3-pointer from Lewis - put the Hoyas ahead for the remainder of the half and 44-40 at the break.  Butler got within one (47-46) early in the second half but an 11-2 push allowed Georgetown to build a 10-point advantage (58-48) with 11:20 to play.  The Bulldogs got within four but could get no closer.  The Hoyas scored the final seven points of the ballgame.  Malik Mack added 14 points and six assists for the Hoyas.  Jamie Kaiser Jr. led Butler with 19 points, while Finley Bizjack added 16 in the loss.

Of Note:

• Over his last three games, Georgetown's Vince Iwuchukwu is averaging 14.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while connecting on 68.2% of his shot attempts and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. 
• Butler's Finley Bizjack finished the month of January averaging 19.6 points per game

Xavier 68, DePaul 66 - Box Score 
Filip Borovicanin drilled a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to lift Xavier to a two-point win over visiting DePaul.  Xavier had trailed by as many as 18 points (57-39) with 13:35 to play in the second half before a 24-6 run by the Musketeers tied it at 63-63 with under a minute to play.  X led 66-63 with 16 ticks left before a 3-pointer from DePaul's CJ Gunn tied it at 66-66 with under 10 seconds to play, setting up the final possession.  It was all DePaul through the first half, leading by as many as 12.  Tre Carroll led four Xavier players in double figures with 21 points.  Borovicanin scored 16, while Malik Messina-Moore had 13 and Jovan Milicevic added 10.  For DePaul, Gunn led the way with 19 points, making five 3-pointers.  NJ Benson added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Of Note:

• Xavier's 18-point comeback was the biggest for the team in a BIG EAST game since the Musketeers joined the league in 2013-14.  The previous high was 17, achieved on three previous occasions.
• DePaul's RJ Smith dished out a career-best eight assists, tying for a single-game high this season for the Blue Demons

UConn 85, Creighton 58 - Box Score 
Braylon Mullins led four UConn players in scoring with 16 points as No. 2/3 UConn won its 17th straight game in convincing fashion at Creighton.  Mullins made four of the Huskies' 16 3-pointers on the night.  The two teams traded baskets for much of the first half, with four lead changes and two ties.  After a Nik Graves 3-pointer for Creighton tied it at 27-27 with 4:41 to play, the Huskies closed the half on a 14-3 push, taking a 41-30 lead at the break.  UConn outscored the Bluejays, 21-10, through the first eight and a half minutes of the second half and pushed its lead to as many as 30.  Alex Karaban finished with 15 points and six rebounds for the Huskies, while Silas Demary Jr. had 15 points, six boards, and five assists.  Solo Ball added 11 points.  For Creighton, Nik Graves scored a game-high 17 points and Blake Harper added 11.

Of Note:

• The Huskies' 11-0 start to BIG EAST play is tied for its second-best all-time, matching the mark set in 1998-99 and three shy of the record set in 1995-96
• It was Creighton's annual Pink Out game and the Bluejays raised $43,535.28 in its Pink Out auction to push the total amount raised all-time to $1,134.251.20 in the past 16 seasons 

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Looking Ahead: The BIG EAST returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 3 as Xavier visits Connecticut and St. John's heads to DePaul. Both games will air live on Peacock.

Tuesday, Feb. 3

Peacock; NBC Sports Network
Xavier at UConn - 7 p.m. ET
John Fanta (pxp); Donny Marshall (analyst)

St. John's at DePaul - 8 p.m. ET
Noah Reed (pxp); Nick Bahe (analyst)

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This Week in the BIG EAST Podcast:  Villanova head coach Kevin Willard, UConn's Tarris Reed Jr., and TNT Sports' Spero Dedes are the guests on the fifth episode of This Week In The BIG EAST.  Now in its 12th season, This Week In The BIG EAST (#TWITBE) is distributed by Westwood One radio and is available wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.