Exciting Four-Game Slate on Saturday in BIG EAST Action - Big East Conference Skip To Main Content

Big East Conference

The BIG EAST Conference The Official Website of The BIG EAST Conference

Members

Men's Basketball

Exciting Four-Game Slate on Saturday in BIG EAST Action

MBB Minute: Nik Graves' late 3-pointer paces Creighton in comeback win; Villanova gets season-best 26 from Acaden Lewis in win at Georgetown; Jason Edwards returns to lead Providence with 25 points in win over DePaul; Marquette's balanced offensive attack proves to be the difference in home win versus Butler.

Saturday, Feb. 7

Villanova 80, Georgetown 73 - Box Score 
  • Freshman Acaden Lewis poured in a season-high 26 points to help propel Villanova to a road win at Georgetown.  Lewis made 11-of-15 shots (3-5 3FG) to go with six assists and three steals.
  • Lewis - from Washington, D.C. - scored 17 of his 26 over the final 10-plus minutes of the game.
  • The Hoyas led for much of the first half; Villanova did hold a pair of one-point leads.
  • The Wildcats took a 27-26 lead with 7:54 left before an 11-4 push by the Hoyas gave them their largest lead of the half (37-31).  The Hoyas led 40-37 at the break.
  • There were six ties and three lead changes in the second half as both teams traded runs early in the period.
  • Nova opened the final 20 minutes with six quick points on back-to-back 3-pointers before a 10-1 Georgetown push put it back up six (50-44).
  • Malachi Palmer and Tyler Perkins made three shots from beyond the arc over an extended 17-4 push that gave Villanova a 61-54 lead with 10:21 to play.
  • The Hoyas' Malik Mack scored eight of the next 12 points before a Vince Iwuchukwu dunk tied it at 66-66 with 5:41.
  • From there, it was all Villanova, as an 11-3 push gave the 'Cats the lead for good.  Lewis scored 10 of those 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that pushed the lead to eight (77-69) with 1:46 to play.
  • For Villanova, Duke Brennan logged his 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.  Tyler Perkins had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Malachi Palmer tallied 10 points off the bench.
  • Georgetown was led by 21 points from Mack.  Iwuchukwu had 15 points and 12 boards, while KJ Lewis added 13 points.
  • The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Hoyas.


Of Note:
  • With the win, Villanova improved to 5-1 in BIG EAST road games on the season
  • The Wildcats made at least 10 3-pointers for the 14th time this season; Nova is 10-4 in those games
  • Georgetown's Vince Iwuchukwu recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career.  He is the first Hoya to do so since a season ago, when Thomas Sorber did so against Villanova (1/20/25) and Providence (1/25/25).


Marquette 70, Butler 55 - Box Score 
  • Four Golden Eagles reached double-digits, led by Chase Ross' 19 points and a season-high 18 from freshman Adrian Stevens
  • Marquette led throughout the first 13-plus minutes, opening up as much as an eight-point advantage (14-6).
  • A trio of 3-pointers from Butler's Finley Bizjack would push the Bulldogs ahead by four (28-24) with 2:14 left in the opening period.
  • Eight straight points from Marquette to close the first half gave it a 32-28 lead at the break.
  • The Golden Eagles began the second half with a pair of 3-pointers as part of an extended 19-9 run.  A trifecta from Stevens with 13:58 to go gave Marquette its largest lead of the game - 17 points (54-37).
  • Marquette made 56.0% of its shot attempts over the final 20 minutes (14-25), including 9-of-14 shots from the outside.
  • Butler's Finley Bizjack finished with 23 points, making 8-of-12 shots from the floor including 5-of-7 from the perimeter.  
  • Michael Ajayi tallied 19 rebounds (5 off; 14 def) - his second-highest total of the season
  • For Marquette, Nigel James Jr. finished with 16 points, four assists, and four steals, while Royce Parham added 12 points.  Ben Gold grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds. 


Of Note:
  • Former Marquette head coach Tom Crean was honored with a banner in the rafters at halftime of the game, celebrating his accomplishments during his tenure with Golden Eagles.
  • The Golden Eagles tied their season-high with 14 3-pointers.
  • Butler was missing a pair of starters (Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Stink Robinson); Evan Haywood earned his first start of the season


Providence 90, DePaul 72 - Box Score 
  • Jason Edwards returned to the Providence lineup after missing the previous seven games and led all scorers with 25 points
  • With the game tied at 7-7 early on after a 3-pointer by DePaul's CJ Gunn, the Friars broke the game open with a 15-4 run.  Providence would not trail the rest of the way.
  • An Edwards 3-pointer late in the opening half extended the Friar lead to 19; PC would lead 43-26 at the break.
  • Providence built on its lead in the second half.  Back-to-back fastbreak dunks from freshmen Stefan Vaaks and Jamier Jones put the home team ahead by 20.  
  • The fifth 3-pointer of the day from Edwards built the largest lead of the day - 27 points - with 2:18 to go.
  • The Friars connected on a season-best 58.9% from the floor (33-56), making 9-of-21 attempts from the perimeter.
  • Brandon Maclin led DePaul with 17 points off the bench, making 8-of-13 shots from the floor.  Kaleb Banks added 11 points, also in reserve play for the Blue Demons.
  • For Providence, Jaylin Sellers added an efficient 21 points on eight total field goal attempts, while Ryan Mela added 16 points and eight boards. Oswin Erhunmwunse tallied a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.


Of Note:
  • Providence's Jaylin Sellers tallied 57 points over two games this week - the most over a two-game span by a Friar since Josh Oduro in Feb. 2024 
  • Stefan Vaaks finished with eight points for the Friars - marking the first time in 24 games that he did not reach double figures 
  • In conference play, DePaul’s Brandon Maclin leads the BIG EAST in scoring by a reserve (zero starts), averaging 10.8 points per game.  Over his last 10 games, the 6-3 guard is averaging 12.3 ppg.


Creighton 69, Seton Hall 68 - Box Score 
  • A Nik Graves 3-pointer with three seconds left capped an 11-1 run to close the game for Creighton
  • Trailing by 10 (63-53) with 3:30 to play - and by nine (67-58) with 1:35 to go - the Bluejays' Fedor Zugic hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jasen Green a putback layup - to cut the margin to one - 67-66 - with 22 ticks to play.
  • Seton Hall's Trey Parker made 1-of-2 free throws with 17 seconds to play, putting the Pirates up 68-66 before the eventual game winning possession for the Jays.
  • In the first half, Creighton was paced by 15 points from Isaac Traudt who made four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes of play.
  • A layup by Owen Freeman gave the Bluejays a seven-point lead (22-15) with 11:22 left in the period.  Seven unanswered by the Pirates tied it up at 22-22 less than two minutes later.
  • There were four lead changes and three ties over the final 9:33, with Seton Hall holding a 34-32 lead at the break.
  • In the second half, Creighton took a 41-38 lead after a Josh Dix 3-pointer with 16:33 left made it 41-38.  
  • Seton Hall would score 10 straight to start an extended 19-6 run.  Two free throws from Tajuan Simpkins gave the Pirates a 57-47 lead with nine and half minutes to play. 
  • SHU would lead 63-53, after a layup by Elijah Fisher with 3:30 left, before the Creighton run to close the game.
  • For Seton Hall, Budd Clark led the way with 20 points, making 8-of-16 shots (3-4 3FG).  AJ Staton-McCray had 11 points and Elijah Fisher 10.  Stephon Payne grabbed 11 rebounds.
  • Traudt's 18 points led Creighton, while Dix added 16 points and Zugic 13.  Green had 11 points and seven boards. 


Of Note:
  • The victory marked the 33rd double-digit comeback win for Creighton under head coach Greg McDermott
  • Creighton has won 10 or more home games in 11 straight seasons and 29 of the past 30 years 
  • Seton Hall's Budd Clark has scored 18 or more in four consecutive games; his three 3-pointers tied a career-best


-----
Looking Ahead: There are no BIG EAST games scheduled for Sunday.  League action returns on Monday, as Xavier visits St. John's for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff at Madison Square Garden.

Monday, Feb. 9

FS1
Xavier at St. John's - 6:30 p.m. ET
Alex Faust (pxp); Donny Marshall (analyst)

-----
This Week in the BIG EAST Podcast:  Xavier head coach Richard Pitino, Marquette's Nigel James Jr., and ESPN analyst and former Marquette head coach Tom Crean are the guests on the sixth 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.