Big East Conference Tournament Recaps

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Villanova came out firing and never let up.

Josh Hart scored 20 points and Darrun Hilliard added 13 with eight assists, as the fourth-ranked Wildcats rolled to an 84-49 victory over Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.

The top-seeded Wildcats tied a tournament record with 17 made 3-pointers, led by five from Hart and three from Hilliard. Dylan Ennis also drained three from beyond the arc and scored 12 points for Villanova (30-2), which finished 17- of-29 from long range en route its 13th straight win.

Next up for the Wildcats will be Providence in Friday’s semifinals.

Derrick Wilson scored 11 points with nine assists for Marquette (13-19), but he also committed nine of the Golden Eagles’ 22 turnovers.

Marquette knocked off Seton Hall in the first round Wednesday, denying Villanova a chance to avenge last year’s Big East quarterfinal loss to the Pirates.

The Wildcats weren’t about to allow another upset, not with the opportunity to play for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Marquette was within 18-16 midway through the first half after an 8-0 run, but Villanova answered with the next 17 points. Hart had the first 11 of that burst, hitting a trio of 3-pointers, and Ennis buried a shot from long range to give the Wildcats a comfortable 35-16 margin with just over five minutes to play in the half.

Hart also finished the half with a three, giving Villanova a 39-21 advantage after 20 minutes. The Wildcats made 10-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half and were never threatened after the intermission.

Matt Carlino, who tied a Big East Tournament record with eight 3-pointers in Marquette’s win over Seton Hall, missed each of his five shots in the first half on Thursday. He finished 2-for-11 overall and just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Marquette got only as close as 15 in the second half and trailed by as many as 37 in the closing moments.

Game Notes

Villanova matched a school record for victories in a season, tying the 2008-09 Final Four squad that finished 30-8 … Marquette made just 39.1 percent of its shots … Georgetown made 17 3-pointers against Villanova in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Big East Tournament … The Wildcats have won six in a row against the Golden Eagles.

Final Score: Providence 74, St. John’s 57

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – LaDontae Henton lead a balanced Providence attack with 20 points as the Friars earned a 74-57 win over St. John’s in the Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Henton and added 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Friars (22-10), who will play Villanova, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, in Friday’s semifinals.

Providence also got 17 points and 11 assists from Kris Dunn, 14 points and 13 rebounds from Ben Bentil and 15 points from Tyler Harris.

The fifth-seeded Red Storm (21-11) only had one scorer reach double figures. Rysheed Jordan totaled 18 points, including 11 from the free-throw line.

After hitting three of its first five shots from the field to go up 7-0, St. John’s missed 15 in a row. Providence used that drought to go on a 28-4 run and take a 17-point lead with 7:17 left in the first half.

After Dunn’s dunk put the Friars up 28-11, Jamal Branch’s layup on the ensuing possession ended the Red Storm’s 10-minute dry spell.

The Friars led by as many as 18 in the first half and took a 40-27 lead into the locker room after St. John’s snapped out of its funk later in the period.

St. John’s got as close as eight twice in the second half, but Providence responded at the other end of the floor in both cases. The Friars’ edge ballooned up to a game-high 21 points when Bentil’s layup with 8:04 remaining completed an 8-0 run that made the score 61-40.

Final Score: (23) Georgetown 60, Creighton 55

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 12 of his 25 points in the final five minutes, and No. 23 Georgetown fought off upset- minded Creighton 60-55 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference Tournament.

Smith-Rivera, a First Team All-Big East selection, was questionable coming into the tourney with a lower body injury. The junior guard gutted through the pain and carried the Hoyas (21-9) into the semis, where they were will play Xavier on Friday.

Joshua Smith chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds for second-seeded Georgetown, which ended the game on a 15-4 run after going down by six.

“To get the first win is a sense of relief,” Hoyas head coach John Thompson III said. “We are optimistic going forward.”

Creighton (14-19), which came in as a No. 10 seed, was done in by 18 turnovers and a 20-6 free throw disparity in Georgetown’s favor. James Milliken made four 3-pointers and led the Bluejays with 17 points.

Creighton trailed for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half before reeling off a 12-1 run. Austin Chatman hit a go-ahead 3-pointer, then knifed through the lane for a layup to give the Bluejays a 51-45 lead.

Smith-Rivera ended Georgetown’s seven-plus minute field goal drought with a 3- pointer, and his three-point play followed by Smith’s layup put the Hoyas back in front 54-53 with just over two minutes remaining.

After another Creighton giveaway, Smith-Rivera banked in a tough runner for a three-point Georgetown cushion. Milliken missed his first 3-pointer of the game on a wide open look in the corner, and after the Bluejays grabbed the offensive rebound, Milliken tried kicking the ball out to Chatman and threw the ball out of bounds.

The Hoyas made all four of their free throws from there to advance.

“I felt like, in a lot of ways, we outplayed Georgetown tonight. Then in the last three minutes, they made some plays, and we didn’t,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said.

There were five ties and five lead changes in a tight first half, and 10 turnovers forced by the Hoyas allowed them to take a 31-25 lead into halftime.

The second half started with another Georgetown steal and an Isaac Copeland dunk that stretched the lead to eight, and that was the biggest lead either team had all night.

Game Notes

Georgetown won both regular season meetings by an average of 21 points … Chatman totaled 11 points … Georgetown boasts a league-best 50 Big East Tournament wins and seven titles, although the last came in 2007.

Final Score: Xavier 67, (22) Butler 61 (OT)

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Matt Stainbrook, Myles Davis and Dee Davis scored 13 points apiece as Xavier knocked off No. 22 Butler 67-61 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference Tournament.

Depth played a key role in the outcome, as Xavier’s bench outscored Butler’s 25-0 to advance and move on for a matchup against Georgetown on Friday.

“We’ve got a quick turnaround to play one of the best teams in the country in Georgetown, and it will be a challenge,” Xavier head coach Chris Mack said.

Stainbrook also pulled down 10 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Musketeers (20-12), Jalen Reynolds added 12 points and Trevon Bluiett chipped in 11, including a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch that helped force overtime.

Alex Barlow made five 3-pointers and led third-seeded Butler (22-10) with 22 points, while Kellen Dunham and Andrew Chrabascz contributed 17 and 16 points, respectively, in a losing effort.

Neither team scored in regulation after Bluiett’s 3-pointer evened things at 53-53 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Butler’s Roosevelt Jones missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and had a contested runner in the lane rim out in crunch time. Barlow doubled down on a driving Stainbrook in the final seconds and stripped the 6-foot-10 center to force OT.

Reynolds’ three-point play broke a 56-56 tie in the extra session, and the Musketeers stayed in the front the rest of the way.

“I thought they made enough plays down the stretch, particularly getting to the foul line in overtime really hurt us,” Butler head coach Chris Holtmann said.

Bluiett missed the second of his two free throws with under two minutes remaining, and Stainbrook secured the offensive rebound. Myles Davis cleaned up his own miss on the extended possession to make it a 63-58 game, and Xavier sealed the win at the free throw line.

Dee Davis hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to give Xavier a 30-28 lead at the break. The basket punctuated the Musketeers’ reversal of their early struggles, as Butler scored the game’s first eight points and led by 10 five minutes in.

The second half began much the same way, as Butler scored 14 of the first 17 points over the opening 6 1/2 minutes. Dunham’s 3-pointer yielded a 42-33 lead for the Bulldogs, but they went 0-for-8 from the field over the next nine minutes to let Xavier back in it.

Game Notes

Jones, Butler’s second-leading scorer at 12.9 ppg coming in, was limited to four points on 2-of-9 shooting … Xavier scored 23 points off turnovers, while Butler had 11 … The Musketeers won the battle in the paint 36-26.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball