The Big East took this year's edition of the Big East/SEC Challenge 8-4. After the first day of the Challenge on Dec. 1, the score stood 2-2. No. 1 Kentucky smashed St. John's at Rupp Arena 81-59. Ole Miss held off a comeback attempt by DePaul to win 70-68. Georgetown took out No. 12 Alabama 57-55 on a late three-pointer from Hollis Thompson. Providence had a fairly easy win in South Carolina's building.
Then on Dec. 2, the Big East dominated the Challenge by winning all four games. Syracuse's win over Florida and Louisville's overtime win against Vanderbilt were the highlights of the night. The conferences split the Saturday games when all the ranked teams beat the unranked teams. There were plenty of great individual performances to choose from, but we only selected three players to highlight from each conference.
Top Performers:
Overall, Big East:
God`sgift Achiuwa, St. John's: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Bilal Dixon, Providence: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 7 blocks
Herb Pope, Seton Hall: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Overall, SEC:
Anthony Davis, Kentucky: 15 points, 15 rebounds, 8 blocks, 2 steals
Malik Cooke, South Carolina: 21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
Murphy Holloway, Ole Miss: 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Leading Scorer: B.J. Young, Arkansas: 28, 5-6 three-pointers
Top Rebounder: Devonta Abron, Arkansas: 16, 12 offensive
Most Assists: Jordan Theodore, Seton Hall: 10
Most Steals: Dee Bost, Mississippi State; Mike Pool, Rutgers: 5
Most Blocks: Anthony Davis, Kentucky: 8