The Morning Fast Break (Nov. 16, 2016): A postmortem on a Hoya collapse, a 2017 Seton Hall target decides today and more

Another eventful night is in the books, folks.

Back at it again this morning. Here’s today’s edition of TMFB.

MUVB earns a split (Anonymous Eagle)

Marquette survived a set and a half of lousy volleyball on Saturday afternoon to come away with a 3-1 (25-13, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22) win over Seton Hall, but on Sunday, things were different. The Golden Eagles couldn’t get their business sorted out for any real stretch of time and suffered a 3-2 (30-32, 25-23, 25-19, 16-25, 10-15) loss to St. John’s in the 2016 home finale.

That’s better, Xavier (Banners on the Parkway)

Xavier’s first win and its second both count for the same when the standings are tabulated, but the difference in how they felt to the fan will be immense. After looking thin and ragged against Lehigh, the Musketeers pulled away from Buffalo early and this time didn’t look back.

A Hoya collapse (Casual Hoya)

Who knows when or if Georgetown and Maryland will continue their renewed head-to-head series. History says don't hold your breath. Then again, Tuesday's matchup at Verizon Center was the first time the schools met in consecutive years since the 1970's. Perhaps they keep this going next year whether in the Gavitt Tipoff Games or not. If so, maybe the Hoyas will have finally gotten over the pain of a devastating collapse.

Some thoughts on Vermont (PCBB1917)

First, I want to say how great it felt to be back at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for another season of Providence basketball. It was nice to see some familiar faces and talk hoops with people I only see at the Dunk.

A view from the St. John’s stands (Rumble in the Garden)

The slow start of the first two games was not repeated this evening as St. John’s went to Bashir Ahmed at the onset and he responded with four points. A relatively close first half found St. John’s leading at the intermission 39-32 with a Kassoum Yakwe jam off a Marcus LoVett miss at the buzzer extending the margin to seven.

2017 Pirates target decides today (SHU Hoops)

Seton Hall is still in the mix for top-100 prospect Nojel Eastern (Evanston, Ill.), who will sign on Wednesday afternoon. A 6-foot-5 natural point guard that can play the two and three, Nojel Eastern has been recruited by Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall for a long time now.

An advanced look at ‘Nova-Purdue (VU Hoops)

This game was supposed to be a test for the Wildcats. It was supposed to tell us above all else if this smaller team could handle larger opponents. And yet in perusing the comments after tonight’s game, there are many fans who feel we don’t have that answer. I won’t name names, but suffice it to say that people saw how easily Purdue scored in the paint in the final minute, and their reaction is that this team will not be able to compete with bigger teams down the road.