The Georgetown Hoyas and Providence Friars each seek a pivotal victory in their Saturday afternoon matchup this weekend.

The Hoyas, sitting at 5-10 in conference, look to separate themselves from the cellar as they attempt to reach seventh place in the Big East. They stand two games back of the Marquette Golden Eagles, and if they want to avoid playing whomever it is that lands the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament, a win on Saturday goes a long way towards avoiding that.

The Friars, meanwhile, sit at 8-7 and are trying to avoid a slide down the standings. They’re currently stuck in a logjam along with the Seton Hall Pirates and Creighton Bluejays. Not too far behind them are aforementioned Marquette as well as the Butler Bulldogs. Basically... the middle of the conference is a mess. A total mess. A victory for Providence on Saturday can allow them to jostle their way out of this kerfuffle.

Among those to watch in this meeting is freshman Jamorko Pickett. Pickett scored 21 points in Georgetown’s loss to the Xavier Musketeers earlier this week. The 21 tied his career-high, which he set... on February 3... against, well, Xavier. Pickett has gotten it going of late, with six games of double figures in his last eight contests. You like to see that kind of progression at this point of a season from a freshman, and we’ll see if he can piece it together again Saturday against the Friars.

Speaking of, perhaps we should shine a light on Alpha Diallo, who has played extremely well lately. Diallo scored 10 in the loss to Seton Hall, but that double figure performance has been something of a trend, too. Dating all the way back to December 28, Diallo has scored in double figures in 14 of his last 15 games. In that stretch, he’s averaged 13.4 points, including six games of 16 or more and two games of 21 or more. Flying under the radar, Alpha may again shine against Georgetown if things play out well for him.

HOW TO WATCH

Time: Noon ET

TV: CBS Sports Network

Watch Online: You can access CBSSN at this link. The following providers have CBS Sports Network available to watch online:

DirecTV NOW, COX, Buckeye Broadband, Hulu, FUBO TV, Frontier Communications, Suddenlink, Optimum, Mediacom, YouTube TV, WOW!, and Verizon.

ODDS & ENDS

Spread: Georgetown opened as 2.5-point faves. The line has shifted down to 2/1.5.

O/U: The total was set at 145.5. In other locales, it’s at 146.5.

Records ATS: Providence (9-17) | Georgetown (13-12)