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Last Week in the Big East
Wednesday, December 30
Providence 71, Butler 55 - Recap
Seton Hall 85, Xavier 68 - Recap
Saturday, January 2
Creighton 67, Providence 65 - Recap
Seton Hall 68, Butler 60 - Recap
Marquette 64, Georgetown 60
Big East Player of the Week
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr.
Big East Freshman of the Week
Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, Fr.
Big East Honor Roll
Myles Tate, Butler, G, Fr.
Damien Jefferson, Creighton, F, Sr.
Tyrese Martin, Connecticut, G, Jr.
Jamal Cain, Marquette, F, Sr.
David Duke, Providence, G, Jr.
The Schedule
All times Eastern
Tuesday, January 5
UConn at Marquette, 9:00 P.M, FS1
Wednesday, January 6
Georgetown at Butler, 7:00 P.M, FS1
St. John’s at Xavier, 8:00 P.M, CBS Sports
Seton Hall at #7 Creighton, 9:00 P.M, FS1
Saturday, January 9
Georgetown at Syracuse, TBA, TBA
St. John’s at #7 Creighton, 12:00 P.M, FS1
Seton Hall at DePaul, 2:00 P.M, FS1
UConn at Butler, 4:00 P.M, CBS Sports
Sunday, January 10
Providence at Xavier, 11 A.M, FOX
Marquette hosts UConn in the Big East’s lone matchup Tuesday night. The Golden Eagles needed a big comeback to knock off Georgetown and end a three-game skid on Saturday. Marquette seemed to put things together in the second half, but will it be enough against a UConn team that is receiving top 25 votes?
Wednesday night features three Big East battles. Georgetown and Butler both look to bounce back from tough losses last Saturday to start the night. At halftime of that one, you can switch over to CBS Sports to see Xavier host St. John’s in the first game since December 20th for the Red Storm. The Red Storm return to action after their game against DePaul on Saturday was abruptly postponed due to COVID-19. The test was reportedly a false positive. The late window features Seton Hall at Creighton in our game of the week.
The Saturday slate has three Big East conference games and one Big East-ACC showdown. Syracuse hosts Georgetown as the two renew an old Big East rivalry. The Hoyas got the upper hand when the two met last season, but Syracuse will be favored in this one. St. John’s at Creighton, Seton Hall at DePaul, and UConn at Butler are the Big East games throughout that afternoon.
Providence and Xavier round out the week with a battle at the Cintas Center on Sunday. Both teams feature an elite guard-center combo, with David Duke and Nate Watson for the Friars and Paul Scruggs and Zach Freemantle for the Musketeers. This should be a fun one.
Villanova’s next three games, including two scheduled for this week, have been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Wildcats remain paused for the moment.
Game of the Week
Wednesday, January 6
Seton Hall at Creighton, 9:00 P.M, FS1
Creighton has become known around the Big East for their brand of small ball. Greg McDermott likes to get speed and shooting on the floor, and this year is no exception. All five of his starters are scoring in double-figures, and eight players collect at least three rebounds per game. Only one is above 6’7”, and he comes off the bench. Meanwhile, Seton Hall is led by 6’11” Sandro Mamukelashvili. The do-it-all big man leads the Pirates in points per game while being second in both rebounds and assists.
Seton Hall and Creighton meet Wednesday in a battle of one-loss Big East teams. Kevin Willard’s squad has won three in a row and is 2-0 on the road in Big East play. The Bluejays enter this one on a four-game winning streak and are coming off a last second victory over Providence thanks to Christian Bishop. The winner of this one will stand alone in second place in the Big East, barring a Villanova loss.
Let’s see how BECB thinks this one will go!
Matt St. Jean
Creighton just held Nate Watson to 13 points on 4-11 from the field. They may be undersized, but the Bluejays know how to play against big men. Creighton 73, Seton Hall 65.
Robert O’Neill
I’m going with Creighton. I think Mamu has a good game but Seton Hall doesn’t have enough firepower otherwise to hang with the Bluejays.
What do you think?
Poll
Who wins?
In the Rankings
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Villanova and Creighton each moved up this week. Creighton got a boost back into the top ten with the win over Providence, and Villanova benefitted from a loss by Kansas at the hands of Texas.
Xavier continues to receive votes, while UConn returns to that category. Seton Hall receives votes for the first time since the preseason.
New to this segment are the KenPom rankings and the NET. With the NCAA releasing this season’s initial NET rankings, I decided now is a good time to include things other than polls in this section.
Stat of the Week
Three of the top six in field goal percentage in the Big East play for Creighton. Although the Bluejays are known for their sharpshooters, F Christian Bishop hits 67.6 percent of his shots, the best rate in the conference. F Damien Jefferson and freshman C Ryan Kalkbrenner rank fifth and sixth at 60.3 and 57.1 percent, respectively. Greg McDermott is getting the best out of his beg men on offense.