NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Xavier rallied in the second half to beat Creighton and Marquette slipped past Seton Hall in a back-and-forth affair in Saturday afternoon BIG EAST action.
The 17th-ranked Musketeers (13-3, 3-2 BIG EAST) recovered from a 34-29 halftime deficit to beat the Bluejays (10-5, 2-2 BE) 80-73. The usual balanced Xavier scoring attack had six players reach double figures. Colby Jones scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Alex O’Connell was tops for the Bluejays with 22 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Ryan Hawkins contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds.
A free throw by Greg Elliott with 1.8 seconds left gave Marquette a 73-72 win against No. 20 Seton Hall in a game where neither team led by more than five points in the second half. Darryl Morsell scored a career-high 26 points for the Golden Eagles (12-6, 4-3 BE). Justin Lewis added 18 points. Bryce Aiken scored 28 points for the Pirates (11-5, 2-4 BE). Alexis Yetna posted 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Ike Obiagu grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked seven shots.
Sunday’s slate shows two games. At noon ET on FS1, No. 14 Villanova hosts Butler at Wells Fargo Center. The first-place Wildcats (12-4, 5-1) are on a five-game winning streak. They will be playing only their sixth home game of the season. The Bulldogs (9-6, 2-2 BE), who are coming off Thursday’s 72-58 win at Georgetown, are the only team to have five wins against Villanova since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
Today, St. John’s hosts Georgetown at Madison Square Garden at 4:30 p.m. on FOX. The Johnnies (9-5, 1-2 BE) lead the BIG EAST in scoring with an 82.1 average. The Hoyas are averaging 74.5. Both teams are giving up 74.4. St. John’s Julian Champagnie leads the league with a 21.2 scoring mark. Georgetown’s Aminu Mohammed is the BIG EAST’s top freshman scorer (13.8) and rebounder (8.3).