Around the Big East: Week 15 (Basketball)
The Villanova Wildcats won the Big East regular season title after defeating Creighton Wednesday night.
The final week of the regular season for college basketball is coming to a close. Many teams are giving their final efforts trying to prove why they belong in the big dance.
Jay Wright had Villanova prepared for the Blue Jays after losing to them the first time during the regular season. The Wildcats exploded in the first half putting up 42 points.
Villanova shot 34.6% from the field, which was a huge improvement from the previous game.
Collin Gillespie left the game early due to a knee injury and it seemed to be serious. If he is out the rest of the season, this could hurt Villanova’s chances in March Madness. Justin Moore led the game in scoring with 24 points.
Coach Greg McDermott is under fire at the moment from a controversial remark he recently made to his players. It will be interesting to see how Creighton’s season will pan out. McDermott apologized for the comment, but there is still some controversy within the program.
UConn has won four of its last five with James Bouknight back into the lineup. If the season ended now, UConn would be a three seed in the Big East tournament.
This UConn team could very easily win the conference tournament with the way they have been playing. The Huskies could even potentially make a march madness run like the No. 7 seeded UConn did in 2014 with Shabazz Napier.
After losing two straight to DePaul and Villanova, St. John’s was able to defeat solid Providence roster by 14 points. The red storm were also without their star freshman point guard Posh Alexander.
Seton Hall needs to play well in the Big East tournament if it wants to make the NCAA tournament. The Pirates have now lost three games in a row.
Seton Hall's offense looks nothing like it did at the beginning of the season. In those three losses, the Pirates have scored on average only 62 points.
Nate Johnson suffered a season ending leg injury. Xavier’s struggled without him losing to Georgetown by six points. The Musketeers are on pace to make the tournament. Even though this loss to Georgetown was detrimental, a win over No. 13 Creighton was huge for their resume.
Patrick Ewing has Georgetown playing its best basketball all season. The Hoyas have won four of their last five.
The only loss in this stretch came against UConn. The scoring has been coming from different players every game, which has made it hard to scout them.
Who would have guessed that Butler who be able to add two top ten victories to its resume? The Bulldogs are coming off a big win over No. 8 Villanova and over Seton Hall. Their defense has been excellent the past three games, holding opponents to 59 points per game.
Ending their season on a three-game losing streak, DePaul will finish last in the Big East. The Blue Demons gave Marquette and Georgetown close games, but just didn’t have the talent to come out with wins in those matchups.
Both Providence and Marquette had disappointing ends to their seasons after strong starts. They both have talented rosters who can string together some wins in the Big East tournament.
Overall, the Big East is up for grabs. Creighton doesn’t seem to be clicking and Villanova is now without Gillespie.
The door is open in the Big East and it should be an entertaining tournament.
Austin Groft is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at atg5271@psu.edu.
