Day 1

In the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday night, the Marquette Golden Eagles faced off against a Seton Hall team that has been waning down the stretch. The result was a blowout of epic proportions. Derrick Wilson appeared dominant getting in the lane and distributing to open teammates. One such teammate, Matt Carlino, tied a Big East Tournament record with eight made threes. He came off of a variety of curl sets to free himself and generally did an excellent job mixing it up on the perimeter. Luke Fischer had his way in the post and appears to be making some strides as the season winds down. Duane Wilson also appeared healthy and hit a couple of outside shots. To top it all off, Steve Taylor Jr. was 2-3 from beyond the arc, including a buzzer beater to head into halftime. On the flip side, Seton Hall could not have appeared more out of sync. Sterling Gibbs forced the action early and often, not playing within himself and hoisting up bricks early in the shot clock. Isaiah Whitehead initially appeared tentative but was able to hit some shots in the second half. Desi Rodriguez's hustle and aggression on the glass were a positive though. With that said, the Pirates continued to turn it over at a torrid pace, with Gibbs and Whitehead posting five turnovers apiece. Marquette did a nice job cutting off passing lanes, and will head into the Villanova contest tomorrow with some strong momentum.

The second contest between Depaul and Creighton was a lot more competitive. Creighton was able to have their way on the offensive end, with Chatman and Devin Brooks penetrating to the basket and feeding their teammates. Their favorite target, James Milliken was Creighton's version of Carlino. While only three of his eight makes came from beyond the arc (as opposed to Carlino), Milliken was able to hit some crafty pullup jumpers in the lane and score against size inside. Maybe even more indispensable tonight, though, was the less heralded yeoman's work of Will Artino on the glass. He grabbed eight rebounds (four offensive) for the game, and was aggressive contesting most drives to the hoop. On the other end, Billy Garrett Jr. did a nice job finding his teammates and creating off the dribble, but his efforts were in vain. Turnovers by Garrett, Crockett, and especially Henry really stifled the Blue Demons, sending them packing after their eighth straight loss. 

Day 2

In the opening contest on Thursday, Villanova looked every bit as poised as one would expect of a likely No. 1 seed. Following their rout of St. John's in their last contest, Nova did not disappoint early on,  with Ennis and Hilliard connecting on early threes to give Villanova a comfortable margin. However, Marquette responded with a run of their own, led by Derrick Wilson's gritty play - getting in the lane and finishing broken plays. Steve Taylor also hit a three pointer and capped off his team's run with a layup inside, trimming the Villanova lead to two. Villanova promptly called a timeout and inserted Big East Sixth Man of the Year, Josh Hart, into the game. His impact was felt almost instantaneously. Hart came out of the gate scorching hot from three point range, burying five of his first five attempts (6-6 from the field at that point). Villanova then clamped down on the passing lanes, and became more aggressive on the glass, not allowing second chance points. Marquette did not score for a 6-7 minute stretch towards the end of the first half, and Villanova extended its lead with an Ennis three off the dribble.The Wildcats finished the first half shooting 60% from distance and looked every bit as dominant as their ranking would suggest. The second half featured much of the same. Derrick Wilson was aggressive and got his teammates involved throughout the contest. Luke Fischer displayed a nice array of post moves, but in the end, it was not enough. Ochefu was difficult to contain on the glass, and Villanova continued to hit shots, finishing 17-29 from three, or 58.6%. 

They will head into Friday's contest against a tough Friars squad, who will be looking to enact revenge after Nova blew them out a couple of weeks ago. Despite dropping two games in the regular season to St. John's, Providence really had the Red Storm's number in the second matchup of the day. Kris Dunn was brilliant - while he appeared a bit helter skelter at times, he was able to channel his inner AI for some remarkable feeds to open teammates. The co-Big East POY finished with 11 assists in the game and also did an excellent job employing his length to disrupt St. John's passing lanes on the opposite end, wreaking havoc and tallying two steals. In terms of the glass, Providence appeared dominant, outrebounding the Red Storm 49-36. Ben Bentil and LaDontae Henton were key in this, collecting 13 and 12 boards, respectively. On the other hand, St. John's appeared completely out of sync for most of the contest, with D'Angelo Harrison shooting a paltry 3-15 for the game. He could not find a rhythm offensively and Providence did a nice job of chasing him off of his spots. The only real bright spot was the play of Rysheed Jordan, who was extremely aggressive attacking the basket and getting to the line. He is a very talented wing with a bright future. With that said, the St. John's offense appeared completely disjointed for most of the game and relied almost exclusively on one-on-one moves to create space and ultimately score. If St. John's hopes to rebound in the NCAA tournament, Steve Lavin will have to draw up more dynamic offensive sets, as well as find a way to manage the team's six rotation players.

In the third game of the quarterfinal, Georgetown faced off against a Creighton team trending in the right direction late in the season. After playing with an underwhelming intensity early on and letting the Bluejays hang around for much of the game, Creighton inevitably went on a run. One of the biggest revelations early in the tournament, wing James Milliken picked up right where he left off, knocking down difficult three point shots and attacking the basket with reckless abandon. After playing to a near standstill with three minutes to go in the first half, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera decided to make his presence felt, dialing in from three point range and then hitting a jumper with seven seconds left to put Gtown up by six points headed into halftime. Throughout the contest, it should be noted that Joshua Smith forced the Creighton defense to converge and either pick up fouls or allow  easy buckets inside. Early in the second half, Milliken answered Smith-Rivera's sharpshooting with a couple of big shots of his own. Importantly, as the second half drew to a close, slashing guards Devin Brooks and Austin Chatman got more involved in the action, penetrating and creating open shots for teammates. Led by the interior play of Will Artino, Creighton went on a run and took the lead, maintaining about a six point cushion with six minutes left in the contest. That is when Smith-Rivera took over with a three point shot, a three point play, and a driving shot through contact. Coupled with Joshua Smith on the interior, the Hoyas were just too much to handle down the stretch. 

The final game was by far the most thrilling of the two-day stretch. As noted on my Big East Tournament Preview, Xavier is a matchup nightmare for Butler due to their interior size, and everyone - including the bulldog mascot - was feeling it. While much of the matchup was played in the post, the two most dynamic players were each team's lead guard. Alex Barlow and Dee Davis exceeded expectations coming in and really demonstrated solid poise and senior leadership throughout. Barlow was very crafty and turned several steals into either baskets in the open floor or trips to the FT line. On the other side, Dee Davis impressed with a bevy of dribble drive moves, an impressive floater in the lane, and some proficiency dialing in from beyond the arc (2-3 from 3pt range in the game). In the first half, both teams relied heavily on their interior options. Butler's Andrew Chrabascz was able to capitalize on his superior lateral quickness and even forced Stainbrook out on the perimeter. On the opposite end, Stainbrook dominated with deep interior post touches, finishing with either hand and demonstrating considerable skill working with his back to the basket. Butler's most decorated offensive weapon, Kellen Dunham, came on late in the first half. His momentum carried into the second half, where Butler jumped out to an early eight point lead. Coming out of the locker room, Butler did a nice job of containing Xavier's bigs, denying post entry feeds, and forcing them to catch the ball around the three point arc. But, both Stainbrook and Jalen Reynolds were still able to back down Chrabascz and Kameron Woods inside, leading to easy kick outs or layups. After slowly chipping away at the lead, Xavier's Bluiett hit a three to tie the game with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation. Despite back-to-back sloppy turnovers by Stainbrook, Butler was unable to capitalize and the game went into overtime. In the extra period, Dee Davis and Jalen Reynolds asserted themselves early and often, and a Myles Davis layup with a minute to go really sealed the victory.

While the first two days featured plenty of sloppy play, capped off by an OT thriller, the cream will likely rise to the top in the semis.