Big East Tournament quarterfinal roundup: Creighton holds on in 2OT, Marquette and UConn also advance to semifinals
Creighton's Ty Davis reacts after makiong a free throw during the second overtime of a Big East Tournament quarterfinal against DePaul on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 32 points and scored the go-ahead basket in the second overtime after Creighton scored the final 11 points in regulation, and the Bluejays held on for an 85-81 victory over DePaul in a Big East Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Kalkbrenner scored in the paint to give No. 2 seed Creighton a 77-76 lead and the Bluejays (23-9) never trailed over the final 2:12 against the 10th-seeded Blue Demons (14-19). Creighton advances to play in a Friday semifinal against the winner of the final quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 seed Connecticut and No. 6 Villanova.
Creighton's Fedor Zugic and Steven Ashworth had 3-pointers at both ends of an 11-0 run to end regulation. Ashworth's came with 21 seconds left and forced OT tied at 62.
A Ty Davis layup gave the Bluejays a 72-64 lead with 1:33 left in the first OT. The Blue Demons' Layden Blocker outscored Creighton 9-1 from there and his jumper with one second left forced a second OT tied at 73.
Kalkbrenner also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots for Creighton. Zugic had 13 points off the bench and Ashworth scored 10 before fouling out.
Blocker hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 to lead DePaul. Isaiah Rivera totaled 17 points and nine rebounds. CJ Gunn scored 14 before fouling out.
Rivera had nine points and Gunn scored eight to guide the Blue Demons to a 36-21 lead at halftime.
Marquette 89, Xavier 87: Kam Jones scored 28 points and David Joplin connected on a pivotal three-pointer with 26 seconds left as Marquette held on to earn a semifinal matchup with sixth-ranked and top-seeded St. John’s Friday night.
Ryan Conwell scored a career-high 38 points for Xavier (21-11), a school record for a Big East Tournament game. The fourth-seeded Musketeers, perched precariously on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament bid, had won seven straight.
With former Marquette star Dwyane Wade sitting in the front row, Conwell shot 13 of 18 from the field and 7-for-11 on three-pointers — including a long one he tossed in at the buzzer. Zach Freemantle had 15 points and Dailyn Swain added 11.
Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell scored 16 points apiece for Marquette. Joplin finished with 14.
Xavier went 11 of 23 (48%) on threes. Should the Musketeers make the NCAA Tournament, that will be a key weapon in their arsenal.
Marquette heads into the semifinals on the strength of Jones’ scoring. He scored in double figures for the 48th straight game, the longest streak in the country. But the Golden Eagles showed they’re more than a one-man band, with five players in double figures.
Marquette dropped both its regular-season games against St. John’s, losing 70-64 at MSG in early February and then 86-84 in overtime last Saturday at home.
UConn 73, Villanova 56: With the score tied at 51, UConn produced a 22-3 run to blow the game open. Alex Karaban led UConn with 18 points and Wooga Poplar had 25 points for the Wildcats. Villanova’s Eric Dixon, who entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 23.5 points per game, was held to eight points and 2-for-15 shooting.
