New York-Pierre Brooks II got 25 points and Ninde-seeded Butler received a wire-to-wire 75-69 victory over the eighth-seeded providence in the opening round of the Big East tournament on Wednesday.
The bulldogs (14-18) snapped a four-game lost line and advanced to a matchup with top seeds St. John’s in the first quarter final on Thursday afternoon. Brooks helped Bulldogs go past the opening round for conference tour for the first time since 2022 by producing its ninth 20-point game this season. Jahmyl Telfort added 16 on 7-AV-12 shooting when Butler shot 48.4 percent and got 40 points in color.
Bensley Joseph scored 17 of her 20 points during the second half but that was not enough because Providence (12-20) ended coach Kim English’s second season with six straight losses. Friars ended with a losing record for the first time since 2011-12 and reached 20 losses for the first time since 1984-85.
Villanova 67, Seton Hall 55
Eric Dixon scored all 19 points during the second half, including 11 during a crucial driving, as the sixth-seeded wildcats came past the 11-seeded pirates.
Wildcats (19-13) advanced to a quarter final matchup against third seeded uconn after checking most of their meeting with the pirates. Villanova led by 18 points at half time, but the margin was down to eight early in the second half before Dixon took over. Wooga Poplar published 13 points and 10 returns when Villanova shot 45.5 percent. Tyler Perkins contributed 11 points for Wildcats, which met 7-AV-15 attempts from a 3-point interval and survived to commit 16 turnover.
Isaiah Coleman led all scorers with 25 points, but the Pirates (7-25) ended the worst season in school history on a seven-game losing line. Prince Aligbe added 10 for Seton Hall, who shot 43.4 percent and committed 15 sales.
Depaul 71, Georgetown 67
NJ Benson scored 13 of its 18 points in the second half as the 10-seeded blue demons continued their improvement with a victory over the seventh seed Hoyas.
Blue Demons (14-18), who went 3-29 last season, will continue coach Chris Holtmann’s first season with a matchup against No. 2-seed Creighton in a quarter final game on Thursday. Layden blockers added 16 points for Depaul, who shot 51 percent. Troy d’Amico and CJ Gunn chipped in 11 pieces for Blue Demons, who shot 56.6 percent in beating Georgetown on Saturday.
Micah Peavy scored 26 points to lead Georgetown (17-15), which lost for the fifth time in six matches. Drew Fielder and Curtis Willimas Jr. Added 11, but Jayden Epps was held at 10 on 3-against-13 shooting when Hoyas shot 41.4 percent and missed 15 out of 20 attempts on 3-points.
-Field level media
