The latest week of Big East basketball saw UConn continue its undefeated start to league play with road wins over Seton Hall and Georgetown. The Huskies have now won three of their last four games by five points or fewer, including needing overtime to win one of them. Yet, they remain 8-0 to begin the conference season in advance of playing three of their next four games at home.
Behind UConn in the standings, St. John’s won at Villanova to earn its fourth straight victory and regain its claim as the league’s second-best team. The Red Storm have attacked with more confidence of late, converting 71.4% of shots inside 4.5 feet during the win streak, up from 60.0% over their first 14 games.
For a while, it looked as though St. John’s would not live up to preseason hype. With how well the Red Storm have played of late, though, I hope you didn’t erase the circles around Feb. 6 (UConn at SJU) and Feb. 25 (SJU at UConn).
Elsewhere in the league, there are plenty of other developments to watch. This week’s Big East Round-Up looks into several of them.
A strong second half propels DePaul to another win
Last week's Big East Round-Up spotlighted how well DePaul's defense had been playing since Dec. 9. The Blue Demons followed that up with their second-worst defensive half of the season, surrendering 132.1 AdjP/100 to Marquette before the break. After half, though, DePaul's defense settled down (99.1 AdjP/100 allowed in the second half) and its offense put on a clinic en route to a comeback win.
DePaul posted a .625 eFG% after half against the Golden Eagles, while also committing only two turnovers and securing a 41.2% offensive rebounding rate. CJ Gunn was phenomenal for the game, netting 31 points on seven 3s; Brandon Maclin scored 10 of his 12 points after half. Add in the solid defense, and the Blue Demons' +38.7 adjusted net rating (per Hoop Explorer) was the program's best in a single half against a Big East opponent this season.
DePaul has now won three straight Big East home games in the same season for the first time since 2007. While the Blue Demons have one streak alive at home, they hope to snap another on the road this week: DePaul travels to face Butler next in Hinkle Fieldhouse, where it hasn't won since 2014.
Xavier's spoiler potential continues to grow
After dropping back-to-back road games to sub-100 KenPom opponents in DePaul and Marquette, Xavier returned home over its last two games to knock off Providence and Butler — convincingly. The Musketeers trailed for a total of 18 seconds across the two games, plus led PC by as many as 21 and Butler by as many as 23 before winning by 13 and 14, respectively. Perhaps it is a matter of just playing in the Cintas Center, but could Xavier be turning a corner?
A difference over these last two games has been an increase in paint rate offensively. Through their first 16 games of the season, the Musketeers were attempting just 42.7% of their shots in the paint and converting on 50.6% of them. Against the Friars and Bulldogs, though, they upped their rate to 56.4% of shots and finished on 57.2%:
Xavier is now 7-2 when it attempts at least 27.5% of its shots inside 4.5 feet.
On the defensive end, Xavier shut down the perimeter. The shooting variance is perhaps a bit less sustainable than X’s improved finishing, but the defense nonetheless held Providence and Butler to 10.5% and 4.5% below their respective season-long marks.
It is only two games, but if Xavier has turned a corner and continues to improve, it can play spoiler to more than just Butler over the next two months.
Georgetown with Iwuchukwu is a different team
Big man Vince Iwuchukwu returned to action for Georgetown before its road matchup with DePaul on Jan. 6. While the Hoyas are winless (0-4) since his return to the lineup, they are playing at a much higher level than during his absence. Most notably, Georgetown took Creighton to overtime on the road in Iwuchukwu's first game back in the starting lineup (Jan. 13) before only losing by two vs. UConn (Jan. 17) in the following game.
Iwuchukwu posted 12 points and 14 rebounds against the Huskies, prompting Dan Hurley to note his impact after the game: "Teams were very fortunate to play [Georgetown] without big Vince in the game for them. He gives them a starting caliber high-major center, allows Julius [Halaifonua] to play backup minutes, and they are a much different team with Vince."
Georgetown posted just a -0.5 adjusted net rating in the 10 games without Iwuchukwu, per Hoop Explorer. Albeit in a small sample size, the Hoyas posted a +19.1 adjusted net rating in his first two games back as a starter. Both games ended in losses, but not many Big East games are tougher than at Creighton and vs. UConn. With Iwuchukwu back in the lineup, Georgetown is as dangerous to the Big East's bubble as any team in the conference.
Can Seton Hall maintain its strong road performance?
Seton Hall has been among the nation’s most pleasant surprises this season, but back-to-back home losses to UConn and Butler this past week put them back towards the double-digit seed conversation. Seton Hall remains on the right side of the cutline, but the home setbacks come at a difficult time given a road trip to St. John’s and DePaul this week. The Red Storm appears to have found their groove of late, winning four straight by an average of 15.5 points, while we've already discussed DePaul's strong play at home.
The bright side is that Seton Hall has played exceptionally well away from the Prudential Center this season. The Pirates are 6-1 in road/neutral games, with wins over NC State, Kansas State, and Providence to their name in such environments. Namely, the Pirates’ offense has been substantially better in road or neutral games compared to at home:
Continued strong offensive play away from home will be especially needed given the upcoming schedule. St. John’s ranks 20th nationally in adjusted defense for the season (KenPom), while DePaul has ranked 22nd on defense since Dec. 9 (Bart Torvik).
Butler must defend its home court.
Just when Butler's season appeared to be teetering over the edge after a 14-point, wire-to-wire road loss to rival Xavier as part of a four-game losing streak, the team pulled off a massive road win at Seton Hall over the weekend. The Bulldogs led for the last 36:14 and by as many as 17 as they earned their second Quadrant 1 win. Finley Bizjack scored 25 points on 4-for-7 from three, his first game hitting at least half his 3PAs since Dec. 2; he had been shooting 25.4% from deep over those 10 games.
Butler still ranks sub-50 in six of seven teamsheet metrics but is back in the First/Next Four Out conversation after beating Seton Hall. Surveying the bubble landscape, Butler's neutral-site nonconference win over Virginia is one of the best of the bunch. With the Cavaliers rising to a No. 3-4 seed since mid-November, Butler's win has been quietly compounding interest. The win over SHU gives the Bulldogs two wins over the current projected field.
The key for Butler moving forward is the same as it was before the losing streak: it must defend Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs are just 14-19 in Big East home games under Thad Matta, including 1-2 this season. Add in having suffered a nonconference home loss to Boise State, and Butler ranks 71st in home performance compared to 36th in road/neutral performance when filtering national ranks by venue (compares Butler’s home efficiency margin with everyone else’s home efficiency margin).
Butler's upcoming homestand against DePaul and Marquette represents the next chance to hold serve in Hinkle. Both are just Quadrant 3 games; wins would help some but not move the needle much, while any loss would push the needle closer to popping Butler's bubble.
Games to watch this week:
- Jan. 24: Villanova at UConn (Thrill Score: 62.7)
- 12:00 pm ET on FOX
- Jan. 24: St. John's at Xavier (Thrill Score: 60.8)
- 2:30 pm ET on TNT
- Jan. 24: Seton Hall at DePaul (Thrill Score: 57.1)
- 5:00 pm ET on truTV
- Jan. 20: Seton Hall at St. John's (Thrill Score: 56.5)
- 7:00 pm ET on Fox Sports 1
- Jan. 24: Georgetown at Providence (Thrill Score: 49.3)
- 12:30 pm ET on TNT
