Big East men’s NCAA Tournament update: It was fun while it lasted

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Conference pride means something in college basketball, even if it means something different from league to league.

In the Big East, where fanbases are at each other’s throats 11 months out of the year, there’s usually a sense of solidarity when the calendar flips to March.

And let’s be honest: It benefits UConn if the Big East does well in the NCAA Tournament, both for perception and NCAA Tournament units. So how has the league done in the Big Dance? We know UConn is out after giving 1 seed Florida all it can handle in the Second Round. Here’s how everyone else has fared (Spoiler: not great).

Xavier Musketeers

11 seed Xavier got off to a good start, taking down Texas in the First Four on Wednesday. But the team from Austin ultimately got the last laugh. After the Musketeers lost to Illinois in the First Round on Friday, Texas poached head coach Sean Miller. Miller is expected to be named head coach of the Longhorns in the coming days.

It was a quick tournament run for Xavier, but the team banked two tournament units for the conference, which is more than Marquette can say.

Marquette Golden Eagles

The 7-seed Golden Eagles fell to Richard Pitino and New Mexico in the First Round. David Joplin went down swinging, making six of his 10 three-point attempts and scoring 28 points. Kam Jones had a good game as well, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 15 points.

After that, well, there wasn’t much doing. The rest of the team shot just 9-30 overall while Donovan Dent (21 points) and old friend Nelly Junior Joseph (19) led the way for the Lobos.

Creighton Bluejays

Creighton pulled off a mild surprise in the First Round, beating Louisville by double digits in Kentucky. With the Cardinals playing so close to home, they were the popular pick in that game and would have had a shot at taking down Auburn two days later.

But the Bluejays had other ideas. Jamiya Neal stayed hot with 29 points and 12 rebounds while Creighton thoroughly outplayed Louisville on the perimeter,…

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Source link : https://www.theuconnblog.com/2025/3/24/24393026/big-east-mens-ncaa-tournament-update-st-johns-creighton

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Publish date : 2025-03-25 00:17:00

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