6:00 pm We are back for day three of the Big East Tournament! Semifinal Friday is up there for best days of the college basketball season. All the games today have a ton of stakes, and t's two games of the best teams taking each other on. Everyone was in a battle yesterday and has to come back just to do it again. Very interested in how Creighton can put the 2OT game behind them and take on a very dangerous UConn team in the night cap.
But for now, as Marquette and St. John's warm up, and fans start filing in to Madison Square Garden, we're just half an hour away from the first Big East Tournament finalist earning their spot. Let's have us a night! -MD
6:22 pm: SJU-MU | Pregame
Friday night semifinals at Madison Square Garden. This is my favorite basketball day of the year, and we are lucky to have the conference’s four best teams still alive in the tournament. The night kicks off with St. John’s taking on Marquette. The Golden Eagles are flying high coming off of a massive win over a rising Xavier team. Marquette came down from double digits, largely in part to seniors Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell.
St. John’s punked Butler in its opening game of the BET yesterday, winning 78-57. Deivon Smith did indeed play in that one, leading us to believe that the Johnnies are at full strength here tonight and moving forward.
These two teams played in an instant classic in the regular season finale less than a week ago. The key for Marquette remains keeping the Red Storm in check on the offensive glass. I’ll put the number at 16 – if SJU has less than 16 second chance points, Marquette will have a good chance to win. If they have more than that, this one is already in the books.
It should be a fantastic start to an absolutely wonderful two basketball games in the Mecca of college basketball. -CT
6:44 pm: 12-5 Marquette | 15:47 1H
Hell of a start for Marquette. There was a bit of a feeling-out process to start this game, both teams hadn’t yet gotten its legs under them. Kam Jones settled in and had a quick eight-straight points for Marquette. He’s hitting from the outside, and how he somehow found a way to get enough spin on that ball to convert the layup was really impressive.
Kam Jones has 10 early points, and Marquette has made their last four FG’s. Great start for the Golden Eagles, but we all know a St. John’s push is coming soon. -MD
6:56 pm: 24-17 MU | 11:15
It’s been the absolute perfect start for the Golden Eagles. Kam Jones has 13 points in just eight minutes and is 5-6 from the floor. Especially in the first five minutes or so, it felt like SJU was a little sluggish. MU was getting each 50/50 ball and was definitely the game’s pacemaker.
SJU has now countered with an 8-0 run, closing the lead to just seven points. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis is just 1-5 shooting. The Johnnies have had five early turnovers, but now seem to be getting their way on the offensive side of the court over the past few possessions.
Zero second chance points for SJU so far, that’s the big key to this one in my opinion. -CT
7:17 pm: 33-31 MU | 3:47 1H
We all knew a St. John’s counter punch was coming, and that it was. The Johnnies have really gotten going in transition, playing physical defensively, getting stops and really pushing the ball. They’ve worn Marquette down physically a bit, and that has led to some easy buckets. Zuby Ejiofor does a really good job of sealing the opposing big man too, which opens up driving lanes for Richmond, Luis and others.
The crowd is vastly in favor of the hometown Johnnies and has been heard from lately, following this huge run. This, deservedly so, has that big game feel which just adds so much to the environment. Kadary Richmond has been excellent in the Big East Tournament. He’s levelled up his play as the season has gone on, and that hasn’t changed today. He’s playing his best basketball when the games get the toughest, and should his play continue at this level, he can win his first tournament game since his time at Syracuse in 2020-21. -MD
7:33 pm: 37-35 MU | HALF
What an incredible first 20 minutes of basketball. Punches and counterpunches galore. Shaka Smart switched to a zone defense down the stretch, which seemed to get SJU out of their rhythm to some degree. Marquette shot just 29% from three and has nine turnovers, yet find themselves with a lead at the half.
It was a crucial final stretch for Marquette, who went on a mini 4-0 run to close the half after the Red Storm dominated the game for the previous ten minutes or so. Capturing a bit of that momentum back heading into the break does wonders.
Kam Jones leads all scorers with 15, after him Zuby Ejiofor paces SJU with 10 points on 4-7 shooting. Kadary Richmond, despite two turnovers, has been impressive to watch. A brilliant defender, but his penetration and passing ability has been spectacular. Kadary driving into the paint seemed to be SJU’s most reliable way to create offense.
It should be a really fun final 20 minutes! Marquette is currently slotted on the 7-seed line on bracketmatrix.com. A loss here has the potential to drop them onto the eight line, while a win and they could still work their way up to a six, depending on tomorrow’s results. For SJU, a win here should fairly confidently put you as a two seed, while a loss and there’s potential for slippage. -CT
8:13 pm: 51-45 SJU | 14:52
This feels like a true home game for St. John’s. It has opened up a bit of a lead here at the Garden and have controlled the momentum for the entirety of the start of the second half. Four of SJU’s five starters have scored at least nine points (Luis, Ejiofor, Richmond, Scott). It’s such a balanced attack that it’ll be quite hard to prep for on short notice, makes the Johnnies' March ceiling already pretty high.
Marquette looks troubled on how to attack this SJU defense, which ranks as the best defense nationally on KenPom. Kam Jones has went 2-2 to start the half, while the rest of the Marquette team is just 1-7. Have to find ways to get Kam in positions to score, which will undoubtedly be tough with how much swarming pressure he is finding. -CT
8:22 pm: 57-50 SJU | 11:19
The best thing about St. John’s is how hard they make you work for everything. Even the things generally taken for granted. Rebounding the basketball off of a missed SJU free throw turns into an event. Yes, their defense truly is special. But what makes them so special is the amount of energy you have to spend doing the small things, before you even get into your sets. This team is uber-athletic and quick, but the majority of the credit does fall to Rick Pitino.
Chase Ross now has four fouls, Kam Jones with three. Unsure how long Shaka can leave one of them out of the game, already down seven. I’d like to see more Ben Gold minutes down the stretch also. Marquette has done a better job of rebounding the basketball while he’s been in. -CT
8:58 pm: 79-63 SJU | FINAL
That will do it from Game One of Semifinal Friday. The Johnnies were the much, much better team in the second half. That half looked much more like the teams we’ve seen these past few months. Marquette had some moments, but the Johnnies shot a vicious counter punch, and Marquette did not respond.
Zuby Ejiofor was spectacular in this game, finishing with 33 points and nin rebounds. He was the best player on the floor. Kadary Richmond also played a pretty impressive game, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. This was all St. John’s, and they played like a team that wants both Big East Championships this year.
On the Marquette side, Kam Jones (24 points) was spectacular, but nobody else could get going. Stevie Mitchell was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures with 11 points. Marquette finished this game with 17 turnovers in this game, which was the big difference. -MD
Game Two
10:09 pm: 35-28 Creighton | 4:03 1H
Starting us off here, after the last presser ran into the game's start time. UConn is playing Creighton very tough on the perimeter, which is opening up a lot of these back cuts, and letting Creighton post up Kalkbrenner. These back cuts and screening actions around the rim have been open for Creighton. However, when Creighton is going to these bench lineups without some of their downhill drivers, they have been struggling.
Jasen Green and Jamiya Neal are benefitting from UConn playing this aggressively, those two are turning UConn’s aggression against them. The duo have combined for 21 Creighton points, while Ashworth and Kalkbrenner have combined for just five points.
On the other side, UConn is looking for the long ball. UConn’s offense can’t really get anything going inside. They’re 5/8 on the long ball, but just 6/14 inside the arc. They’re settling for a lot of these tougher floaters, trying to shoot over Kalkbrenner. A couple of layups have just rimmed out too, but UConn will need to find more ways to score the ball than just ridiculous perimeter shooting. Interesting game thus far, let’s see if any adjustments are made. -MD
10:21 pm: 46-35 Creighton | HALF
UConn has no answer to Creighton on the interior. They're doing anything they can to take away the perimeter, and that has opened up the interior. Jasen Green has been stellar in this game, he's got 15 points to lead all scorers. Creighton is shooting 14/18 from the interior and has nine assists to just two turnovers. They've set the tone in this game, behind impressive performances from the aforementioned Green and Jamiya Neal. Those two have been excellent, and are willing Creighton in this spot. UConn is trying to set a physical tone, but those two are the best athletes on the floor, and are getting to their spots with relative ease. UConn can't match those two, and will have to start playing off them a bit, which gives Creighton the opportunity for those DHO handoffs to Ashworth and their other shooters. UConn is staying in this game with the long ball. UConn is shooting 66.7% from three, making six of them. The Huskies have found good looks, and have converted them at an impressive rate. -MD
Halftime thoughts:
This is Jasen Green’s best game as a Creighton Bluejay. He has a career high 15 points. And he has it in the first half of a Big East semifinal game at Madison Square Garden. Absolute killer – he has improved so much throughout this season.
Fedor Zugic, Ty Davis, Mason Miller, and Jasen Green all provided very good minutes. The emergence of Bluejay role players at a level of consistency we haven’t seen until the end of the season, it really raises the ceiling of this Bluejays squad.
For Dan Hurley’s group, I thought Liam McNeeley was not very good at all in that first half. He and Solo Ball seemed to be the weakest links defensively through 20 minutes. Offensively, Hassan Diarra hit a pair of threes to start the game and has been quietly solid. They’ve also had more good Aidan Mahaney minutes, which is really promising for Dan Hurley. Mahaney hasn’t produced at the level they thought he would when he was acquired in the portal. But, both BET games for UConn, he’s been solid.
This one certainly isn’t over, Creighton had a lead in Omaha over UConn before McNeeley went thermonuclear. But, UConn probably has to tighten up their defensive effort and energy to get back into this one. -CT
11:00 pm: 55-50 Creighton | 11:08 2H
Tarris Reed has completely changed this game. He's giving Kalkbrenner buckets on one end, and playing him much tougher on the other end. He's been absolutely excellent. On the other side, those Creighton drives are being met with much more resistance. UConn is leaving the perimeter a little bit more open but has largely been denying Ashworth the ball. Playing him aggressively has opened up UConn defenders to drop on these Creighton drivers. Jaylin Stewart has also been much better defensively than some of these other UConn wings.
Creighton needs to find an answer fast. UConn does have five quick fouls in this half, so if Creighton can leverage UConn's aggression against them and get to the line, it would greatly help them hold onto this lead. -MD
11:15 pm: 62-56 Creighton | 5:16 2H
Winning time in MSG. Man, what an awesome comeback from UConn. The Huskies have done a great job of taking Ashworth and Kalkbrenner out of this game. It's been the unheralded guys, Jamiya Neal and Jasen Green who have really starred for the Jays. They have been excellent, and are keeping Creighton up here. It's winning time now. Let's see who is ready to take this one. -MD
11:27 pm: 66-60 Creighton | 1:16 2H
UConn calls a timeout with 1:48 left. Creighton is taking advantage of Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban on defense. Karaban has generally been a solid defender, bu Green's strength and size is giving him real problems. Karaban was switched onto McAndrew and they have a smaller Solo Ball checking Green, who has done better denying him the ball. Winning time.
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