The Big 12-Big East Battle is the gift that keeps on giving after the holiday tournaments end. Will the Big East rebound from some tough results in the holiday tournaments?
Marquette and DePaul are the only remaining undefeated teams in the Big East. Marquette is sixth and UConn fell from second to 25th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova and UConn have combined to lose 17 games. Will that change with some challenging matchups this week? Speaking of the Friars, will Tuesday’s game against visiting BYU be the one when star forward Bryce Hopkins makes his season debut? That is far from the only item to consider this week.
Big 12 Matchups Could Help The Big East Rebound
Big East teams have already lost 14 times as the favorite. There are some scary numbers against the college basketball spread. Creighton has covered in just one of its seven games as the favorite with Seton Hall 1-4 ATS as the favorite. The conference is 9-4-1 against the spread as the underdog. According to the Team Rankings database, the Big East is the No. 6 rated conference.
There will be a chance to improve on both numbers when the Big 12-Big East Battle gets underway, where Villanova is home against favored Cincinnati and Providence welcomes BYU to town.
Will Eric Dixon Get Some Help?
It is hard to blame Eric Dixon for Villanova’s early struggles. The senior forward is averaging 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Eric Dixon looked like one of college basketball's premier scorers dropping 38 points for Villanova in a narrow loss to Maryland. Some exceptional shot-making while generating quite a bit of offense for himself and others. pic.twitter.com/YDu0iXIp8t
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) November 24, 2024
When Villanova has run into trouble, it is usually because of a lack of production from the other players. Miami transfer Wooga Poplar and La Salle transfer Jhamir Brickus are the only other double-digit scorers for Villanova. Poplar averages 10.3 points in the four games lost by the Wildcats compared to 14.8 points in the four victories. Brickus has 44 points in the four losses and 53 in the four wins.
Villanova plays at home against No. 14 Cincinnati in the first game of the Big 12-Big East Battle on Tuesday. It is the first chance for the Big East to rebound. The Wildcats are a 3.5-point underdog.
Will Champs Help the Big East Rebound?
The trip to Hawaii was not one to remember for UConn, as the two-time defending national champions lost three games to unranked teams. The Huskies could have won against Memphis and Colorado, but the Maui Invitational ended with a humbling defeat to Colorado.
UConn returned to the win column against Maryland Eastern Shore. Things will get much more difficult when No. 15 Baylor comes to town on Wednesday. The game features two of the nation’s best freshmen. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe averages 11 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3 assists per game. UConn’s Liam McNeeley is third on the Huskies with an average of 12.5 points per game and second with 5.3 rebounds per contest. Alex Karaban, the top scorer for the Huskies, missed UConn’s last game due to a head injury. He could return for this matchup.
Dan Hurley on the game against Baylor next week: pic.twitter.com/UblrZNkzuJ
— UCTV Sports (@UCTVSports) December 1, 2024
Marquette Set For Top-10 Showdown
The most compelling of the Big 12-Big East Battle could be the one in Ames when No. 5 Marquette puts its undefeated record on the line against No. 6 Iowa State on Wednesday. Marquette made quite the statement in a 76-58 win over Purdue. Now the Golden Eagles look to go 2-0 against ranked teams.
Kam Jones already has one triple-double this season, and he flirted with another one as Marquette rolled to a 94-62 win over Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday. David Joplin is one of the Big East’s most improved players.
Creighton Takes Aim At No. 1 Kansas
Creighton dropped its first two games at the Players Era Festival before a four-point win over Notre Dame on Saturday. Arizona State transfer Jamiya Neal had 21 points in the win after scoring a total of 12 points in the previous two games.
The star for Creighton is Ryan Kalkbrenner. He has slowed down after scoring 49 points in a season-opening win over UT Rio Grande. The Big East Preseason Player of the Year has 24 points in his last three games.
Another Tough Test For Xavier
The Xavier Musketeers already have wins over teams from the ACC (Wake Forest) and the SEC (South Carolina) before falling to Michigan out of the Big Ten. Now, the Musketeers go on the road to meet up with TCU on Thursday.
Zach Freemantle had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Michigan. He has scored in double figures in every game since being sidelined for the entire 2023-24 season. Ryan Conwell is the top scorer for Xavier, averaging 16.5 points per game and connecting on 46.5% of his 3-pointers.
