Whether it is the actual NCAA tournament or the Big East tournament, making the Final Four in March is special.
Villanova, Providence, Xavier and Georgetown took the floor Friday in the conference semifinals with two spots in the championship game in Madison Square Garden on the line. Winning championships is always special, but winning a basketball title in the Mecca of Basketball would certainly mean a lot.
With that in mind, here is a look at the semifinals scores and important details from the Big East tournament. This information will be updated throughout Friday’s action.
Semifinals Scores and Bracket
An updated bracket for Saturday’s championship game can be found here, courtesy of BigEast.com.
Championship Schedule
Semifinals Recap
Villanova 63, Providence 61
Providence is going to be thinking about Friday’s 63-61 loss to Villanova for a long time.
There is certainly no shame in losing to the top seed in the Big East tournament, but the Friars went on an emotional roller coaster in the final 12 seconds. After playing from behind for the majority of the game, Providence tied the game up at 61 in dramatic fashion down the stretch.
Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports 1 described the proceedings:
Kris Dunn was a dominant force for Providence the entire game and not just in those closing moments and finished with 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals. Tyler R. Tynes of SB Nation took the time to point out an injustice:
While Dunn did everything he could, the Friars fouled Ryan Arcidiacono with three seconds remaining. Arcidiacono calmly knocked down the two free throws, and LaDontae Henton’s desperation three at the end didn’t fall.
Even the Providence mascot was shocked, as Jerry Carino of the Gannett New Jersey newspapers pointed out:
Josh Hart led the Wildcats in the scoring department off the bench with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, but three different players finished in double figures. It was the type of closely contested game that Villanova will likely face in the NCAA tournament, and it found a way to come out on top.
Big East MBB passed along a telling quote from Villanova coach Jay Wright:
Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to the Big East Championship Game. A victory there will go a long way toward potentially locking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, regardless of whether it comes against Georgetown or Xavier.
Villanova is battling with Wisconsin, Duke, Virginia and Arizona for positioning behind Kentucky in the seed line, and a Big East title would reflect well in the eyes of the committee.
Xavier 65, Georgetown 63
Xavier made life a lot more difficult on its fans than it needed to on this Friday night.
The Musketeers controlled the majority of their Big East tournament semifinal clash with Georgetown and seized a 53-33 lead with less than eight minutes remaining. From there, they held on for dear life and eventually prevailed 65-63 after a tense final stretch.
The Hoyas found themselves down 64-61 with two seconds remaining after the valiant comeback effort, but Xavier committed a foul to ensure a three-point shot was out of the question. Jabril Trawick made the first one and then hit the second one even though he tried to miss it intentionally to set up a rebound.
That was enough for Xavier to hold on for the dramatic victory and advance to the conference title game.
Xavier ironically caught a break when Trawick made that free throw because lackluster free-throw shooting from the Musketeers was part of the problem, as Shannon Russell of The Cincinnati Enquirer noted:
Despite the poor shooting from the charity stripe as a team, Xavier received a monster game from Matt Stainbrook. The big man finished with 20 points and nine rebounds (and actually hit four of his five free throws, which is more than the guards could say).
Trawick spearheaded the comeback for the Hoyas with 19 points, although that final free throw will likely haunt him.
Next up for Xavier is a date with Villanova in the conference championship game. It is a fitting clash because the Musketeers are part of the new breed in the Big East, while the Wildcats have been in the league for years.
Villanova knocked off Xavier by double digits both times they played this year, but beating a team three times in a season is never easy. If the Musketeers play like they did the first 30 minutes of Friday’s game, they could have a chance.
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