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Thursday is the most important day of the Big East tournament to everyone except for UConn.
The Huskies are expected to cruise past either the Xavier Musketeers or Butler Bulldogs, which will put them in a great position to battle on back-to-back nights for the Big East crown.
All the other quarterfinal participants will be involved in battles because of the bubble situation.
St. John’s lost both regular-season meetings with Seton Hall, but the Red Storm are in better form on a five-game winning streak.
A win for either program will be celebrated only for a bit because the reality of taking on a fresh UConn team will face them in the semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket, Villanova is better poised to pull off an upset than Providence because its quarterfinal opponent is weaker at the moment.
Marquette point guard Tyler Kolek is dealing with an oblique injury, and even if returns in New York, it will be his first game in almost two weeks.
Villanova’s experienced core, led by Eric Dixon and Justin Moore, could will it to a victory and make it feel somewhat safe about its NCAA tournament spot.
Providence faces a tougher challenge against a Creighton team that is 7-1 in its last eight games.
Creighton is the only team to beat UConn since the calendar flipped to 2024 and it is best equipped to beat the Huskies right now.
However, it must be noted Creighton’s win over UConn on February 20 came three days after an emotional Huskies win over Marquette. UConn also had to travel to the midwest after the battle with the Golden Eagles.
UConn will be playing a home game with its crowd behind it at MSG. The Huskies did not lose at home this season, and while MSG is a neutral venue, the UConn crowd typically shows up in waves for the Big East tournament.
The two best Big East teams should match up in the final. The job for the bubble teams is to pick up at least one more quality win to move up on the bubble. All of them seem like long shots to win the Big East tournament because of the inconsistencies displayed throughout the season.
Prediction: UConn over Creighton
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