![]() The teams traded empty possessions before a Taylor three-point play gave Butler a 64-59 lead with 40 seconds remaining.A stretch with Xavier making seven consecutive shots pulled Xavier within two at 61-59 with 1:35 remaining.Xavier scored the first nine points of the second half to pull within 35-30 less than three minutes into the half.Butler's hot shooting gave the Bulldogs a 35-21 halftime lead.Butler shot 54 percent from the field, including 67 percent in the opening half as the Bulldogs built a 35-21 lead.Friday night was his third 20-point game of the season and the fourth of his career. Taylor has scored 19, 19 and 20 points over the last three games. Sophomore Jayden Taylor had a game-high 20 points, knocking down nine of his 11 attempts at the free throw line.With the result, Butler levels its record at 13-13 overall and 5-10 in BIG EAST play. 13/15 Xavier, 69-67, Friday night at sold-out Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 19 Xavier on Saturday.Butler held on down the stretch after building a lead during a dominant first half, knocking off No. Marquette: Closes the regular season Saturday at home against St. Another Butler regular, wing Ali Ali, was sidelined by concussion protocol for the second time this season. The school has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2013.īutler center Manny Bates was back in the lineup after missing two games with a shoulder injury. 19 Xavier and then twice in the Big East Tournament to avoid a third successive losing season.īutler was 14-19 (7-13 Big East) last season and 10-15 (8-12) in 2020-21. For the first time, the Golden Eagles defeated every league opponent at least once.īutler: In the first season of Thad Matta’s second coaching stint at Butler, the Bulldogs would have to win Saturday at No. Marquette’s 16 league wins are the most in school history. “We never really talked about winning the Big East championship,” Smart said. In 1989-90, Connecticut was picked eighth and tied Syracuse for first place. Marquette: The Golden Eagles made the biggest jump in the history of the Big East preseason poll. Marquette shot 72% (13 for 18) on 2-pointers in claiming a 36-22 halftime advantage. After the Bulldogs closed to 18-13, Marquette went on a 14-3 spurt to seize a 32-16 lead.īutler was never closer than 11 points thereafter. Jayden Taylor scored 13 and Jalen Thomas had 10 for Butler (14-16, 6-13), which finished 4-6 in Big East home games.īutler shot 0 of 10 while going scoreless for nearly nine minutes in falling behind 16-6. In the second half, the Golden Eagles shot 65% (15 of 23) from the floor and led by as many as 24 points. And there’s a lot of really good players in our league.” “I would say that he has been as impactful for winning as anyone in our league. He said he is not one to “politic” for individual awards, but offered this assessment of Kolek: The 45-year-old Smart, in his second season at Marquette after six each at VCU and Texas, won his first regular-season league championship in 14 years as a Division I head coach. ![]() “We’re very excited about winning the Big East regular season. “The calendar is about to turn to March,” Smart said. The Golden Eagles will open in the quarterfinals March 9 against the winner of a first-round game between Butler and St. Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 14 points and Oso Ighodaro had 12 for the Golden Eagles, who will be the top seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden - an event Marquette has never won. Marquette, which had already earned at least a share of its first Big East title since 2013, had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003. This week, Marquette ascended to its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 since it was No. The victory was the fifth in a row and 10th in 11 games for the surprising Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-3), picked ninth by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll. It looks like they really feed off him, and he embraces that leadership.” “He’s such an intelligent basketball player. He makes that team go,” Butler coach Thad Matta said. He shot 9 of 13 from the field and 2 for 3 on 3-pointers against the Bulldogs. Over the past nine games, he has averaged 18.2 points. Heading into the game, Kolek, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Cumberland, R.I., was second in the NCAA in assists (7.8 per game). Kolek had 21 points and 10 assists, and Marquette clinched its first outright conference title in 20 years by beating Butler 72-56 on Tuesday night. It would be hard to pick against Tyler Kolek for Big East player of the year or Shaka Smart for conference coach of the year. 6 Marquette has secured the regular-season Big East championship, more accolades could follow.
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