Checking in on the rest of the Big East

With non-conference play completed for St. John’s, the holiday break is a good time to take stock in how the rest of the Big East is performing before action heats up in January, in order of their ranking in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.

UConn

12-1 overall record (2-0 Big East) / AP #4 in the country (December 22) / Picked 2nd in preseason poll

Surprise, surprise: the Huskies are back in national title contention. The Huskies already boast signature wins over No. 10 BYU, No. 17 Kansas (on the road), No. 20 Illinois, and No. 22 Florida, with their only blemish coming in a narrow defeat to the number one team in the country in Arizona, which came without their starting center Tarris Reed.

The defensive and playmaking troubles that plagued UConn last season are no longer issues. Their shutdown defense rivals the best in the country, ranking in the top ten in both two-point shooting percentage allowed (42.9%) and three-point shooting percentage allowed (26.2%). Solo Ball and Alex Karaban were always going to perform like all-conference players, but Eric Reibe and Tarris Reed elevated UConn’s ceiling with their frontcourt play. There is also a strong platoon at the point guard position between Silas Demary, Jr. and Malachi Smith, who each rank in the top-100 nationally in assist rate.

Add in five-star freshman guard Braylon Mullins returning to full health and providing another three-point threat, and the Huskies look like the team to beat in the Big East.

Creighton

8-5 overall record (2-0 Big East) / Picked 3rd in preseason poll

Life without Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth has not been kind to the Bluejays. Creighton lost all of their other major non-conference games, with the exception of defeating a similarly disappointing Oregon at the Players’ Era Festival. Losing potential sophomore breakout candidate Jackson McAndrew for the season and top-50 freshman guard Hudson Greer for a month hasn’t helped matters.

The replacements for Kalkbrenner and Ashworth haven’t filled in their All-Big East shoes. Charlotte transfer Nik Graves and Iowa transfer Owen Freeman each struggled and were relegated to the bench in the four games since Creighton’s embarrassing 21-point loss to in-state rival Nebraska.

If Creighton wants to return to the NCAA Tournament for a sixth consecutive season, they must dominate in Big East play like they did last season and in 2023, when the Bluejays also missed opportunities to build their resume in non-conference play.

Providence

7-6 overall record (0-2 Big East) / Picked 4th in preseason poll

The embers under Kim English’s seat are glowing red. The Friars are at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season after they reached the Big Dance in seven of Ed Cooley’s last ten seasons in The Renaissance City.

Providence lost all of their big non-conference tests, and their best victory came at home against Rhode Island. While Jason Edwards, Jaylin Sellers, and freshmen revelations Stefan Vaaks and Jamier Jones all provided a scoring punch, it hasn’t mattered on a team that cannot stop a nosebleed. The Friars rank 151st in adjusted defensive efficiency and are allowing 90 or more points in five of their six losses, including 100 or more in three of those defeats.

Marquette

5-8 overall record (0-2 Big East) / Picked 5th in preseason poll

Most of the time, it’s difficult to gauge whether a team is good or bad heading into conference play. There’s no use debating it. Marquette is really bad, and it looks like it’s going to get worse for them.

The Golden Eagles nosedived from a preseason KenPom ranking of 47th all the way down to 115th after an 84-63 loss to Creighton. They have not beaten a team ranked better than 206th in KenPom, and they eked out a three-point victory over that very team (Hi, Valparaiso).

The offense led by Chase Ross and Zaide Lowery has been a difficult watch. Marquette ranks 260th in two-point percentage (48.8%) and 286th in three-point percentage nationally (30.7%). While this is almost certainly a lost season for the Golden Eagles, they at least found a building block for the future in freshman Nigel James, Jr. The Long Island native is second on the team in scoring and assists with 12.2 points and 3.7 assists per game.

Georgetown

9-4 overall record (1-1 Big East) / Picked 6th in preseason poll

Up until Thanksgiving, it looked like the Hoyas were finally taking the next step in Ed Cooley’s third season in charge. Georgetown claimed a road victory over DMV rival Maryland and knocked off KenPom top-40 Clemson for their best win of the season. That momentum came to a halt: The Hoyas went 0-2 at the ESPN Events Invitational against Dayton and Miami (FL), then their offense flatlined in the second half during their 81-61 blowout loss to North Carolina.

The Hoyas also made headlines, and not the good kind. Ed Cooley was suspended for one game after the head coach struck a toddler with a water bottle he hurled into the crowd out of frustration after Georgetown’s loss to Xavier last week.

If Georgetown wants to get back on track, they need more efficient shooting, particularly from Malik Mack (14.5 ppg) and KJ Lewis (14.3 ppg). Both guards lead the Hoyas in scoring, but Mack and Lewis are shooting 37.9% and 40.8% from the field, respectively. As a whole, the Hoyas are shooting 30.3% from three, which ranks a dismal 295th in the nation.

Villanova

10-2 overall record (1-0 Big East) / Picked 7th in preseason poll

The Wildcats aren’t interested in just rebuilding in Kevin Willard’s first season, but are looking to make a push to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Jay Wright’s retirement in 2022.

Villanova’s only defeats came against BYU on Opening Night in which they almost came back from a 10-point second half deficit and a 28-point blowout loss to Michigan on the road — there’s no shame in losing to a team that also destroyed the likes of Auburn and Gonzaga, and they’ve already helped their tournament resume with wins over Wisconsin and Seton Hall on the road.

As transfers who began their careers playing limited minutes at power conference teams, then elevating their play with more playing time at a mid-major, Bryce Lindsey (16.6 ppg) and Duke Brennan (12.0 ppg) acclimated to their new digs well. Lindsey leads all Big East players in three-point shooting percentage (44.2%), and Brennan ranks fifth in the country in rebounding (11.4 boards per game). Freshmen Matthew Hodge and Acaden Lewis are also making immediate impacts, with each player averaging double-figures.

Xavier

9-4 overall record (1-1 Big East) / Picked 8th in preseason poll

Like Villanova, Xavier is also going through another rebuild under a first-year head coach, although they haven’t enjoyed the immediate results yet. The Musketeers picked up okay wins over regional rivals West Virginia and Cincinnati, but that was undone by blowout defeats to Santa Clara and Creighton at home.

Point blank, there isn’t enough high-end talent for Richard Pitino to utilize. The Musketeers are shooting 47.2% from two-point range (295th-best nationally). Xavier is also as pedestrian as a team could get from a defensive standpoint.

Florida Atlantic transfer and leading scorer Tre Carroll (16.5 ppg) will need to carry the offense as he’s already provided multiple scoring outbursts, including a 30-piece to beat Cincinnati and, most recently, a 22-point outing versus Georgetown.

DePaul

8-5 overall record (0-2 Big East) / Picked 9th in preseason poll

Rebuilding the Blue Demons was always going to be a multi-year project for Chris Holtmann, and it appears it’s also one that will take at least one or two more seasons for DePaul to become competitive in the Big East.

Through 13 games, DePaul has only one win against a KenPom top-100 opponent, knocking off Wichita State on the road. They also have a terrible 13-point loss to Buffalo and have lost by double digits in three of their four matchups against a top-75 team.

DePaul is at least making strides defensively, holding opponents to a 48.1% effective field goal percentage (77th-best nationally) and forcing turnovers at a 20.2% rate (47th-best nationally).

There is a path to a winning record for the Blue Demons, but it requires them to finish the rest of their conference games with a .500 record — in other words, win nine or more Big East games for the second time in program history. Even with Xavier and Marquette tumbling to the bottom of the conference, that is asking for too much at this point for the Blue Demons.

Butler

10-3 overall record (1-1 Big East) / Picked 10th in preseason poll

Is this the year that Butler finally breaks through and returns to the NCAA Tournament? We still don’t know.

The Bulldogs faded into the middle class of the Big East in Thad Matta’s first three seasons, and they’ve started similarly this season with some good wins and a few missed opportunities. The crown jewel of their resume is a neutral-site win over Virginia, along with victories over Providence and Northwestern, but they also fell to SMU and Boise State. If they want to build a serious at-large case, they must finish with a winning record in the Big East and beat St. John’s or UConn at least once.

They’re pretty balanced on both ends of the floor, ranking within the top-65 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency, but their 68.2% free-throw shooting percentage is a major red flag. When they lost to SMU by two points, they only shot 14-of-23 from the charity stripe (60.9%).

Gonzaga transfer Michael Ajayi is a double-double threat every night, averaging 16.6 points and 12.2 rebounds, while Finley Bizjack is finally emerging as a scoring threat (16.3 ppg).

Seton Hall

11-2 overall record (1-1 Big East) / AP receiving votes (December 22) / Picked last in preseason poll

How about this for a surprise? After a season from hell, the Pirates have not only surpassed last season’s win total of seven, but they also look like one of the stronger teams in the conference. Seton Hall already has an 11-point win over then-No. 23-ranked NC State and should have beaten USC if it weren’t for late-game officiating hijinks in Maui. They also knocked off Kansas State on the road, crushed in-state rival Rutgers at home, and survived a seesaw affair against Providence.

Seton Hall profiles as a trademark Shaheen Holloway-led team: an elite defensive unit, though one that struggles with offensive consistency. The Pirates are first in the country in block percentage (19.9%) and are second in steal percentage (15.9%), but their 50.1% effective field goal percentage ranks 213th nationally.

If the Pirates are going to return to the NCAA Tournament, they need to keep forcing turnovers and find their clutch shotmakers. Leading scorers A.J. Staton McCray (13.1 ppg) and TJ Simpkins (11.3 ppg) can become those late-game closers. Simpkins scored a team-high 22 points in that closely-contested win over Providence.

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