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#22 Butler 85, St. John's 62 - The Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never came close to trailing as they won their fourth straight game.
Butler built a major lead in the middle of this one, leading by 20 at one point early in the second half. The Red Storm battled back to cut the lead down to just eight points with 5:27 left on a Rysheed Jordan layup. And then Butler scored the last 15 points of the game to win by 23. Whoops.
The most notable item from this game is the elbow that SJU center Chris Obekpa threw at Tyler Wideman.
According to Howie Kussoy of the New York Post, Obekpa claims that Wideman hit him three times and Obekpa told the ref about that. While that may be true, it's no excuse for what Obepka did to take matters into his own hands. That elbow that he threw is an illegal blow in a UFC fight because it's to the back of the head. If St. John's head coach Steve Lavin doesn't suspend Obekpa for the remainder of the season, then the Big East needs to step in and do that for him. When you're throwing strikes that are not allowed in a contest where you're trying to strike your opponent because it presents too much risk to that person's health, there's absolutely no reason why you should be allowed to play another game for the rest of the season.
You can check in with Butler Hoops or Rumble In The Garden for more on this game.
DePaul 75, Seton Hall 62 - As per usual, DePaul causes complete havoc to the Big East standings as they just keep on winning games that, in theory, they have no business winning.
It was a competitive game for the first 35 minutes, and then Billy Garrett went nuts. Garrett scored nine of the game's final 19 points while the Blue Demons were on a 16-3 run overall to end up with a monster home win over a Seton Hall squad that needed to start racking up wins with Isaiah Whitehead back in the lineup. The Pirates are now 3-5 in their last eight and 1-1 since Whitehead returned from injury. Their NCAA hopes are falling apart in their hands, and they really could not afford to lose this game.
Sterling Gibbs and Jamee Crockett each scored 21 for their respective teams, while Garrett gave the Blue Demons 20 points to boost them to the win. Head over to South Orange Juice for updates on Seton Hall.