Player of the Week:
Trey Alexander, Creighton
Earlier this year Alexander displayed his explosiveness scoring 32 points against DePaul, good enough for his new career high. This past week he did nearly the same with an impressive 27 points against Villanova. He sits second in the team in scoring averaging 13.5 points a game. He’s continually getting better as the season is moving on with double figures in the last 10 games. He’s improved significantly since last season and beginning to fill the role of one of the team’s leaders.
Who’s Hot:
Creighton Blue Jays
This team is rolling. They are the hottest team in the Big East right now with six straight wins. It’s very hard to do that in a conference like this. These efforts have pushed them back into the top 25 rankings sitting now 23rd overall. This has set them up for major success especially looking down the road to March Madness. Kenpom has Creighton ranked No. 13 overall and the recent bracketology has them as a No. 7 seed in March Madness. We saw this young team lose to Kansas who won it all last year, so with that raw talent back they are in position to make a run.
Xavier Muskateers
No Freemantle no problem. Zach Freemantle reinjured the same foot that he had surgery on in 2021 and it has been announced that he will be out for a least a month. The forward is one of the best in the nation averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds a game while shooting 58% from the field. Despite this injury, Xavier handled business with a gritty win at home over Providence in overtime and a compelling 96-71 victory over Saint John’s. In the absence of Freemantle, veteran players Jack Nunge, Souley Boum and Colby Jones all scored 20+ in the overtime win.
Who’s Not:
Saint John’s Red Storm
The Red Storm might be one of the most inconsistent teams in the Big East. They were able to string together two big wins in early January, one of which over No. 6 UConn. Since then, they are 1-4 coming off brutal double digit losses to both Seton Hall and Xavier. Big man Joel Soriano has been struggling in the last two games with just 15 total points. In those contests he is combined 5/15 from the field. Not the efficiency you want from a big guy who doesn’t take shots outside the paint. Their defense needs major improvement, especially after allowing Seton Hall to score 84 points. That’s the second highest the Pirates scored all year, with their highest being 88 the first time they played Saint John’s this season.
Cam Whitmore, Villanova
Five-star freshman Whitmore has started in the last 10 games for Villanova and came into this season anticipated to be the Big East freshman of the year. While he is still young, the Wildcats have been relying on him to do a lot of scoring. In the last two games he has averaged just 7 points. Against Marquette he played just 14 minutes, landing in foul trouble most of the game. Villanova was able to keep their last two games close but will need Whitmore to be more consistent to get some wins.. Whitmore is a highly explosive player who many feel can be a lottery pick and therefire is held to higher standards. He averages 12.3 points a game, and will need to raise his level of play from the past week to justify the lofty projections.
Top Five Defense:
#5 Providence
In their wins defense has been the reason for the outcomes. In seven of their nine Big East wins, their opponents are averaging just 60 points a game. The most impressive of these being the win on the road at Butler where they held the Bulldogs to 52 points. It’s a common theme for all the ranked Big East teams that defense leads to win.
#4 Marquette
Shaka Smart’s team was solid on defense last year and this year he’s been doing the same. The changing defenses from man to zone have caused the opposition several problems. This defense was displayed to its full potential in their early game against Baylor where they won 96-70. At the half Baylor had just 25 points with 16 turnovers. Considering how talented thee bear’s backcourt is, this win was a huge resume booster.
#3 UConn
A problem with last year’s team was that when Adama Sanogo got into foul trouble, they didn’t have a reliable backup to fill his void. This year they have Donovan Clingan who is basically equivalent to Sanogo as a force in the paint. The Huskies have just an all-around athletic team that equates well on defense.
#2 Seton Hall
One of Seton Hall’s most impressive games this year displaying their defense was against Rutgers in a game where the final score was 45-43. The Pirates defense being the better of the two this game with Rutgers currently No. 2 in the nation in defensive efficiency. Defense has been winning them games and has allowed them to win 6 of their last seven games.
#1 Creighton
The combination of perimeter and interior defense has been Creighton’s bread and butter. Ryan Kalkbrenner leads the Big East with 2.4 blocks per game discouraging opposing teams from coming inside the paint. Just look at their last three games. The allowed an average of 60 points and held Xavier to just 67 points. This was huge to do against the best offensive team in the conference.