Player of the Week:
Primo Spears (Georgetown)
The Hoyas finally won a conference game after 29 straight losses spanning nearly two seasons, with their win over DePaul last week. While Georgetown did not win any games this week, Spears has to be recognized for his efforts. In their recent loss to Xavier, Spears put up career high 37 points and 11 assist. This was his first ever collegiate double-double with 11 assists matching his previous career high. He scored 12 of his 15 field goals inside the arc. Spears has been a high-level scorer ever since he started collegiate basketball at Duquesne last year. He currently sits 2nd overall in the Big East in assists per game and 3rd in points per game. Georgetown has a talented player with Spears, they just need some more surrounding pieces.
Who’s Hot:
Marquette Golden Eagles
No one thought Marquette would be one of the best teams in the Big East, yet they sit in second place with an 8-2 record hiding behind Xavier. The Golden Eagles strung together two victories over Providence and Seton Hall after falling to Xavier the previous week. The Providence victory was huge showing their abilities to bounce back after losing to the friars earlier in the season in an overtime thriller. They have a light week this week against a struggling Villanova team and DePaul who sits towards the bottom of the Big East. They can’t take these games for granted since any game in the Big East is a tough challenge.
Creighton Blue Jays
The Bluejays had a tough two game stretch against ranked opponents on the road at UConn and Xavier resulting in two losses. They were able to stay strong against the Musketeers losing by only three points. They easily could have come away with this one leading by six with just over nine minutes to go, but the Musketeers went on a crucial 16-3 lead run that flipped the score differential. This week they took care of business getting revenge over providence and beating Butler in their own home. Everyone shared the wealth against Butler with seven different players scoring at least eight points.
Who’s Not:
Providence Friars
It was only a matter of time until Providence hot streak ended. They started 6-0 in the conference but dropped two of their last three games. A big reason for that is the tough Big East schedule with those two losses being on the road at No. 20 Marquette and Creighton. They struggled against Creighton’s defense scoring their Big East season low 67 points shooting 38.5% from the field. The Friars will need more from their bench that had combined eight points in those two losses. Bench play is also vital come March.
Georgetown Hoyas
Patrick Ewing needs to figure something out because even though Georgetown brought in some talented transfers, they still are not winning any basketball games. Every other team in the Big East team treats them as a buy game. They put up 82 points against Xavier in their last game, but that doesn’t matter when you let the other team score 95. Georgetown currently sits last in the Big East allowing 78.6 points per game and are ranked 281st on Kenpom in defensive efficiency.
Top Five Current NBA players from the Big East:
#5 Doug McDermott
Son of Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, Dougie McBuckets was a legendary college basketball player averaging 26.7 points a game his senior year earning the 2014 Wooden Award. He’s still hooping in the NBA currently playing for the Spurs. He’s never made an insane impact at this level but has been a high IQ player with a solid veteran bench role.
#4 Max Strus
Believe it or not, Strus attend DePaul university where he averaged 20.1 points per game. He was named to the second team All-Big East finishing third all-time in career three pointers made in program history. He now has a solid role for the Miami Heat where he has started 24 games this season averaging 12.6 points a game. He’s a great example of a solid college player who worked on his craft to become even better to play in the NBA.
#3 Saddiq Bey
Bey is a sleeper on this list because he’s playing for one of the worst teams in the NBA. He’s now in his third season with the Pistons who are slowly on the rise in becoming a powerhouse in the league. He only played two seasons for Villanova and never got to be a part of a significant March Madness run with Covid-19 canceling the tournament his final season.
#2 Mikal Bridges
More known for his defense in college, Bridges has developed his offensive game making major strides. He is currently averaging career best 16.3 points a game for the Suns and play a significant role for the Suns in their 20201 NBA finals run. He is a prime example of why your size and defense are valuable assets that will be carried over to the league. He played along some other elite talent at Villanova but earns a No. 2 spot on this list.
#1 Jalen Brunson
Ending this list with yet again another Villanova player, Brunson is by far the best current Big East product. The starting point guard for the New York Knicks is having the best season of his career averaging 22.5 points and 6.3 assists per game. He’s been balling on another level in the new year with four 30+ point games already in January and he just recently earned a career high of 44 points against the Mavericks.