Community Picks: Butler 0% vs Seton Hall 0%

On the fringes of the bubble picture entering Tuesday night, Creighton landed the marquee win it needed to get back to within striking distance of an NCAA tournament bid. Point guard Maurice Watson scored 32 points and dished out five assists to lead the Bluejays to a 70-56 upset of visiting fifth-ranked Xavier. Creighton's victory gives it hope of a late surge during the final three weeks of Big East play. The Bluejays are 16-9 overall and 7-5 in the Big East, but their most noteworthy wins prior to Tuesday night came against fellow bubble teams Seton Hall, Butler and Georgetown. Now the Bluejays at least have one truly big win on their resume. Xavier (21-3, 9-3) had been just a game behind first-place Villanova in the Big East standings prior to suffering its third conference loss. Of Creighton's six remaining Big East games, four are on the road against Xavier, Providence, Butler and Marquette. The Bluejays probably need to win at least two of those and hold serve at home against St. John's and Marquette to have realistic hope entering the Big East tournament. That won't be easy, but give Creighton credit for even being in this position in what was thought to be a second straight post-Doug McDermott rebuilding year. Three of the team's four leading scorers have one more year of eligibility left, a strong recruiting class is on its way and things are looking up once again for the Bluejays. TUESDAY'S BUBBLE WINNERS: Wichita State (18-6, 12-1): The Shockers bounced back from their first league loss of the season with a 74-48 throttling of overmatched Drake. Wichita State should make the NCAA tournament with ease as long as they don't lose another regular season game, but the Shockers' injury-plagued non-conference struggles could come into play if they suffer another upset or two. Cincinnati (18-7, 8-4): Three days after falling at Memphis, the Bearcats avoided an even more damaging loss. They pounded host UCF 69-51.  Cincinnati does have a trio of solid wins against UConn, VCU and George Washington, but the Bearcats have only two chances to add to that list before their conference tournament — home games against UConn or SMU. Winning at least one of those is likely essential. TUESDAY'S BUBBLE LOSERS: Pittsburgh (17-6, 6-5): The longer Pittsburgh goes without beating a ranked opponent, the more jeopardy the Panthers may find themselves in next month. They fell just short at Miami on Tuesday night, dropping a 65-63 heartbreaker. Pittsburgh's three most notable wins this season have come against good-but-not-great Notre Dame and bubble teams Syracuse and Florida State. The Panthers' next chance is Saturday at North Carolina. Georgia (13-9, 6-5): The Bulldogs should hope nobody on the selection committee watched Tuesday's 82-48 loss at Kentucky. They looked nothing like an NCAA tournament team at any moment against the Wildcats. Georgia's resume frankly has little to be excited about besides solid home victories over South Carolina and Clemson. The Bulldogs probably need to win at least five of their final seven games and pick off either Florida or South Carolina in the process.  - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

February 09, 2016 11:52:pm EST

Xavier has never reached a Final Four. The Musketeers have come close a couple of times, losing to Duke in a regional final in 2004 and to UCLA in 2008. With a month to go before tournament time, this Xavier team is ahead of all of those others. Continue to Article

February 08, 2016 6:07:pm EST

Keland Martin scored 18 points and Roosevelt Jones had a triple-double in 28 minutes for Butler on Saturday, sending St. John's to its 14th consecutive loss, 89-56. Butler was never threatened in the matchup of the best and worst shooting team in the conference. The 14 straight losses doubles the previous school record for St. John's and matches Delaware for the longest current streak in Division I. Continue to Article

February 06, 2016 6:53:pm EST

Butler needed  a victory over Georgetown at home Tuesday night to avoid slipping even further behind much of the rest of the Big East Conference and to prevent further damage to its postseason resume. But those motivations weren't at the top of the list for the Bulldogs as they hosted Georgetown. They wanted a win to honor assistant coach Emerson Kampen and his family. Kampen's 6-month-old son, Kampen IV, died Monday from Leigh’s Disease, a genetic disease he was diagnosed with only two weeks ago. The Bulldogs came through with an 87-76 victory, leading to tears when it was over. Chris Holtmann in tears. Butler assistant Emerson Kampen's 6-month-old, Emerson IV, died Monday of genetic disease. "This one's for them." — Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) February 3, 2016 “These guys were locked in for the bulk of the game,” coach Chris Holtmann said after the game when he first told media members about Emerson Kampen IV's death. “It’s a tremendous win. We’ll see if we can build on this in the coming days of practice.” It is the second time this season Butler has dealt with a death in the family. Former Bulldog Andrew Smith died last month after a two-year battler with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and later leukemia. He was 25. Sophomore guard Kelan Martin started the game looking as if he was desperate to avoid a fourth loss in five games. He scored 13 points in the opening seven minutes setting a tone for the Bulldogs and putting the Hoyas in chase mode. Martin went on to score a career-best 35 points leading his team to a win and keeping Butler in the thick of things in the conference race. [ Midseason turnaround has San Diego State eying an NCAA bid ] Kampen was not at the game but he participated in the halftime talk via Skype, according to a press release from the school. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 16 points after halftime. Martin didn't carry the team on his own. He had plenty of help from Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones. Dunham provided the highlight-reel plays driving to the basket and knocking down 3-pointers on his way to 18 points. Jones scored 19 and also grabbed six rebounds with five assists. Kellen Dunham with ALL THE MOVES for @ButlerMBB ! #BIGEAST https://t.co/hF1Z1X0NWi — FS1 (@FS1) February 3, 2016 [ ESPN's Holly Rowe will undergo surgery to remove a tumor ] Georgetown guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 21 points and L.J. Peak came off the bench to score 22, but after falling behind by 15 points, Georgetown couldn't dig out of the hole against a focused and extremely motivated Butler team. Georgetown tried to extend the game late by fouling and making Butler make free throws. The Bulldogs went 31-for-28 at the free throw line. One of those made free throws came from Dunham to complete a four-point play with just under eight minutes remaining. KD THE 3! AND 1! Have a night, @KellenDunham24 . #BIGEAST https://t.co/4vn9R2ZqDp — FS1 (@FS1) February 3, 2016 - - - - - - - [ Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo Continue to Article

February 02, 2016 10:29:pm EST

It took until two-thirds of the way through his senior season for Roosevelt Jones to sink his first career 3-pointer, but the Butler forward found a way to make it memorable. He banked in a 70 footer at the halftime buzzer of Saturday afternoon's Big East clash between the Bulldogs and Marquette. ROOSEVELT JONES! 3/4 COURT HEAVE IS GOOD! @rozayyjones21 with #The1 for @ButlerMBB to end the half! #BIGEAST https://t.co/Z66tl4TLks — FS1 (@FS1) January 30, 2016 A crafty 6-foot-4 small forward who thrives attacking off the dribble, Jones has averaged 14.5 points this season despite not attempting a single 3-pointer. Out of Jones' more than 1,100 career field goal attempts entering play Saturday, only three came from behind the arc, the last of which was an off-target, last-second heave in a 54-53 loss to LaSalle in Jan. 2013. After Jones hit the 70 footer against Marquette, he celebrated the only way anyone celebrates anything in 2016. Hit a 3/4 court shot? Yeah, you can dab @rozayyjones21 ! #BIGEAST pic.twitter.com/yy8wZfyWlv — FS1 (@FS1) January 30, 2016 - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

January 30, 2016 1:45:pm EST