Pinned
Link copied
After winning a Big East regular-season title for the first time since 2013, Marquette followed up Saturday by adding a conference tournament crown with a 65-51 win over No. 2 seed Xavier. The victory marks the Golden Eagles' first league tournament title since 1997 when the program was a member of Conference USA.
Marquette needed overtime to beat St. John's in the quarterfinals and played another thriller against UConn in the semifinals on Friday, but the Golden Eagles dominated from start to finish against the Musketeers. Less than eight minutes in, Marquette led 21-4 and built the lead up 27 at one point in the second half.
Xavier cut the deficit to 61-46 with under four minutes to play and forced a Marquette timeout, but the Musketeers didn't have the time or firepower to create any late drama. Tyler Kolek led Marquette with 20 points and the Golden Eagles limited Xavier to just 34.4% shooting while forcing 13 turnovers. Conversely, Marquette turned the ball over just four times, denying Xavier opportunities to build momentum and quicken the pace during the second half.
2023 Big East Tournament scores
First round -- Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 8 St. John's 76, No. 9 Butler 63 | Recap
Game 2: No. 10 DePaul 66, No. 7 Seton Hall 65 | Recap
Game 3: No. 6 Villanova 80, No. 11 Georgetown 48 | Recap
Quarterfinals -- Thursday, March 9
Game 4: No. 1 Marquette 72, No. 8 St. John's 70 (OT) | Recap
Game 5: No. 4 UConn 73, No. 5 Providence 66 | Recap
Game 6: No. 2 Xavier 89, No. 10 DePaul 84 | Recap
Game 7: No. 3 Creighton 87, No. 6 Villanova 7 | Recap
Semifinals -- Friday, March 10
Game 8: No. 1 Marquette 70, No. 4 UConn 68 -- Recap
Game 9: No. 2 Xavier 82, No. 3 Creighton 60 -- Recap
Big East Tournament Championship Game -- Saturday, March 11
Game 10: No. 1 Marquette 65, No. 2 Xavier 51 | Recap
