UConn vs. Marquette score: Huskies make case for No. 1 overall seed with dominant win in Big East title game

Huskies turned a first-half slog into a second-half blowout to capture their first conference tournament title since 2011.

UConn will enter the NCAA Tournament as the Big East Tournament champions after beating Marquette 73-57 in Saturday's title game. The win adds another banner to the program's growing collection under sixth-year coach Dan Hurley. The Huskies will head to the Big Dance as winners in 21 of their last 22 games as they seek to defend last season's national title.

Donovan Clingan led UConn with 22 points and 16 rebounds as UConn overcame a slow start to win a conference tournament for the first time since 2016, when it was a member of the AAC. UConn was already a lock to be a No. 1 seed in Jerry Palm's Bracketology. With Purdue and Houston each losing Saturday, the Huskies will also have a case to be the No. 1 overall seed when the 68-team bracket is revealed Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

Marquette dragged the Huskies into the mud during the first half while playing without star guard Tyler Kolek, who has been held out this week while recovering from an oblique injury. But after leading just 26-24 at halftime, UConn found a rhythm in the second half, shooting 63% from the floor.

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It was a wild week at Madison Square Garden as bubble teams like St. John's, Providence and Seton Hall battled for conference bragging rights. Below is the full rundown from the tournament.

2024 Big East Tournament schedule, scores

Location: Madison Square Garden -- New York
Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)  | Follow live: CBS Sports App  

All times Eastern; some start times approximated

Big East Tournament Championship Game -- Saturday, March 16
Game 10: No. 1 UConn 73, No. 3 Marquette 57 | Recap

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First round -- Wednesday, March 13
Game 1: No. 8 Butler vs. No. 9 Xavier |  Recap
Game 2: No. 7 Providence 74 , No. 10 Georgetown 56 | Recap
Game 3: No. 6 Villanova 58, No. 11 DePaul 57 | Recap 

Quarterfinals -- Thursday, March 14
Game 4: No. 1 UConn 87, No. 9 Xavier 60 | Recap
Game 5: No. 5 St. John's 91, No. 4 Seton Hall 72 | Recap
Game 6: No. 7 Providence 78, No. 2 Creighton 73 | Recap
Game 7: No. 3 Marquette 71, No. 6 Villanova 65 | Recap

Semifinals -- Friday, March 15
Game 8: No. 1 UConn 95, No. 5 St. John's 90 | Recap
Game 9: No. 3 Marquette 79, No. 7 Providence 68 | Recap

Follow below for updates, analysis and highlights throughout the event.

[Mar 16, 2024 at 8:43 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Championship: UConn 73, Marquette 57

No. 1 seed UConn ran the table in the Big East Tournament and captured the conference tournament championship with a 73-57 win over No. 3 seed Marquette on Saturday. It's the Huskies' first Big East Tournament title since 2011 and eighth overall as a program, matching Georgetown for the most all-time.

The absence of Marquette star Tyler Kolek finally caught up to the Golden Eagles and their prolific offense, which scored its fewest points since the last time it faced UConn on Feb. 17. Kolek missed the entirety of the Big East Tournament with an oblique injury but could return for the NCAA Tournament.

UConn is a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the betting favorite to win it all for a second consecutive season. It could be the first team since Florida (2006-07) to win back-to-back national championships.

[Mar 15, 2024 at 10:55 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Semifinals: Marquette 79, Providence 68

The Big East Tournament championship game is set. No. 3 seed Marquette will face No. 1 seed UConn on Saturday in The Garden after the Golden Eagles downed the Friars, 79-68. Providence gave it a nice go late to keep things close, but Marquette's offensive weaponry -- even without leading assist man Tyler Kolek -- was just too difficult to slow.

Kam Jones was big again for Marquette in willing it to win, finishing with 23 points, five assists and five rebounds. Oso Ighodaro had a bounce-back game after a dud in the quarters with 20 points as well.

Marquette narrowly defeated UConn last season en route to winning the Big East tourney title but will likely be a heavy underdog Saturday to a Huskies team that is the current betting favorite to win the NCAA championship. The Golden Eagles may also be without Kolek again; he has missed all of the postseason thus far with a nagging oblique injury.

[Mar 15, 2024 at 8:00 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Semifinals: UConn 95, St. John's 90

No. 1 seed UConn outlasts a tough and gritty performance from No. 5 seed St. John's to move to the Big East Tournament title game on Saturday. Tristen Newton had a huge game for the Huskies, leading all scorers with 25 points and nine assists in what turned out to be a shootout on offense. St. John's guard Daniss Jenkins had a heroic performance in the near-upset with 27 points and five assists. 

UConn has made a habit this season of keeping things close and flipping the switch in the second half, but the Johnnies scored 43 in the second half -- same as the Huskies. That's not banner material, but it's a nice consolation for a team that once looked dead in the water with respect to its NCAA Tournament hopes.

St. John's is currently a projected 10-seed in Jerry Palm's bracket but near the cut line and potentially susceptible to bid thieves, so a loss here stings just a tad. A win over fellow bubble foe Seton Hall on Thursday likely helped its case substantially, though, giving it at least some confidence ahead of Selection Sunday.

[Mar 15, 2024 at 12:22 am ET · Kyle Boone]

Quarterfinals: Marquette 71, Villanova 65 (OT)

Even without college basketball assist leader Tyler Kolek, No. 3 seed Marquette advances past No. 6 seed Villanova and into the semifinals where it will face No. 7 seed Providence on Friday night. The Golden Eagles needed a big night from Kam Jones and Jones obliged, turning in 18 points -- including 11 in the second half and a near buzzer-beater -- in the victory.

Marquette's supporting cast stepped up in a big way with Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin combining for 29 points. Sophomore guard Chase Ross also reached double figures with 11 points.

Villanova likely needed the win to move onto the right side of the bubble in Jerry Palm's bracket and now awaits its fate on Selection Sunday likely on the outside of the tourney picture.

[Mar 14, 2024 at 9:26 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Quarterfinals: Providence 78, Creighton 73

A bid thief emerges in the Big East! No. 7 seed Providence downed No. 2 seed Creighton in a major surprise, 78-73, behind Devin Carter's heroic 22-point, 11-rebound performance. The Friars looked dead in the water but might've just revived their NCAA Tournament hopes with the win.

Providence first-year coach Kim English flipped the momentum after an early technical, and the Friars delivered a 23-6 run in response that culminated with one of their best wins. Wow. Drama in the Big East! Providence faces the winner of Villanova and Marquette on Friday.

[Mar 14, 2024 at 4:57 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Quarterfinals: St. John's 91, Seton Hall 72

Rick Pitino and his No. 5-seed Jonnies are storming into the Big East Tournament semifinals after shellacking No. 4 seed Seton Hall 91-72 in Thursday's quarterfinals round. That's a stunner. St. John's lost both previous tilts vs. the Pirates by a combined 21 points, but this one wasn't even close. The win gives St. John's its sixth consecutive win and might very well be the final push it needed to get onto the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. We'll see.

St. John's will play No. 1 seed UConn on Friday with a berth to the title game on the line. 

[Mar 14, 2024 at 2:04 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Quarterfinals: UConn 87, Xavier 60

Death, taxes, and UConn destroying everyone in its wake. Just another day in Big East basketball land. The No. 1 seed Huskies struggled out of the gate and trailed early by as many as 10 but outscored No. 9 seed Xavier 53-27 in the second half to pull away for an easy win. Six Huskies finished with double figures in scoring led by Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton, each of whom finished with 13 points on the day. Cam Spencer had a team-high eight assists and added 12 points.

UConn will advance into the semifinals round where it will face the winner of today's matchup between St. John's and Seton Hall.

[Mar 13, 2024 at 11:23 pm ET · David Cobb]

First Round: Villanova 58, DePaul 57

No. 6 seed Villanova survived an ugly showing to outlast No. 11 seed DePaul 58-57 on a go-ahead 3-pointer from Justin Moore with 8.8 seconds remaining. The Blue Demons had the Wildcats on the ropes all night before their season of misery continued with a painful ending. Villanova will play No. 3 seed Marquette during Thursday's quarterfinals in what amounts to a must-win game for a program seeking to avoid its first two-year NCAA Tournament drought since 2003 and 2004.

The focus for DePaul now turns solely to a coaching search that began in January with the firing of Tony Stubblefield. After finishing 3-29 (0-20 Big East), the Blue Demons are 3-37 in league play over the last two seasons and have gone 17 straight years without a winning record in conference action.

[Mar 13, 2024 at 8:59 pm ET · David Cobb]

First round: Providence 74, Georgetown 56

No. 7 seed Providence improved its record against No. 10 seed Georgetown and former coach Ed Cooley to 3-0 on the season with an easy win. The Friars built a 40-27 halftime lead to 18 in the opening minutes of the second half, and the Hoyas could never claw back in it, despite 30 points from Jayden Epps. Josh Oduro led Providence with 20 as the Friars advanced to face No. 2 seed Creighton in Thursday's quarterfinals.

The loss ends Georgetown's first season under Cooley at 9-23, which is a slight improvement from the 7-25 mark posted by Patrick Ewing last season. Cooley has three freshmen signed for the Class of 2024 and will also need to be aggressive in working the transfer portal to get the Hoyas turned in the right direction.

[Mar 13, 2024 at 6:29 pm ET · David Cobb]

First round: Xavier 76, Butler 72

Desmond Claude scored 26 points and Dayvion McKnight added 20 as Xavier overcame a slow start to reach the second round of the Big East Tournament. The No. 9 seed Musketeers went 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the first half but 7 of 14 in the second half. The reward is a date with No. 1 seed UConn in Thursday's quarterfinals.

The loss dropped No. 8 seed Butler to 18-14 and ended any hopes the Bulldogs may have harbored of reaching the Big Dance. A streak of five straight losses in February dampened their momentum. Butler could potentially be a candidate for the NIT.