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We’ve reached the semifinals of the Big East Tournament and four teams will duke it out for the chance to step onto the glorious stage of Saturday’s championship game at Madison Square Garden.
The top-seeded Providence Friars survived a dogfight against Butler on Thursday and will go toe-to-toe with the No. 4 Creighton Blue Jays, who handled Marquette in the quarterfinals. On the other side, the No. 2 Villanova Wildcats made it to the semis after flirting with danger and will face No. 3 UConn.
No. 1 Providence vs. No. 4 Creighton: 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1
Point Spread: Providence -3.5
Point Total: 131.5
Providence was on upset alert in Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup against Butler, trailing by one with less than a minute left. Al Durham ended up being the hero for the Friars, drilling a clutch three to give them the lead with 43 seconds left and capping the game with a dunk at the buzzer.
Creighton managed to grab control of its quarterfinal game against Marquette, pulling away in the second half for a 74-63 win. The Blue Jays will now get another crack at the Big East regular season champs, who it got throttled by in a 72-51 loss on Feb.26.
The pick: Over 131.5
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 3 UConn: 9 p.m. ET, FS1
Point Spread: Villanova -4
Point Total: 131.5
Villanova narrowly avoided getting sent home early and turned down hometown St. John’s in a 66-65 nailbiter on Thursday. This literally came down to free throws as Brandon Slater drained a pair of clutch shots from the charity stripe with two seconds left to put the Wildcats on top for good.
UConn also handled its business on Thursday, closing out Seton Hall for a 62-52 victory. The Huskies got a stellar performance from Tyrese Martin, who dropped 17 points and eight rebounds. UConn and Villanova split the season series during the regular season.
The pick: Over 131.5
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