Will St. John's Face a Tough Challenge From UConn in the Big East Tournament? Schedule, Bracket, and Scores Inside

The dominance of St. John’s over the Big East is almost total.

Having wrested the regular-season title from the clutches of the two-time reigning national champion UConn—winning by three games over second-place Creighton and by four games against the Huskies—the Red Storm now advance to the conference tournament. Their aim is to claim victory at Madison Square Garden for the first time since 2000 by cutting down the nets.

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Blocking the path of the Red Storm stands Connecticut, capable of turning things around at a moment’s notice to reclaim their status as a dominant force in recent March Madness tournaments. Also worth keeping an eye on are potential future postseason contenders like Creighton, Marquette, and possibly Xavier.

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Big East tourney schedule, brackets, and scores

First round

Wednesday, March 12

Butler 75, Providence 69

DePaul 71, Georgetown 67

Villanova 67, Seton Hall 55

Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 13

St. John's 78, Butler 57

Marquette 89, Xavier 87

Creighton 85, DePaul 81 (double overtime)

Connecticut 73, Villanova 56

Semifinals

Friday, March 14

St. John's versus Marquette, at 6:30 p.m.

Creighton vs. Connecticut, 9 p.m.

Championship

Saturday, March 15

Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m.

Big East favorite

It has to be St. John’s , having lost only once after the calendar flipped to 2025. During this period, they secured a victory in their home game. Creighton , home-and-away sweeps against Xavier and Marquett Yes, and they secure victories in Storrs and at Madison Square Garden against the Huskies. Throughout their season, the Red Storm’s only four losses—to Baylor, Georgia, Creighton, and Villanova—have been by a total of just seven points, highlighting how narrowly they missed achieving an impeccable regular season record.

Top performers in the Big East Tournament

G, St. John’s - Kadary Richmond, Guard — The ex-Seton Hall player has put up averages of 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists each contest and has proven to be exactly what the Red Storm required: an experienced leader at point guard who can control play on both offensive and defensive ends.

Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton - There aren’t many tall players in college basketball who have as significant an impact on both offense (averaging 19.4 points per game) and defense (recording 2.7 blocks per game) as Kalkbrenner does.

Kam Jones, G, Marquette – The sole first-team all-conference selection has been shortlisted for the Bob Cousy Award as the country’s premier point guard following his average of 18.9 points and 6.1 assists per contest during the regular season.

Eric Dixon, F, Villanova – Dixon leads the country with an average of 23.6 points per game and ranks first in the Big East for three-point shooting accuracy at 42.9%.

Alex Karaban, F, Connecticut — While this season hasn't met the expectations for both the Huskies and Karaban, the junior has shown time and again that he can rise to the occasion during playoff games.

NCAA tournament bubble scenarios for the Big East conferences

Xavier Most of this season was spent teetering on the edge, but they've now secured a strong spot in the tournament thanks to an ongoing seven-game winning streak, despite beating only the lower-ranked teams within the Big East. They will face Marquette in the quarterfinals, which presents a chance for them to bolster their confidence further with another victory. Villanova Currently, they aren’t considered a viable contender for the NCAA Tournament because of their weak record of 2-7 against top-tier opponents and several poor defeats, such as those against Columbia and St. Joseph’s during non-conference matches. To secure a spot in the brackets come Selection Sunday, the Wildcats probably need to clinch victory in their conference tournament.

The article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Big East tournament schedule, bracket, scores: Will St. John's face a challenge from UConn?