On the Ropes: The Big East gains 4-2 advantage in battle with Big 12

By CHARLIE PARENT

The Big East has jumped out to a 4-2 lead over the Big 12 as five games remain in a battle of arguably the nation’s top two conference.

Using high-caliber wins over top-25 opponents, No. 25 UConn, Creighton and No. 6 Iowa State set the tone for the conference on Wednesday night.

Creighton took down No. 1 Kansas, while UConn knocked off No. 15 Baylor. No. 5 Marquette and DePaul both had their unbeaten streaks end with losses at Iowa State and Texas Tech, respectively. Outside of the Battle, Seton Hall got back in the win column with a victory over NJIT.

Creighton (6-3) got 27 points from Pop Isaacs and 17 points each from Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner in its 76-63 win over the top-ranked Jayhawks. Coupled with an 85-66 win last February over then-No. 1 UConn, the Bluejays became the first team ever to beat the AP-ranked No. 1 team twice in the same calendar year by double figures.

“I’ve been watching Kansas basketball forever,” Blue Jay head coach Greg McDermott said. “Back to coach [Roy] Williams and then coach Self, they’re one of the best. We had some close calls at Hilton [Coliseum] when I was at Iowa State where we walked out of Hilton disappointed we couldn’t get the job done against a good Kansas team. To finally beat them when they had a great team and they’re ranked No. 1 in the country, it’s great for our guys and great for our fans.”

Full scoreboard:

Tuesday, December 3rd

No. 14 Cincinnati 60, Villanova 68 | Big East leads 1-0

BYU 64, Providence 83 | Big East leads 2-0

Wednesday, December 4th

No. 1 Kansas 63, Creighton 76 | Big East leads 3-0

No. 5 Marquette 70, No. 6 Iowa State 81 | Big East leads 3-1

No. 15 Baylor 72, No. 25 UConn 76 | Big East leads 4-1

DePaul 62, Texas Tech 76 | Big East leads 4-2

Information provided via MBB Minute

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