Big East Basketball: 2021 conference tournament preview and predictions

Predictions – Semifinals and Final

#1 Villanova Wildcats vs. #4 St. John’s Red Storm

Jay Wright’s group has the horses in the backcourt to win games without Gillespie and Moore, but on short notice, St. John’s is not the team to test rotations on. The Johnnies get out and run offensively and create a lot of turnovers on ball-handlers defensively.

Villanova is missing key ball-handlers and will look to find a new floor general in their absence. These teams split the season-series without injury concerns, so this game is in reach for the Red Storm if Posh Alexander is back.

Prediction: St. John’s Red Storm

#3 UConn Huskies vs. #2 Creighton Bluejays

The Bluejays can play against anyone in the nation and have proved it by taking #5 Kansas to the wire and throttling #5 Villanova this season. However, their limitations center around if their perimeter shots are falling. Connecticut with Bouknight in the lineup is a very difficult team to defeat, especially for guards. The Huskies are among the nation’s elite in preventing perimeter shots from falling and allowing good looks in the first place.

These teams played within an overtime bucket of each other in their first meeting of the season and the expectations for this matchup would not be any different. Connecticut however seems to have things figured out and their identity stabilized with Bouknight available.

Prediction: UConn Huskies

Championship

#4 St. John’s Red Storm vs. #3 UConn Huskies

These teams only met once on the season and St. John’s upset victory at Gampel Pavillion helped to spark their run in the second half of the season. Not to take away from that victory, but the Johnnies did not have to face one James Bouknight and still found it difficult to surpass the Huskies’ overall ability in a 4-point upset.

The Huskies have improved in their frontcourt since that meeting and have Bouknight back, while the Red Storm are a bit undermanned at the moment. The edge and a perfect ending to UConn’s Big East return is cutting down the nets.

Prediction: UConn Huskies