Marquette's slump continues, Seton Hall stays hot among Big East Basketball storylines

1. Providence is feeling the loss of Bryce Hopkins

The loss of Bryce Hopkins for the rest of the year after he tore his ACL against Seton Hall was the worst news this conference had to hear this season. The Big East is better when the stars are playing, and Hopkins has been one of the brightest throughout his career at Providence. Before the injury, this was a top 25 team that had big aspirations during the first year of the Kim English era, but now they have lost four straight games.

Devin Carter had stepped up and been the leader this team needed for the rest of the season, he had a 31-point, 13-rebound game against St. John's, but one player can only do so much for this team. A 20-point loss to Xavier at home was just an absolute gut punch after the rest of their losses had been close and contested games, and now there is just a dark cloud over this season for the Friars.

With Hopkins on this team, they could still be ranked and in a position to make some real noise in the Big East, but now they have had to pick up the pieces and keep moving. While it is discouraging and tough, they have no choice but to continue and keep playing out the rest of the season. They still hold a winning record overall, so they have room for error when it comes to putting together a successful season.

If this team continues to struggle, it would not be fair to criticize them too hard given the loss of their star, but English also has a great opportunity to put together a great coaching job in his first season if they start winning soon.