UConn is just one game away from winning the Big East Tournament title. But the major storyline will be whether Marquette's star guard will be able to play.
TV schedule: Saturday, March 16th, 6:30 pm ET, FOX
Arena: Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
The clear favorite in this year's Big East Tournament was the 1-seed UConn Huskies, who had nothing to worry about when it comes to Selection Sunday. But they had some bubble teams to deal with that were looking for a signature victory. One was St. John's their semifinal opponent. It was a game that had plenty of emotion, with both head coaches getting a technical foul in the first half.
99 points were scored in the first half combined, with the guards putting on an offensive show. However, like in most games, the Huskies had too much for the Red Storm to try and keep up with. UConn won the matchup 95-90, led by 25 points and eight assists from Tristen Newton and 20 points and nine assists from Cam Spencer, making 4/5 from three-point range.
Their opponent is Marquette, who had a good lead over Providence in the first half and managed to hold on for a tight 79-68 victory. Kam Jones led the team with 23 points, while Oso Ighodaro had 20 points on 7/17 shooting.
Marquette was able to win without Tyler Kolek, who has been out for the past few weeks with an injury. The former Big East Player of the Year has been great once again this season, producing 15.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 7.6 apg. Though in his lone matchup against UConn, Kolek had just seven points on 2/11 shooting.
The Huskies have dominated Marquette in the regular season and both teams are safely in the NCAA Tournament field. We won't know the status of Kolek until Saturday. If he doesn't play, this could be another blowout. If he does play, it could be close. Either way, I'm prediction a UConn win and a Big East championship.