Big East Tournament 2023: Top Storylines for Men's Quarterfinals

The 2023 Big East tournament quarterfinals have the chance to deliver on a ton of drama inside Madison Square Garden.

The Big East got a taste of that drama in Wednesday's first round, when the 10th-seeded DePaul Blue Demons won on a game-winning block at the buzzer. The call was initially ruled as a goaltend in favor of the Seton Hall Pirates, but a review ruled it was a clean block.

DePaul is one of the few ultimate underdog stories left in Championship Week, and it will try to produce a challenge against the Xavier Musketeers.

The Villanova Wildcats and St. John's Red Storm both cruised to victories on Wednesday to put themselves in the best positions possible to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles and Creighton Bluejays.

The most level matchup on paper features the Connecticut Huskies and Providence Friars, but that may end up as the most one-sided game if Providence's late-season slide extends into New York City.

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Is DePaul Capable of Earning Another Upset?

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 08: Umoja Gibson #2 of the DePaul Blue Demons dribbles as Al-Amir Dawes #2 of the Seton Hall Pirates defends during the first half in the first round of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

DePaul is usually not around for the second day of the Big East tournament.

The perpetual basement feeder of the conference benefited from a wild final minute against Seton Hall to advance into the quarterfinals.

Most experts will predict that the Blue Demons will fall easily against second-seeded Xavier in the third of four games inside MSG.

However, DePaul's last win before coming to New York City was against the Musketeers on January 18.

The Blue Demons will attempt to draw some confidence from that victory to avoid a blowout loss, like they experienced against Xavier on February 18.

A second straight win would hand DePaul one of the more improbable runs in the Big East tournament.

DePaul entered the conference tournament on a 12-game losing streak, with seven of those defeats coming by double figures.

Villanova Trying to Extend NCAA Tournament Hopes By Another Day

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 08: Brandon Slater #34 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts during the second half against the Georgetown Hoyas in the first round of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 08, 2023 in New York City. The Wildcats won 80-48. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Villanova did what any functional Big East program should do on Wednesday by beating the Georgetown Hoyas by double figures.

We did not learn anything about Villanova from the win over the 7-25 Hoyas because of how lopsided the 80-48 game was from the start.

Villanova is now in a position to try to win four games in four days to earn an unlikely NCAA tournament berth.

The long shot run continues on Thursday against Creighton, who gave up an onslaught of three-pointers to the Wildcats in a 79-67 loss on February 25.

Creighton rebounded from that defeat with wins over Georgetown and DePaul, but beating the two worst teams in the conference at home were expected results.

The Bluejays went 1-3 in the stretch before those Georgetown and DePaul wins, and they could be susceptible to an upset because of that shaky form.

Creighton did not play well in its February 4 win over Villanova, as it scored just 66 points at home.

That result can't be used too much to project how Wednesday will play out because Justin Moore was just getting back into the Villanova lineup at that time.

Most of Villanova's key contributors have won at least one Big East tournament title, and that championship-winning DNA may help them carve out a spot in the semifinals and keep the bleak NCAA tournament hopes alive for another day.

Can Providence Stop Recent Slide?

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PROVIDENCE, RI - MARCH 01: Providence Friars forward Ed Croswell (5) and Xavier Musketeers forward Cesare Edwards (4) in action during the college basketball game between Xavier Musketeers and Providence Friars on March 1, 2023, at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Providence will be under the biggest spotlight of the four teams playing in the afternoon session at MSG.

The Friars went through a brutal end to the regular season in which they lost three of the last four games and conceded over 80 points in all three defeats.

Ed Cooley's team needs a victory over UConn just so it can hit the reset button ahead of the NCAA tournament.

A second loss to UConn in three weeks could hurt the Friars' NCAA tournament seeding, and it may make them one of the popular teams to lose in the first round.

Providence split the regular-season series with the Huskies, and the win on January 4 was earned by a strong defensive showing.

The Friars earned seven of their 13 Big East victories by holding opponents to 65 points or fewer.

Providence needs a big defensive game to slow down UConn and regain confidence.

For UConn, the goal is to score in bunches, like it did against the Friars on February 22. UConn eclipsed the 70-point threshold in nine of its 13 league wins.