Big East Tournament 2015: Quarterfinals Scores, Semifinals Bracket and Schedule

The Big East college basketball tournament has been among the sport's most exciting spectacles over the years, and that continues to hold true in 2015 even as the conference continues to move forward with its new look.

With stalwarts such as Villanova, Marquette and Georgetown in action during Thursday's slate of quarterfinal clashes, there is still plenty of star power in place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Check back here for quarterfinal scores and results as well as a look at the semifinal schedule and bracket as the Big East field continues to get whittled down.

Quarterfinal Scores

Game	Team 1	Team 2	Score
1	Villanova	Marquette	84-49, Villanova
2	St. John's	Providence	74-57, Providence
3	Georgetown	Creighton	60-55, Georgetown
4	Butler	Xavier	67-61, Xavier

Bracket (Courtesy of Fox Sports 1 on Twitter)

Semifinal Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Team 1	Team 2	Watch
Friday, March 13	7 p.m.	Villanova	Providence	Fox Sports 1
Friday, March 13	9:30 p.m.	Georgetown	Xavier	Fox Sports 1

Quarterfinal Recap

Villanova vs. Marquette

Villanova and Marquette have long been fierce rivals with a history of playing in some tightly contested battles, but that wasn't the case Thursday, as the top-seeded Wildcats crushed Marquette 84-49 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

Nova beat the Golden Eagles handily twice during the regular season, and it was apparent from the start that it would pull off the feat once again in the tourney.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 13-2 lead and had already put 18 points on the board by the time the 14-minute mark of the first half came around, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello:

Much of their early success was a product of hot shooting from beyond the arc. Per Scout.com's Evan Daniels, Villanova hit seven of its first nine tries from downtown:

After cutting Villanova's lead to 18-16, Marquette suddenly went cold from the field. That allowed the Wildcats to go on a 17-0 run and regain full control of the contest, according to Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com:

The Wildcats held a commanding 39-21 lead at halftime, with 30 of those points coming by virtue of trifectas, as seen in this shooting chart courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info:

Nova may be the most anonymous of the top teams in college basketball this year, which is a sentiment shared by Mike Sielski of Philly.com:

The hallmark of the Wildcats' success has been great team play, and that was on full display during their dismantling of Marquette.

Any number of players on the Villanova roster can step up and dominate on any given day, and Thursday, it was guard Josh Hart who did most of the damage.

Hart scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half, but lightening his load in the second frame certainly didn't slow the Wildcats down, as they continued to take it to the Golden Eagles.

Per Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Hart wasn't the only one to make life miserable for Marquette with the deep ball:

The nation's No. 4 team ultimately shot nearly 53 percent from the field and 59 percent from beyond the arc in a thrashing of the Golden Eagles.

Villanova likely won't be able to maintain that efficiency throughout the remainder of the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament, but if it can continue to hit open shots, then it has a chance to make plenty of noise in the Big Dance.

St. John's vs. Providence

Providence bolstered its NCAA tournament case in a big way Thursday by defeating St. John's 74-57 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tourney.

The Friars improved their conference record to 12-7, and they picked up their 22nd win of the season overall. The Red Storm jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but it was all Providence from that point forward as they proceeded to go on an 18-0 run, according to St. John's Basketball on Twitter:

Most of the damage had already been done by the time St. John's ended the run, and it entered halftime facing a 40-27 deficit.

The assault continued throughout the second half with Providence maintaining a double-digit lead. To make the Friars' performance even more impressive, they decimated the Red Storm at their home venue, per Stewart Mandel of FoxSports.com:

Providence led by as many as 19 with just over eight minutes remaining in the game, which certainly didn't amuse St. John's head coach Steve Lavin, according to Kevin Armstrong of The New York Daily News:

The Friars leaned heavily on four players from an offensive perspective, but that certainly didn't adversely impact their overall play. LaDontae Henton, Kris Dunn, Tyler Harris and Ben Bentil all scored in double figures with Henton leading the way to the tune of 20 points.

In addition to that, Providence had a fantastic game plan in terms of limiting the Red Storm's ability to get out and run on offense, per ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello:

The Friars were dominant from the 17-minute mark of the first half onward, and they look like a team capable of giving top-seeded Villanova some problems.

Even though Providence lost twice to the Wildcats during the regular season, it wouldn't be wise to sleep on it as a team with the potential to win the Big East.

Georgetown vs. Creighton

Elsa/Getty Images

The Big East may look completely different, but Georgetown winning in Madison Square Garden in March is nothing new.

The Hoyas knocked off Creighton, 60-55, in Thursday’s quarterfinals matchup behind a dominant performance from D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. Smith-Rivera ended up with 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range and 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe.

Despite holding a 31-25 halftime lead and controlling much of the game, Georgetown found itself behind 51-45 with 5:30 remaining. The Bluejays went on an impressive second-half run and appeared primed for an upset until Smith-Rivera took over with 12 critical points in the final five minutes.

Josh Newman of SNYtv noted that it was the type of individual postseason performance that the program absolutely needed:

James Milliken spearheaded the Creighton attack with 17 points, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates. Only Austin Chatman finished in double figures with 11, and the Bluejays coughed the ball up 18 times. The turnovers proved particularly costly when Creighton was unable to add to its lead as Smith-Rivera took over.

Georgetown will now play in Saturday’s semifinals and will look to add some more March beef to its NCAA tournament resume.

Xavier vs. Butler

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Here you thought March Madness was only for the actual NCAA tournament.

Butler and Xavier played arguably the most entertaining game of a full Thursday schedule of college basketball in the nightcap of the Big East tournament. The Musketeers emerged with the critical 67-61 overtime victory after dominating the extra period with clutch baskets and timely free throws.

Five different players scored in double figures for Xavier’s balanced offense, and Matt Stainbrook finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Barlow led the way for the Bulldogs with 22 points and an impressive steal to preserve the tie at the end of regulation, but it was not enough to come away with the win.

It was a back-and-forth affair the entire time, as Xavier took a 30-28 lead into intermission. However, Butler had a run of its own in the second half to open up a 42-33 lead, but the Musketeers responded by gradually chipping away at the deficit.

Incredibly, there was not a single point between the two teams in the final 2:37 of regulation after Trevon Bluiett hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 53.

Xavier must have forgotten about the offensive struggles in overtime, though, because it poured in 14 points in the extra period.

Andy Furman of Fox Sports Daybreak explained why Xavier needed to win the game:

Next up for the Musketeers is a date with Georgetown. While the Hoyas will present a challenge in their own right, the biggest issue for Xavier may be preparing itself emotionally to play another pressure-packed postseason game less than 24 hours after Thursday’s overtime thriller.

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