Big East Tournament 2018: Round 1 Scores, Pre-Quarterfinals Bracket and Schedule

The 2018 Big East tournament tipped off Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City with a pair of first-round showdowns. 

Below, we'll break down the evening's results and provide an overview of the updated quarterfinals schedule and bracket with action set to ramp up Thursday. 

Wednesday's 1st-Round Results

No. 9 St. John's def. No. 8 Georgetown, 88-77 

No. 7 Marquette def. No. 10 DePaul, 72-69

Thursday's Quarterfinal Schedule

No. 9 St. John's vs. No. 1 Xavier: 12 p.m. ET (FS1)

No. 5 Providence vs. No. 4 Creighton: 2:30 p.m. ET (FS1)

No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 2 Villanova: 7 p.m. ET (FS1)

No. 6 Butler vs. No. 3 Seton Hall: 9:30 p.m. ET (FS1)

The full bracket is available here, via the Big East's Twitter account. 

Wednesday Recap

St John's 88, Georgetown 77

The St. John's Red Storm rode a 26-point outing from sophomore guard Shamorie Ponds to an 88-77 win over the Georgetown Hoyas in the Big East tournament opener. 

The Red Storm also received 16 points apiece from Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II as all five St. John's starters finished in double figures.  

Chris Mullin's squad trailed by six points at halftime, but a second-half eruption that saw them outscore the Hoyas, 46-29, allowed them to coast into the quarterfinals. 

Georgetown was paced by a game-high 28 points from Jessie Govan and 20 points courtesy of forward Marcus Derrickson. 

St. John's will return to the floor Thursday as a heavy underdog against the top-seeded Xavier Musketeers. 

The Musketeers won both regular-season meetings against the Red Storm, although their average margin of victory in those tilts was just 5.5 points. 

Marquette 72, DePaul 69

There was nothing pretty about it, but the Marquette Golden Eagles survived and advanced with a nail-biting 72-69 win over the DePaul Blue Demons. 

DePaul had a chance to take the lead down one with time ticking away, but Max Strus' open pick-and-pop jumper from beyond the arc couldn't find the bottom of the net. The Golden Eagles safely secured the rebound and drilled the ensuing free throws to set up a meeting with the Villanova Wildcats. 

Andrew Rowsey led the way with 25 points (8-of-20 shooting, 4-of-9 from three), while swingman Sam Hauser added 16 points to help Marquette stave off DePaul's fierce second-half charge. 

The Golden Eagles—who entered Wednesday listed as one of the first four teams out, according to ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi—can now add a serious line item to their resume Thursday if they stun the Wildcats. 

In their last meeting, which came at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Jan. 28, Villanova escaped with a narrow 85-82 win behind big scoring displays from Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo. 

Those two will likely need to shoulder the load again in order to avoid an early exit from the Big Apple.