News about Shaka Smart

JAKE FENNER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: The six seeded Villanova Wildcats and the seven-seeded Providence Friars were both battling on Wednesday to advance to the Big East Tournament's Thursday evening games. They carried with them not only the excitement of conference glory, but also the challenge of surviving and reaching March Madness. Both teams have been firmly placed on the bubble, with this tournament at Madison Square Garden being the last chance for them to win and show to the selection committee that they belong in the field of 68. Providence was able to get the job done early in the night, beating the third-seed Creighton Bluejays and possibly bursting the rest of the NCAA Tournament bubble with a 78-73 victory to advance to the Big East Tournament semifinals.

In the first half against Vermont, Kam Jones only gained one point. During a quick second-half timeout, the guard was given a round of applause from the Marquette bench. Jones from there was all connected. Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in a stretch of the second half as second-seeded Marquette shucked Vermont en route to a 78-61 victory in the NCAA Tournament's first round on Friday.

JAKE FENNER GARDEN of MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: Neither of these squads had won a Big East Championship before tonight. In the conference's championship game, two teams that haven't been used to this tournament for a decade – and aren't necessarily from the East Coast – met. The Musketeers of Xavier University in Cincinnati had only been here before losing in 2015 to Villanova. The Golden Eagles of Marquette University in Milwaukee had never gotten to this point in their long and storied basketball tradition. The first all-Midwest championship game in the conference's history brought ticket prices down, with the get-in-the-door price reduced to just $25. When UConn's Jordan Hawkins couldn't sink a shot to beat the buzzer last night, the final team from the East Coast fell to Marquette. Fans of the Despondent Huskies had already sold their tickets to long-distance supporters of the teams in the championship, who cheered them up and packed The World's Most Popular Arena to the brim.

JAKE FENNER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: This was Marquette's first Big East Championship game in school history. They had won only one Big East Regular Season title before this, and they were stunned by Notre Dame in the first round of the conference tournament. So if there was any time to win the opportunity to play on Saturday, now was the time. Up to this point, these two schools had never met in the Big East Tournament before. However, UConn had a slim 8-7 lead in their all-time series, though the Huskies had won five of their last six against the Golden Eagles. Marquette defeated 82-76 at home, followed by a 87-72 scoreline at home. Both teams knew they'd be looking forward to a big game going into the game: The Golden Eagles and Rhode Island junior Tyler Kolek would be the subject of a big game, while the Huskies anticipated big things from Maryland sophomore Jordan Hawkins.