NEW YORK (AP) — Vander Blue’s driving shot fell through the rim as the overtime buzzer sounded, giving No. 15 Marquette a 69-67 victory over St. John’s on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, and a share of the Big East regular season championship, their first title since joining the conference in 2005-06.
Blue had 16 points, including four of Marquette’s six in overtime, for the Golden Eagles (23-7, 14-4 Big East), who finished second in the Big East last season and were picked seventh in the preseason conference poll in November. This was their fourth straight win and sixth in seven games and the Golden Eagles get a bye to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
No. 5 Georgetown clinched its share of the Big East title with a 61-39 win over No. 17 Syracuse earlier Saturday. No. 8 Louisville had a chance to make it a three-way with a later start against No. 24 Notre Dame.
