Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET, Xavier (21-11, 10-8 Big East) and No. 14 Creighton (25-6, 14-4 Big East) go head-to-head in the Big East tournament live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game can be live streamed for free here.
Creighton is looking to advance to its first Big East title game on the back of Doug McDermott, who leads the nation in scoring.
McDermott, who is averaging 26.8 points on the season, is coming off of a record-setting performance at Madison Square Garden. The senior scored 35 points and sunk six of his first seven 3-pointers to carry the team to an 84-62 victory over 10th-seeded DePaul on Thursday.
"I was just feeling in the rhythm, in the zone," McDermott told ESPN afterwards. "I just happened to get going, and my teammates recognized that I had the hot hand."
McDermott also scored 35 points against Xavier on Jan. 12, however the team lost to Xavier on March 1, when McDermott was the only Creighton player to reach double digits in scoring during a 75-69 defeat.
The Musketeers know how important it is to shut McDermott and his supporting cast of Austin Chatman and Jahenns Manigat down. Xavier coach Chris Mack said his team will focus on keeping McDermott at bay.
"We just shut him down. We don't let him catch the ball or shoot a three," Mack told ESPN. "I mean you just try your best, play as hard as you can. You try to deny his catches. You try to load to the ball. You try to contest his shots. And when you swallow a couple threes, you can't think it's the end of the world."
Xavier and Creighton tip off in the Big East tournament semifinals tonight live from Madison Square Garden.
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