March Madness bubble winners and losers: Big East teams pick up massive victories

How interesting things have gotten in the Big East.

Providence and St. John’s went into New York City in need of solid performances to prove they belong in the men's NCAA Tournament, especially with both squads projected to be among the first teams out in the latest USA TODAY Sports Bracketology prediction.

The Friars and Red Storm stepped up.

Providence shut down Creighton in the first half and held off a second half rally from the Bluejays to get the biggest win of the day for bubble teams. That came after St. John’s impressively beat Seton Hall 91-72 in the afternoon for its sixth-straight win.

When it comes to being on the outside looking in, getting any impressive win will boost tournament stock regardless of what happens to the team in better position. Now with big wins in quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, Providence and St. John’s have changed the trajectory of the bubble.

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Some teams didn’t have as great days as Providence and St. John’s on Thursday, with several big games for bubble teams taking place in conference tournaments. As a result, contenders for an NCAA Tournament spot either saw their chances drastically rise or fall on what was the biggest day to make a case to be in the field of 68. Spot will be clinched. Spots will be taken away.

Here are the winners and losers from Thursday.

WINNERS

Michigan State

You can’t have March without Izzo.

Michigan State’s season hasn’t lived up to high preseason expectations, but it’ll be just enough to get in the bracket, with the Spartans set to appear in their 26th-straight NCAA Tournament after defeating Minnesota in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. It was close for a majority of the game, but Michigan State pulled away with a 15-2 run in the second half as it had an effective game shooting 55.6% from the field. 

Projected to be a No. 9 seed, Michigan State likely would’ve been safe even with a disappointing loss to the Golden Gophers. But the victory ensures Tom Izzo will extend the active Division I lead for consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. When the Spartans hear their name on Selection Sunday, it will be two short of tying Kansas’ all-time Division I record.

Mississippi State

It looked like LSU had Mississippi State all figured out. 

The Bulldogs were held without a field goal in the final seven minutes of the first half. Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State’s leading scorer, had 10 points, but made only one field goal in the first 20 minutes as LSU led by seven.

Then Chris Jans let the dogs out.

LSU suddenly had no answer for Mississippi State’s offense. Hubbard scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, and the Bulldogs shot 51% in the second half while dominating the boards to beat the Tigers, 70-60.

It was a rough end to the regular season with four-straight losses for Mississippi State, which resulted in it falling in last four in territory. A loss against LSU would’ve pushed the Bulldogs out of the projected field, but now Jans’ team can breathe a little easier. They aren’t out of the woods just yet, with Tennessee awaiting Mississippi State in the SEC quarterfinals. But the Bulldogs are in – for now.

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh has lots of work to do to be an NCAA Tournament team, but it stayed alive by beating Wake Forest in a virtual bubble elimination game in the ACC quarterfinals. 

The Panthers have one of the best scorers in the conference in Blake Hinson, but the star of Thursday was Ishmael Leggett. Coming off the bench, Leggett put Pittsburgh on his back with a season-high 30 points – 19 of which came in the second half – on 11-for-18 shooting. He was a big piece of the Panthers outsourcing Wake Forest in bench points 39-0 in a wire-to-wire win. He also closed the game scoring 12 of Pittsburgh’s last 20 points to seal the victory.

The Panthers should now jump the Demon Deacons in the first teams out list. It’s not a projected spot, but it’s a better position than being completely out if they lost. If Pittsburgh wants to get into the conversation for an NCAA Tournament spot, it’ll have to beat red hot North Carolina on Friday.

Ohio State

Resurgent Ohio State continues to rise up the bubble by taking out another Big Ten hopeful in Iowa with a wire-to-wire 90-78 win in the second round of the conference tournament.

The Buckeyes got a strong second half performance from Jamison Battle, with the senior forward scoring all of his 23 points in the final 20 minutes. That performance kept Iowa from ever making it a close game.

Ohio State has won five in a row and six of its last seven, including a victory of Purdue, so it certainly has the making of a tournament team. Jake Diebler has done a fantastic job turning this team around, but there’s still work to be done to cap off an amazing run with an NCAA Tournament spot. With Illinois on tap on Friday, Ohio State must win to have a realistic shot.

Virginia

Virginia can breathe a sigh of relief after it kept its tournament hopes alive with an overtime win over Boston College. 

The Cavaliers were shaky to start the game, but in true Virginia fashion, the defense stepped up to make life difficult for the Eagles. But Boston College stayed in it, and Mason Madsen drilled a 3-pointer in the final seconds to send the game to overtime. This time, Virginia's defense didn’t give Boston College a chance; a 3-pointer in the final minute marked the Eagles' only points of overtime.

A loss surely would’ve put Virginia outside of the tournament field, but instead UVA may have secured a tournament spot, pending what other teams do Friday. Regardless, the Cavaliers can assure themselves a ticket if they can beat NC State in the ACC tournament semifinals.

Colorado

The first half was odd in the battle of Pac-12 mountain schools, but Colorado should be in the NCAA Tournament for good after a strong second-half performance in a 72-58 win against Utah that advances the Buffaloes to the conference tournament semifinals.

KJ Simpson has been the leader during Colorado’s late-season surge, and he was able to make some big 3-pointers in the second half to give the Buffaloes the victory. Colorado’s shooting was great while Utah couldn’t hit anything, shooting 32.8% from the field, including an atrocious 1-for-14 performance behind the arc in the final 20 minutes.

Now winners of seven straight, Colorado shouldn’t have to worry about being in the bracket — and might not even have to worry about playing in the First Four. There were concerns the Pac-12 would only send two teams to the NCAA Tournament, but Colorado should make it three.

LOSERS

Wake Forest

Consider Wake Forest the first bubble team to be eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention after faltering to Pittsburgh to cap off a disappointing end for the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest fell behind Pittsburgh in the first half and the deficit grew to as much as 19 with 13 minutes left in the game. The Demon Deacons showed life by cutting it to a three-point game in the final five minutes, but that momentum didn’t last toward the end of the game. Wake Forest ended the game shooting 1-for-6 while Pittsburgh capitalized with easy buckets to secure the win. 

Just a few weeks ago, Wake Forest beat Pittsburgh and Duke and looked like an NCAA Tournament team. But then it lost three in a row with bad losses to Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. The poor finish meant the Demon Deacons needed at least two wins to stay alive, but with only one win before losing to another bubble team, Wake Forest’s hopes of going dancing are gone. Instead, Wake will have to decide if it wants to be in the NIT.

Seton Hall

SetonHall entered the Big East tournament in good standing and not too worried about missing the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Pirates will have to worry about playing in Dayton after it got dominated by St. John’s.

It looked like Seton Hall wasn’t all that interested in boosting its resume on Thursday, with St. John’s blowing past the Pirates throughout the day. The Pirates had moments where it looked like it would cut a double-digit deficit in the second half, but then mistakes would show up and the Red Storm would end up extending the lead further. In the second half, Seton Hall shot 37.9% from the field and was an abysmal 1-for-9 from 3-point land.

The consensus is that Seton Hall is a tournament team, but with a one-and-done showing in the Big East tournament, the Pirates can only watch teams jump them on the seed line, and that could easily result in Seton Hall playing in the First Four and dropping to an 11-seed.

Iowa

Iowa had a solid run, but it will fall short of the NCAA Tournament after it wasn’t able to pick up a win in the Big Ten tournament.

Iowa couldn’t keep up with Ohio State’s hot shooting, making only 41.9% of its shots while the Buckeyes were 51.7% shooting. Defensively, Iowa didn’t do much.

The Hawkeyes had risen to a first four out team, but obviously needed to make an impression in the Big Ten tournament after they couldn’t beat Illinois in the regular season finale. It was a good fight, it just won’t be enough.

Villanova

If Villanova knew it would limit Oso Ighodaro to just one field goal, it probably would have thought it would emerge with a win. But the stout senior for Marquette made the dagger shot that gave the Golden Eagles an overtime win and leaves the Wildcats with an uncertain future heading into Selection Sunday.

Marquette looked like it would pull away from Villanova in the second half, but the Wildcats stormed back to tie it up in the final seconds. Marquette looked to have won on a last-second shot, but it was barely late and the game went to overtime. In the final seconds of the extra period, Ighodaro made his only field goal to extend the lead and secure the win.

Coming off a shaky win against DePaul, Villanova desperately needed to win Thursday, like several other Big East bubble teams did. But it didn't. Villanova will go home without any impressive wins and now, its fate hangs in the balance.

Villanova may just not hear its name called when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed.