Welcome back, Big East basketball. The stress, thrilling finishes, wild sequences, and entertaining postgame press conferences were greatly missed and opening night featured it all.
Eight of the league's teams were in action and only two -- St. John's and Marquette -- won by convincing margins after the Johnnies downed Fordham by 32 points and the Golden Eagles routed Stony Brook by 40.
The most thrilling game of the night came in Rhode Island as Providence, despite playing without Bryce Hopkins, could not shake Central Connecticut State on its home floor. The Friars trailed by four, 53-49, with 3:01 remaining and were tied with 1:10 left before closing the game out at the free throw line, winning 59-55.
There is no excuse for Kim English's team to not be undefeated when it heads south for the Battle 4 Atlantis but it will take time to get everyone to gel as Hopkins is worked back into the rotation and Providence tries to replace stars Devin Carter and Josh Oduro.
Seton Hall, Xavier, Butler, Villanova, and DePaul also trailed at some point during the second half but were able to grind out victories. The Blue Demons needed a 3-pointer with one second remaining on the clock to force overtime against Southern Indiana before emerging with an 80-78 victory.
However, Shaheen Holloway shocked the postgame press conference after he told reporters that he believes he broke his left wrist at halftime of the Pirates' game against Saint Peter's and would be going to the hospital to be evaluated on Monday night.
When asked how the injury happened, Holloway responded "coaching stuff."
Holloway’s left wrist is wrapped. “I think I broke my wrist at halftime.”
— Jerry Carino (@NJHoopsHaven) November 5, 2024
How?
“Coaching stuff” pic.twitter.com/nNHdggwrNQ
Seton Hall led by five, 32-27, at halftime before facing a 50-46 deficit with 7:39 remaining but held Saint Peter's scoreless for the next five minutes in its 57-53 win.
Connecticut, Georgetown, and Creighton open up its season on Wednesday night.