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Wednesday’s Three Things to Know: Xavier gets Big East title, bad night for the bubble, Bonzie’s back

Matt Farrell, Bonzie Colson, Jordan Chapman

Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell (5) is congratulated by Notre Dame forward Bonzie Colson, right, during the second half of an NCAA basketball game in Boston, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. Notre Dame defeated Boston College 84-76. At left is Boston College guard Jordan Chatman (25). (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

AP

1. XAVIER CLAIMED AT LEAST A SHARE OF ITS FIRST BIG EAST TITLE

With a home win over Providence on Wednesday night, No. 3 Xavier claimed at least a share of the Big East title for the first time. The Musketeers continued to roll as senior Trevon Bluiett had 23 points to pace the Xavier offense.

While it was a special night for Xavier as they capped Senior Night with a conference title, No. 4 Villanova stayed in the Big East race with a gutsy overtime road win at Seton Hall. Despite an off-night from essentially the entire team, the Wildcats stayed a game behind Xavier heading into the weekend’s regular-season finale.

Xavier will go on the road to face DePaul while Villanova closes out at home against Georgetown. If the Wildcats want a share of the conference title, they’ll need some help from the Blue Demons.

2. IT WAS A BAD NIGHT FOR BUBBLE TEAMS

Wednesday night’s slate didn’t see a lot of upsets but plenty of bubble teams had horrible nights.

Things obviously didn’t go very smoothly for Providence as they dropped one on the road to Xavier. Losing to a potential No. 1 seed on the road isn’t going to kill the Friars, but a win would have all but ensured they were in.

As for other bubble teams: Temple suffered a disastrous loss to UConn, Syracuse got blown out on the road at Boston College and LSU got tripped up in overtime by South Carolina.

But, hey, at least Texas A&M squeaked out a one-point road win at Georgia. Notre Dame kept its faint hopes alive by beating Pitt. Not every bubble team lost on Wednesday.

3. BONZIE COLSON RETURNS FOR NOTRE DAME

Speaking of the Fighting Irish, they did earn the home ACC win over the lowly Panthers on Wednesday night. The big story in this one, though, is the return of senior forward Bonzie Colson.

Out since early January with a fractured foot, Colson played in 21 minutes in his return. Colson just missed out on a double-double, scoring 12 points and collecting nine rebounds.

It’ll be fascinating to see how Colson looks for Notre Dame over the next week as they try to do everything they can to claw into the NCAA tournament. The Fighting Irish played 15 games without its All-American candidate as they try to win as many as possible to bolster their case.