Shannon Russell

srussell@enquirer.com

For the second straight year, the Big East will launch men's basketball conference play with a five-game New Year's Eve marathon on FOX Sports 1.

That means non-stop hoops from noon to midnight. The slate starts with St. John's at Seton Hall (12 p.m.) and continues with Butler at Villanova (2:30 p.m.), Marquette at DePaul (5 p.m.), Creighton at Providence (7:30 p.m.) and Georgetown at Xavier (10 p.m.).

The Musketeers and Hoyas may ring in 2015 while still playing on Cintas Center's court. Georgetown coach John Thompson III called the 10 p.m. start "unconventional" during Monday's league conference call but also said the jam-packed lineup makes for a great day of basketball.

"Is it a little different? Absolutely. Does it mean you have to sit around antsy with butterflies in your stomach all day? Yes," Thompson said.

"I don't think the time is going to be that big of a deal, to be honest. Xavier is going to pose the problems, not the start time."

The Hoyas (8-3) enter Wednesday's outing on a three-game winning streak. They're led by junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who on Monday was named Big East player of the week for his 29-point showing in Georgetown's overtime defeat of Indiana at Madison Square Garden.

OTHER HONOREES: Seton Hall freshman Angel Delgado was named rookie of the week after scoring 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and chipping in six rebounds and four blocks in the team's 72-43 rout of Maine. The five Big East honor roll members were Kellen Dunham (Butler), Jajuan Johnson (Marquette), LaDontae Henton (Providence), Sir'Dominic Pointer (St. John's) and Sterling Gibbs (Seton Hall).

BIG EAST REPRESENTS: Three Big East teams were ranked in Monday's Associated Press Top 25. Villanova checked in at No. 6, St. John's was No. 15 and Georgetown cracked the poll at No. 25.

REGROUPING: Seton Hall was dealt a blow last week when preseason Big East rookie of the year Isaiah Whitehead suffered a stress fracture in his foot.

The 6-foot-4 guard earned two of the three prior conference rookie of the week honors and ranked second among Big East freshmen in scoring (11.9 points) and assists (3.4). His loss will affect the team on both ends of the court, coach Kevin Willard said.

"The thing that I think people don't understand is that he has a tremendously high basketball IQ," Willard said. "Offensively we have the depth to sustain us but defensively it hurts us more because we're losing his basketball IQ."

The timetable for Whitehead's return remains uncertain. Willard said Whitehead is in a boot and has been instructed to rest for two weeks. After that he'll undergo an MRI to gauge his progress.

CREIGHTON CHECK-IN: Life for Creighton after the Doug McDermott era has been filled with ups and downs.

Coach Greg McDermott and the Bluejays enter conference play with a 9-4 record, a sparkling win over No. 18 Oklahoma and a brief perch in the Associated Press Top 25. They've also lost two of their last three games.

"I think our season has been one of inconsistency, which is somewhat typical when you have as many guys in new roles as we do," McDermott said.

The team is led by senior guard Austin Chatman's 13.9 points and sophomore guard Isaiah Zierden's 12.2 points. McDermott has been rebuilding an offense that last year was propelled by his son's 26.7 points.

"We're going to go as we shoot the basketball. We don't have a guy like Doug who can score 25 on any given night. It's going to be by committee," Greg McDermott said.

MOVING FORWARD: It's been a whirlwind for Butler's program following the Oct. 2 announcement that coach Brandon Miller was taking a leave of absence for medical reasons. Assistant-turned-interim-coach Chris Holtmann has since led the Bulldogs to a 10-3 start.

Asked to pinpoint the key to keeping the team together, Holtmann praised the Bulldogs' veterans.

"It really can be attributed in a lot of ways to the character and leadership of our older guys," Holtmann said. "They have from Day One kept this thing together."