Zach Freemantle converted 10 of 14 shots from the field and finished with 23 points as Xavier cruised to a crucial 83-61 Big East win over Creighton Saturday in Cincinnati.Ryan Conwell added 20 points and Dante Maddox Jr. chipped in with 16 for Xavier (19-10, 11-7 Big East), which won its season-best fifth straight conference game to stay ahead of Villanova in the race for the fifth and final bye spot in next week’s Big East tournament.The Musketeers also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bluejays, dating to their last win on March 10, 2023 in the Big East tournament.Ryan Kalkbrenner had 23 points and 12 rebounds and was the only player in double-figure scoring for Creighton (20-9, 13-5), which missed a chance to match its best-ever Big East 18-game record.Creighton’s loss combined with St. John’s win earlier in the day clinched the Big East regular season title for St. John’s.Xavier, which had a 22-point second-half lead at Seton Hall dwindle to three six days earlier, built another 22-point lead Saturday. This time Creighton made a charge with a 12-0 surge, led by back-to-back threes from Steven Ashworth.But after Creighton’s 16-2 run cut Xavier’s lead to 57-49 with 10:29 remaining, the Musketeers answered with the next 14 points to put the game away.Field-goal shooting was the biggest factor in the game, as Xavier shot 55 percent on 33-of-60 shooting while Creighton hit just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc and finished 44.8 percent from the floor overall.