Beatdown Tuesday as Pitt, Marquette and Louisville cruise
No.23 Louisville 88 DePaul 68
Terrence Williams matched his season high of 22 points and David Padgett added 20 to help No.23 Louisville cruise past DePaul 88-68. The Cardinals once again used a stifling defense to win their fourth straight, holding DePaul to 37 percent shooting. Louisville (19-6, 9-3) jumped all over DePaul early, leading 23-8, and led 37-21 before DePaul’s 10-2 cut the lead to 39-31 at the half. Dar Tucker’s 22 points off the bench couldn’t help the Blue Demons (10-14, 5-7) avoid their fifth loss in the last six games, and the Blue Demons are clinging to life in the playoff picture in the Big East, sitting in the 11th spot.
No.25 Marquette 89 Seton Hall 64
No doubt about this one, the Golden Eagles made it look effort-less against Seton Hall. Marquette smothered the Pirates (15-10, 5-7) early and often, scoring the game’s first 15 points and leading 21-4 after just seven minutes of action. Marquette (17-6, 7-5) led 40-22 at halftime, putting this one away in the first 20-minute frame. Lazard Hayward led four Marquette players in double figures with 23 and a game-high nine boards. The Golden Eagles pounded on the Pirates 43-29 on the glass. Jeremy Hazell led Seton Hall with 18 points and Brian Laing finished with 17 and pulled down just three rebounds. Marquette sweeps the season series with Seton Hall, and the Golden Eagles are winners of four of their last six.
No. 24 Pittsburgh 82 Providence 63
Providence hung around in the first half, trailing by five at the break, as the Friars wouldn’t allow the Panthers to run and hide. Then, the second half came.
Pittsburgh held Providence to just six points in the first 11 minutes of action in the second half, allowing Pittsburgh to pull away from Providence 82-63. Sam Young’s career-high 22 points propelled the Panthers (19-5, 7-4) to their 14th home win of the season and Ronald Ramon and DeJuan Blair finished with 15 points apiece. It hasn’t been pretty for Providence (13-11, 4-8) lately. They’ve lost six of their last seven, and are now winless against Pittsburgh in their last eight tries. To make matters worse, the loss drops the Friars to 1-6 on the road this season in the Big East.
Tags: , Big East Basketball, DePaul Blue Demons, louisville cardinals, Marquette Golden Eagles, NCAA Men's basketball, Pittsburgh Panthers, Providence Friars, Seton Hall Pirates