Big East Sports Blog

There were two games on the Big East slate on Wednesday night and Syracuse and Villanova both held serve on their home floors, getting wins over Rutgers and DePaul.

Syracuse 81, Rutgers 59

The trio of Donte Greene, Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris helped Syracuse end their two-game skid with a victory over Rutgers 81-59.  Greene, Flynn and Harris accounted for 75 percent of the Syracuse (13-5, 3-2) offense.  The trio scored 61 of Syracuse’s 81 points.  Flynn led all scorers with 24 points, Harris added 18, and Greene finished with 19.  The Orange shot a blistering 60.4 percent while pounding Rutgers on the glass, outrebounding the Scarlet Knights 40-24.  Rutgers (8-10, 0-5) was led by a pair of freshman, Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn.  Chandler had a team-high 16 points and Coburn chipped in with 11 points.  Leading scorer J.R. Inman finished the night with just four points on 2-of-8 shooting. 

Syracuse used a mammoth 17-2 run to lead 31-16 with under four minutes to play in the first half.  The Orange took a 38-22 lead into halftime, and were never threatened in the second half, leading by as many as 32 points.  Rutgers and Seton Hall are the only remaining teams in the Big East without a conference win (Rutgers 0-5, Seton Hall 0-3).  Rutgers will aim for their first conference win at DePaul on  Saturday at 2 p.m., while Syracuse will face off against No.25 Villanova Saturday at noon in the Carrier Dome.

#25 Villanova 76, DePaul 69

Villanova remembered the upset victory at the hands of DePaul a few weeks ago on opening night in conference play, losing 84-76 on Jan.3rd.  It was payback time on Wednesday night.  Despite DePaul leading by as much as 16 early in the game and holding the lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half, Villanova stormed back, using a 15-0 run, to fly past DePaul 76-69 on Wednesday night.

Villanova (12-3, 2-2) has face adversity before this season, being down as much as 21 to LSU and rallying for the win, and for whatever reason, something seems to get the Wildcats charged up and energized when they trail by significant double digits.  Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points for Villanova, including the final dagger in the form of a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put Villanova up 72-66.  Antonio Pena added 17 points and Dante Cunningham finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. 

For every comeback, there is indeed a level of collapsing and complacency by the leading team.  DePaul (7-9, 3-2) helped Villanova jump back into the game by not scoring for more than five and a half minutes.  DePaul led 57-50 with just under 10 minutes to go and Villanova went on their 15-0 run to steal the lead back.  DePaul didn’t end the run until Draelon Burns scored with 4:13 left to go, with the Blue Demons trailing 65-59 after the bucket by Burns.  Burns led DePaul with 27 points and Dar Tucker had 18.  Villanova feasted on DePaul inside, scoring 30 points in the paint and hammering the Blue Demons on the glass, 43-20;  DePaul managed just four offensive boards, while the Wildcats grabbed 14.  The Blue Demons weren’t very balanced on offense, with Burns and Tucker the only two Blue Demons in double figures.  The duo combined for 65 percent of the offense, while the rest of the squad combined for just 24 of their 69 points.

It looked as if DePaul was on their way to making it 2 for 2 over Villanova this year, and this month, but DePaul took their foot off the gas and failed to slam the door shut on Villanova.  DePaul was clearly the better team in the first 30 minutes, but the problem is a full game consists of 40 minutes and DePaul just didn’t play a full, complete ballgame.

#25 Villanova squares off against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome this Saturday at noon, and DePaul will host Rutgers on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Notre Dame used a blistering second half to win their 31st straight home game, defeating Cincinnati 91-74 on Tuesday night.  Luke Harangody scored a game and team-high 25 points, 24 coming in the second half, a half in which the Irish shot 69 percent from the field after shooting a miserable 24 percent in the first 20 minutes.

Notre Dame (13-3, 3-1) also got 22 points from Kyle McAlarney and Rob Kurz added 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Notre Dame trailed Cincinnati at halftime 34-27, but the Irish came out of the break smoking hot.  Notre Dame seized control with a 17-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half and never trailed again in the remaining 16 minutes.

Cincinnati (8-9, 3-2) got 10 points each from Deonta Vaughn, John Williamson, and Larry Davis.  Vaughn, the Big East reigning player of the week, was just 3-of-13 and the Bearcats took more than a healthy amount of 3’s, but didn’t connect on many of them.  Cincinnati was just 6-of-29 from beyond the arc, good for just 20.7 percent.

Cincinnati will look to get back in the win column this Saturday at home against Pittsburgh at 4 p.m.  Notre Dame will travel to Georgetown on Saturday at noon.

The first game on Big Monday was just that for No.15 Pittsburgh - big.  The backcourt tag team of Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin scored 18 points apiece to help the Panthers defeat No.5 Georgetown 69-60 on Monday night.

Pittsburgh (15-2, 3-1) extended their home winning streak to 13 games, and handed Georgetown (13-2, 3-1) their first conference loss.  Despite the losses to Levance Fields and Mike Cook, the Panthers are 4-1 without Fields in the lineup.  Freshman DeJuan Blair didn’t cower or shy away from 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert, getting 15 points and nine rebounds against the Georgetown big man.  In their two wins over top 10 teams this season, Duke and now Georgetown, Blair hasn’t shone the look of just a freshman, rather a dominant upperclassman, going for 30 points and 29 boards in the two contests.

Jonathan Wallace led Georgetown with 14 points.  Hibbert had the game’s only double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards.  The Hoyas bench outscored the Panthers 21-7, but it was the trio of DaJuan Summers, Jessie Sapp and Austin Freeman that didn’t get things done for the fifth-ranked Hoyas.  The trio combined for just 13 points on 6-of-22 shooting.  Summers was held scoreless in the game and miss all seven shots he took.

After a see-saw, physical first half with Pittsburgh leading by just one, 27-26, Georgetown came out flat and slow, as the Panthers went on a 15-4 spurt to lead 42-30, with Ramon and Benjamin leading the charge on back-to-back 3-pointers.  The Hoyas responded with an 8-0 run, getting to within three at 47-44, but Pittsburgh answered back, going up by eight with eight and a half minutes to play, 52-44.

Georgetown never led against Pittsburgh in the game, and the rebounding factor once again hindered Georgetown.  Against a much smaller Pittsburgh team, the Panthers were able to outrebound the Hoyas 37-33.  Georgetown’s inability to make a late push in the game was due largely to their severe ineffectiveness from 3-point range, shooting just 3-of-20 from downtown.  The Hoyas had entered the night as the best shooting team from the field in the country at 51.6 percent, but a lot of credit goes the Pittsburgh on the defense end, holding Georgetown to just over 44 percent in the game.

You can’t say enough good things about the way head coach Jamie Dixon has this Pittsburgh team playing, down to just nine players due to the injuries to Fields and Cook.  No excuses coming from Pitt, they’re just doing the work and doing whatever it takes to pull out wins.  They wanted, and maybe even needed, this one more than the Hoyas, as Pittsburgh extracted some revenge from the blowout loss they suffered nearly a year ago to Georgetown in the Big East Championship Game 65-42.  Both teams are now in a five-way tie atop the Big East standings at 3-1, with Marquette, Cincinnati and DePaul all at 3-1 as well.

No.15 Pittsburgh will be off until this coming Saturday when they travel to Cincinnati to face off against the Bearcats at 4 p.m.  No.5 Georgetown will also have off until Saturday when they return  home to face Notre Dame at noon.

The 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Top 25 rankings are out for the week of Jan.14th and four Big East teams are represented in the Top 25.

The Georgetown Hoyas moved into the Top 5, at No.5, up two spots from the last week.  The Hoyas went 2-0 this past week, getting wins over DePaul and UConn.  Marquette jumps up two spots to No.15 from No. 17 a week ago.  The Golden Eagles kept pace with the Hoyas, going 2-0 last week with victories over Seton Hall and pummeling Notre Dame 92-66 this past weekend. 

Pittsburgh hops up five spots, checking in at No.15.  The Panthers weren’t outdone by Georgetown and Marquette, getting two victories over South Florida and Seton Hall.  Villanova takes the biggest plunge, falling from No.19 to No.25 this week.  The Wildcats were dealt an upset loss in their only game of the week, falling on the road to Cincinnati on Saturday, 69-66.

Men’s Basketball Players of the Week honors were handed out on Monday, Jan.14th, as Deonta Vaughn was named Big East Player of the Week and DeJuan Blair was named Big East Rookie of the Week.

Vaughn helped Cincinnati to a 2-0 week for the Bearcats during games through Jan.13th.  Vaughn started the week dropping 29 points in a win over Syracuse 74-66 on Wednesday, Jan.9th, then followed up with a 25-point outing in an upset victory over Villanova this past Saturday 69-66.  Vaughn is averaging just under 23 points per game in the Big East action this season.

Freshman DeJuan Blair was named Big East Rookie of the Week for the third time this year after helping Pittsburgh to a 2-0 record as well this week.  Blair scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the 79-66 win over South Florida on Wednesday, Jan.9th, then dropped 20 points and pulled down 14 boards in the win over Seton Hall this past Saturday.  Blair shot close to 60 percent in both victories this week (58.8 percent) and he’s nearly averaging a double-double in his first season for Pittsburgh, scoring 12.2 points and grabbing 9.9 rebounds per game.

Louisville won for the seventh time in eight games, defeating Rutgers 64-49 on Sunday afternoon.  Jerry Smith led the attack for Louisville (12-4, 2-1) with 14 points.  Edgar Sosa added 10 points off the bench for the Cardinals.  Louisville’s benched outscored Rutgers 25-3, as the starters for Rutgers (8-9, 0-4) scored 46 of their 49 points. 

David Padgett added nine points for the Cardinals and Juan Palacios and Derrick Caracter each finished with eight points.  Rutgers controlled most of the play in the first half, but Louisville decided to quit sleep walking and went on a 12-0 run to go up 28-20, and led 28-23 at the break.

The Scarlet Knights shot just 28.6 percent in the first half, while committing nine turnovers.  Rutgers shot just 31.4 percent for the game, while Louisville shot 41.5 percent, 52 percent from the field in the second half.  Louisville controlled the glass 40-33 and forced Rutgers into 16 turnovers.

Jaron Griffin scored a career-best 23 points for Rutgers and J.R. Inman added 11 points.  Rutgers dropped their fourth straight game, all in the Big East.  Rutgers will attempt to put an end to their four-game slide and notch their first win in 2008 when they visit Syracuse on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.  Louisville will host No.15 Marquette on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

The meeting between West Virginia and Syracuse marks the first time ever that Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins faced off against one another.  Between the two storied head coaches, they’ve collected almost 1,400 wins, but on this afternoon Huggins earned win No. 601 rather easily against Boeheim.

West Virginia held Syracuse to a season-low in points and Alex Ruoff lead the charge for the Mountaineers, as West Virginia blew by Syracuse 81-61 on Sunday afternoon.  Ruoff drained 7-of-10 3-point attempts on the afternoon, finishing with 23 points.

Ruoff led four Mountaineer players in double figures.  Darris Nichols had 17 points and six assists, Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler each added 13 points for West Virginia (12-4, 2-2). 

Syracuse (12-5, 2-2) was held to just 61 points, a season low for the Orange.  They were dreadful from the outset, and playing on the road in the Big East, slow starts and poor shooting will kill you.  Syracuse miss-fired on 16 of their first 23 shots, and finished with just seven field goals in the first half.  As if there poor shooting wasn’t bad enough, the Orange turned the ball over a season-high 19 times, including 10 first half turnovers. 

The man-to-man defense for WVU stymied the Orange, and more impressively, WVU was able to keep up their man-to-man pressure throughout the entire game without tiring.  They wore down and wore out Syracuse, who just didn’t compete on this afternoon.  Syracuse missed 10-of-13 3-point attempts, with leading scorer Donte Greene going 2-of-8 from beyond the arc and 3-of-12 overall.  Greene finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Arinze Onuaku led Syracuse with 15 points.

The poor shooting by Syracuse in the first half helped propel West Virginia to a 35-20 halftime lead, and things only got worse for SU.  West Virginia went on a 23-5 run that carried over from the first half to the second half, and before Syracuse knew it, they were in a big hole, down 45-23 with 16 minutes to play.  The closest Syracuse got was within 15 points the entire second half.  The Mountaineers led by as many as 26 with five minutes to play in the ballgame.  Both teams are now tied in the Big East standings at 2-2.

It was the biggest home victory for West Virginia over Syracuse in more than 30 years.  Of their 12 wins this season, they’ve won by an average margin of 14 points, however, they’ve dropped their first two games on the road in the Big East.  West Virginia has now won 14 straight home games, and they’ll aim for 15 in a row at home when they host St. John’s on Thursday night at 7 p.m.  Syracuse has dropped two straight in the Big East, with both losses coming on the road.  The Orange had won their previous six games.  They’ll head back home on Wednesday night when they welcome Rutgers into the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m.

Sam Young and DeJuan Blair helped lead the offense for Pittsburgh, as the Panthers defeated Seton Hall on Saturday 84-70 in Big East play, keeping the Pirates winless in conference play.

Young scored a game-high 28 points and the freshman Blair added 20 points and snared 14 rebounds in the win.  Pittsburgh (14-2, 2-1) did not trail at all in the game, and they finally were able to pull away from the pesky Pirates after senior center Brian Liang injured his hip.

Liang injured his right hip early in the second half after a collision with Young.  Young’s elbow caught Liang on the hip, forcing the center to head into the locker room.  With Liang, the Pirates fell behind by 10, 45-35 after trailing 33-30 at halftime.  Liang had 15 points in the first half, but once he returned, wasn’t the same player.  In his absence, the Pirates simply could not find a way to get baskets without their leading scorer.  Eugene Harvey led Seton Hall (10-6, 0-3) with 25 points and Jamar Nutter added 10 points in a team-high 36 minutes.  The Pirates shot just 34.8 percent from the field;  the 3-point line was highly unkind for Seton Hall, nailing just 5-of-23 attempts for 21 percent.

Pittsburgh shot 49 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3-point range.  The backcourt tandem of Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin combined for 26 points and 14 of Pittsburgh’s 22 assists.  The Panthers are 3-1 without injured point guard Levance Fields and 3-2 without Mike Cook.

Despite only nine scholarship players due to the injuries, Pittsburgh has emerged as one the premier teams in the conference, as they’ve suffered only two losses.  The Panthers will put their 12-game home winning streak on the line when they host No.5 Georgetown in a much anticipated ‘Big Monday’ match-up. 

For Seton Hall, they’ve arguably had the toughest start to their Big East schedule.  They’ve lost to UConn, Marquette, and Pittsburgh.  Both losses to Pitt and Marquette were on the road and both were ranked inside the Top 25.  The Pirates will look for their first Big East win on Thursday when they host South Florida at 7:30 p.m.

First DePaul, now Cincinnati.  For the second time this month, Villanova was upset on the road against what were supposed to be weaker conference foes.  Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Big East games aren’t played on paper.

Freshman Rashad Bishop earned his stripes by canning a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to play to propel Cincinnati to the upset victory over No.19 Villanova 69-66 on Saturday night.  That was Bishops’ only basket and points of the evening, as he was 0-of-3 before hitting the winning basket.

Scottie Reynolds dropped in a season-best 32 points for Villanova (11-3, 1-2) in 37 minutes.  Reynolds had struggled in his previous two games, scoring just 15 points in two games.  Corey Fisher added 13 points and Antonio Pena chipped in with 10 off the bench.  For the second straight game, Villanova lost the rebounding margin by double digits.  They were outrebounded 43-31 in the win over Pittsburgh, and 36-24 in the loss to the Bearcats.  Against the zone of Cincy, Villanova managed just seven offensive boards.

Deonta Vaughn led the Cincinnati (8-8, 3-1) attack once again, finishing with 25 points, 13 coming in the first half.  He has been the leading scorer for the Bearcats in eight straight games now, and he’s scored at least 24 points in three consecutive games.  John Williamson played the part of Robin to Vaughn’s Batman, notching 13 points and 11 rebounds, 10 coming in the first half.

It was a two man show between Reynolds and Vaughn, a virtual anything you can do, I can do better match-up.  Reynolds provided instant offense for Villanova, scoring their first 12 points.  Vaughn gave Cincinnati the lead 41-40 that started a series of multiple lead changes.  The largest lead for the Bearcats came at 55-50, but Reynolds responded, sparking a 7-0 run to put Villanova back in front.  Reynolds had a chance to potentially win it for Villanova, but had a shot blocked with 27 seconds left that would set up the game winner by Bishop just five seconds later for Cincinnati.

With the victory, Cincinnati has surpassed their win total already in conference play from a year ago when they were an abysmal 2-14 in the Big East.  The Bearcats are now 3-1 and tied for second place in the standings.

No.19 Villanova will seek to extract some measure of revenge this Wednesday night when they host DePaul at 9 p.m.  The Wildcats will be looking to get even with a Blue Demons squad that upset them earlier this month 84-76.  Cincinnati has won four of their last five games, and they’ll aim for their third straight win against Notre Dame, in South Bend, on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Freshman Dar Tucker finished with 16 points as the DePaul beat St. John’s 60-54 on Saturday.  Draelon Burns and Mac Koshwal each added 10 points for DePaul (7-8, 3-1).  Since starting out 2-7, DePaul has won five of their last six games and their 3-1 conference mark has them tied for 2nd.

Justin Burrell led the way for St. John’s (7-8, 1-3), scoring 18 points and Anthony Mason Jr. was the only other Red Storm player in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

St. John’s led at halftime 24-21 and a quick 6-0 in the first 3:21 of the second half put DePaul down 30-21, the largest lead of the game for the Red Storm.  From there on, it became a game of runs, with DePaul using two huge runs to propel them past St. John’s.  The Blue Demons had runs of 14-4 and 16-0.  Their first run of the second half, 14-4, put DePaul ahead 35-34, but St. John’s used a 7-0 run of their own to go ahead 41-35 with 12 and a half minutes to play.  DePaul went ahead for good at 42-41 during their 16-0 run that finally ended at the 4:43 mark, with DePaul firmly ahead 51-41.

Of the six games on the schedule in the Big East on Saturday, DePaul was the only team to win on the road.  Home teams went 5-1.

DePaul will head to Villanova on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. to square off against the Wildcats.  DePaul upset Villanova earlier this month, defeating Villanova 84-76 on Jan. 3rd.  St. John’s will travel to Morgantown to face West Virginia on Thursday at 7 p.m.