Big East Sports Blog

 No.17 UConn 84  No.18 Notre Dame 76

A.J. Price left Notre Dame with more questions than answers after Wednesday night, as Price led No.17 UConn past No.18 Notre Dame 84-76 in the match up of the week in the Big East.  The Huskies survived another dominating performance by Irish forward Luke Harangody, who had 32 points and 16 rebounds in the game.

Price dished out nine assists to go along with his 26 points, and he connected on four 3-pointers and shot 10-of-19 from the field.  Jeff Adrien added 13 points and nine boards and Craig Austie added 14, but it was Austrie at the defensive end matched up against Irish guard Kyle McAlarney that made the difference.  McAlarney was held to just 12 points this time around, after buring UConn (19-5, 8-3) for 32 in the first meeting earlier this season.  The Irish were unable to get other players on track aside from Harangody and head coach Mike Brey couldn’t find someone to step up in place of McAlarney.  UConn’s defense in the second half held Notre (18-5, 8-3) Dame to 33 percent shooting

 South Florida 89  Syracuse 78

As impressive as UConn’s victory over Notre Dame was, South Florida stole the show on Wednesday night, shocking Syracuse 89-78 behind the duo of Kentrell Gransberry and Dominique Jones.  Gransberry had 23 and nine rebounds and Jones scored a game-high 29 points.  South Florida (11-15, 2-11)blew a 16-point to DePaul in their last contest, but used a 20-1 run down the stretch to run away from the Orange.  Donte Greene led Syracuse (17-9, 7-6) with 17 points and Jonny Flynn added 16.  Flynn has now logged 40 minutes in each of the last six games.

 Cincinnati 60 St. John’s 43

Cincinnati surpassed their win total from a year ago with a 60-43 win over St. John’s.  John Williamson led the Bearcats with 25 points and 11 rebounds.  Cincinnati (12-12, 7-5) held St John’s a terrible night shooting, making just 12 field goals the entire game, five of which came from beyond the arc.  The Red Storm (10-14, 4-9) shot just 5-of-22 in the 1st half, and had their three game winning streak snapped in the process.  The Bearcats find themselves currently in the thick of the Big East Tournament picture. 

Scoreboard for Monday, Jan.28th

UConn 69, Louisville 67

The Huskies prevail on Big Monday behind a big night from guard A.J. Price, who poured in 20 points.  UConn pounded Louisville on the glass, winning the rebounding advantage 40-29.  Very uncharacteristic night for Louisville.  The Cardinals jacked up 33 3-point attempts, connecting on 11; Juan Palacios and Terrence Williams combined to hoist 17 3’s.  UConn played with a short bench, due to suspensions to Doug Wiggins and Jerome Dyson last week.  The frontcourt duo of Stanley Robinson and Jeff Adrien combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds to help UConn to win their 4th straight.

Tuesday, Jan.29th  - #17 Marquette 62, South Florida 52

With Jerel McNeal and Dominic James struggling, Lazar Hayward scored 23 points and Wesley Matthews dropped in 16 to help Marquette past South Florida.  McNeal was held to six points, James managed only three for the Golden Eagles.  In a surprising twist, (not really) Kentrell Gransberry turned in another double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, but the Bulls were unable to overcome an eight-point halftime defict.

Wednesday scoreboard - Jan.30th

• #6 Georgetown 74  St. John’s 42
• #18Pittsburgh 69  Villanova 57
• Syracuse 60  DePaul 55
• Cincinnati 62  West Virginia 39
• Seton Hall 84  Rutgers 71

Saturday, January 26th

• Notre Dame 90  #18 Villanova 80
• UConn 68  #7 Indiana 63
• Louisville 67  St. John’s 57
• Rutgers 77  #13 Pittsburgh 64
• Marquette 79  DePaul 71
• #9 Georgetown 58  West Virginia 57

Sunday, January 27th

Seton Hall recorded their 4th straight win with a 64-61 win over Cincinnati.  Center Brian Laing dominated with 23 points and eight rebounds, and Jamar Nutter finished with 20 points.  Deonta Vaughn tried to keep Cincinnati within strking distance, scoring 15 points in the game.  Vaughn was the sole Bearcat in double figures.  Cincy trailed by 56-53 down the stretch but the Bearcats couldn’t get over the hump and pull out the victory.  The Pirates improve to 14-6 and 4-3 in the Big East.  Cincinnati falls to 9-11 and .500 in the conference at 4-4.

Freshman Donte Greene powered Syracuse with 24 points, as the Orange were able to fend off pesky Providence 71-64 on Sunday afternoon.  The freshman came up large in the final minutes of the game, breaking a 56-all tie with a 3-pointer and Syrcause sealed the game at the free throw line with 8-of-10 attempts in the final 90 seconds of action.  Providence was led by Dwain Williams with 21 points and Jeff Xavier with 16.  Weyinmi Efejuku and Geoff McDermott both finished scoreless on a combined 0-of-9 shooting.  Syracuse pounded the Friars on the glass, outrebounding Providence 47-32; six Syracuse players had at least four rebounds, with Arinze Onuaku leading the charge with 14 boards.  Syracuse pulled to .500 in Big East play (4-4) and 14-7 overall, while Providence fell below the .500 mark (3-4) and 12-7 overall.

No.18 Panthers blast Red Storm 81-57

Pittsburgh loves to play in their home away from home, Madison Square Garden, and they easily handled St. John’s 81-57 on Wednesday night.  Forward Sam Young led three Panthers players in double figures with 26.  Ronald Ramon added 16 and five assists and DaJuan Blair finished with 10 points, along with eight rebounds.

Pittsburgh (16-3, 4-2) improve to 19-8 all time at MSG since 2000.  They’ve played in six of the last seven Big East Championship games, and they also defeated then No.6 Duke a week before Christmas 65-64 in overtime.  Pittsburgh shot 54.5 percent for the game and a torrid 61.5 percent in the 2nd half.

Anthony Mason Jr. was the sole bright-spot for St. John’s (7-10, 1-5), scoring 23 points on an impressive 12-of-17 shooting from the field.  The Red Storm have dropped four straight and six of their last seven games.  They’ll attempt to stop their recent slide Saturday at Louisville, while No.18 Pittsburgh squares off against Rutgers on Saturday also.

Cardinals take care of Bulls 80-60

Earl Clark’s 18-point effort off the bench led Louisville’s rout of South Florida 80-60.  Jerry Smith and David Padgett added 12 each.  Louisville lead comfortably at halftime 45-26.  The Louisville defense held South Florida to 39 percent shooting, while forcing the Bulls into 15 turnovers.

Kentrell Gransberry once more led South Florida (10-10, 1-6) with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Gransberry doesn’t get nearly enough attention he deserves.  He’s almost a guaranteed double-doubled every night, but the rest of his support cast just doesn’t provide him with much help.  Freshman Dominique Jones finished with 17, however, the next highest output by a Bull player was just seven points.  South Florida has lost six in a row, all in the Big East and all by double-digit margins. 

Louisville will host St. John’s on Saturday.  South Florida returns to action Tuesday, Jan.29th against Marquette.

Huskies slip past Bearcats 84-83

UConn’s balanced offensive attack with four players in double figures, helped the Huskies over Cincinnati 84-83 on Wednesday night.  Center Hasheem Thabeet led UConn (13-5, 4-3) with 22 points and seven rebounds and guard Jerome Dyson finished with 20 points.

Cincinnati (9-10, 4-3), on the other hand, was a one-trick pony on offense.  Deonta Vaughn dropped 34 points on the Huskies, but was the only Bearcat in double figures.  Cincinnati squandered a 12-point lead with six minutes left in the second half, and eventually allowed UConn to square things at 80 with 90 seconds left to play.  A.J. Prices’ two free throws gave UConn the lead 84-83 and Cincinnati’s last-ditch effort failed on a miss by Marcus Sikes.

The Huskies found their way to the free throw line 37 times  in this one, and more impressively, made 32 of them.  UConn trailed at the break 41-38 and picked things up at the offensive end of the floor in the second half with a 46-point outburst. 

UConn will aim for their 3rd straight on Saturday afternoon against No.7 Indiana.  This could be just the signature type of win the Huskies need on their resume as their play has picked up and improved recently with wins over Marquette and now Cincinnati.  The Bearcats have dropped two of their last three and they’ll look for a win against Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon.

Hibbert leads No.5 Georgetown in romp of Irish

Pre-season All-American Roy Hibbert poured in 21 points and dished out five assists to lead No.5 Georgetown easily past Notre Dame 84-65 on Saturday.  The Hoyas’ stalwart was defense was in full effect against the Irish, holding Notre Dame to a season low 32.8 percent shooting from the field.

DaJuan Summers had a double-double for Georgetown (14-2, 4-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman guard Austin Freeman dropped in 16 points.  The Hoyas shot 52.8 percent from the field.  Their starting five dominated the Irish, scoring 76 of their 84 points, despite being outrebounded by Notre Dame, 36-30.

Luke Harangody led Notre Dame 13-4, 3-2) with 13 points on just 3-of-13 shooting from the field before fouling out in the second half.  Harangody had a difficult afternoon at both ends of the floor.  He struggled offensively, and had the unpleasant task of matching up against Hibbert at the defensive end of the floor.  Kyle McAlarney also had a rough day from the field, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field, and just 2-of-8 from 3-point range.  McAlarney wasn’t the lone Irish player to struggle from long distance; Notre Dame shot 28 percent from downtown on 7-of-25 shooting.  Notre Dame was 20-of-61 from the field.  The 64 points was a season low scored by the Irish, who dropped 64 points alone in the second half last weekend against Connecticut.

The Hoyas were trailing 17-16 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.  Emphasis on were.  Georgetown preceded to race to a 15-0 run, a stretch in which the Irish went almost seven minutes without a basket.  Georgetown took a 38-25 lead into the break.  Notre Dame wasn’t able to get back into the game in the second half, and there 1-of-10 start from the field in the second didn’t help matters much.

No.5 Georgetown returns to action on ‘Big Monday’ against long-time rival Syracuse.  Notre Dame will have a full week off to prepare for Villanova next Saturday, Jan.26th.

No.25 Villanova bests Syracuse in the Carrier Dome

Anytime you’re able to pick up a win in the Big East, let alone on the road in place like the Carrier Dome, it’s a tremendous feeling, a feeling Villanova was able to experience first hand on Saturday.

Scottie Reynolds led the Wildcat attack and No.25 Villanova took full advantage of the foul trouble Syracuse found themselves in, picking up the road win 81-71.  Syracuse had four players with at least four fouls, with Scoop Jardine and Donte Greene fouling out for the Orange.

Villanova (13-3, 3-2) rebounded in the second half from a disappointing effort in the first half, shooting just 29 percent.  Greene picked up his fourth foul not even three minutes to start the second and then Arinze Onuaku got his fourth with just over 12 minutes to go.  The Wildcats wiped out a five point deficit at the half, trailing 35-30. 

Villanova went up 57-53 with just over 10 minutes to play when Greene and Onuaku checked back in, giving Syracuse (13-6, 3-3) a momentum boost with eight points between the two.  The warm, fuzzy feeling for the Orange didn’t last long, as Greene fouled out with about five and a half minutes left.  Onuaku pulled Syracuse to within three, 66-63, but Corey Fisher canned a 3-pointer and then Reynolds was fouled on a 3-point attempt and sunk all three free throws.  Villanova led 72-63 with three and a half left and the Orange couldn’t mount one final charge. 

Losing Greene killed any momentum or ideas of a comeback by Syracuse and a lot of credit goes to head coach Jay Wright and Villanova.  His players hung tough after a difficult first half, with the home crowd feverishly into it and they battled back down the stretch and came up with some tremendous baskets and key execution on offense in crunch time.

Fisher added 15 for Villanova and Cunningham chipped in with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Villanova’s bench outscored Syracuse 31-5.  Losing one player is very tough for Syracuse, but then losing Onuaku killed Syracuse.  Freshman Jonny Flynn led Syracuse in scoring with 23 points.  Greene finished with 12 and Onuaku added 10 points and 10 rebounds before both players fouled out. 

No.25 Villanova will travel to Rutgers on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.  Syracuse will face off against rival Georgetown on Big Monday at 7 p.m.

Cincinnati beats second ranked opponent in as many weeks, knocking off No.15 Pittsburgh

Last Saturday, Cincinnati took a bite out Villanova, this week, it was the same story, just a different chapter.  This Saturday, Pittsburgh bit the dust at the hands of Cincinnati as the Bearcats upset No.15 Pittsburgh 62-59.

With things tied at 40, Cincinnati (9-9, 4-2) used a late 13-0 run with just over 4 minutes to play and was able to stave off a late rally by Pittsburgh (15-3, 3-2).  The Panthers had one final attempt to send the contest to overtime, but Keith Benjamin’s 3-point attempt was blocked with three seconds to play.  Benjamin, with Pittsburgh already depleted by injuries, suffered a cut on his hand and needed stitches.  He left the game in the first half, but returned in the second half for Pitt.  Sam Young led the way for Pittsburgh with 24 points and nine rebounds.  Benjamin was the only other Panther in double figures, finishing with 11.  Freshman DaJuan Blair finished with only four points and three rebounds and was hampered by foul trouble in the second half.  Tyrell Biggs, who replaced Blair, also found himself in foul trouble, and was limited to six points off the bench.

Deonta Vaughn led Cincinnati with 14 points.  Adam Hyrcaniuk finished with 12 points and team high seven rebounds and Rashad Bishop added 11.  The Panthers shot just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half, and led by one at the break, 28-27.  The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Panthers.

With the victory, Cincinnati has moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Big East at 4-2.  DePaul and West Virginia are also 4-2.  The Bearcats have won three of their last four games.

Pittsburgh returns to action on Wednesday night at St. John’s at 7 p.m., while Cincinnati also returns to the hardwood on Wednesday night with a home contest against Connecticut at 7:30 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.

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.

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.

Deonta Vaughn dropped in 29 points to help Cincinnati defeat Syracuse 74-66 on Wednesday night, putting an end to the Orange’s six game winning streak.  20 of Vaughn’s 29 points came in the first half, as Syracuse was only able to muster 23 first half points.  Cincinnati has now won three of their last four games.

Cincinnati (7-8, 2-1) took a 35-23 lead into halftime, using a monstrous 21-4 run to close out first half action.  Before the run, Syracuse (12-4, 2-1) held the lead, 18-14.  Vaughn scored 12 straight points to give Cincy the lead 29-20 during their first-half late run.

Freshman Donte Green scored 25 points and pulled down 12 boards and sophomore Paul Harris added 20 points.  The duo combined for more than half of Syracuse’s point total, while shooting 52 percent.  The rest of the Syracuse squad combined to shoot a miserable 28 percent from the field.  Freshman point guard Jonny Flynn turned in a forgettable night, finishing with nine points on an awful 2-of-15 shooting.

Syracuse started the game off well, jumping out to a 14-5 lead, but a 14-4 spurt by the Bearcats put Cincinnati up 19-18 and the Bearcats never trailed again.  The closest Syracuse got was within six points late in the second half.

Syracuse will be on the road once again this Sunday when they travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia at 2:30 p.m.  Cincinnati will aim for two in a row when they host Villanova on Saturday at 7 p.m.

St. John’s got their first Big East win under their belt, beating Cincinnati 70-58 on Saturday night.  The Red Storm (7-6, 1-1) used a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures, led by Anthony Mason Jr. with 17 points.  Mason Jr. had 12 of his 17 points in the second half to help St. John’s pick up the victory.  Justin Burrell and D.J. Kennedy each had 13 points and Eugene Lawrence finished with 12 points. 

Cincinnati (6-8, 1-1) was a one-trick pony on this night in the form of Deonta Vaughn.  Vaughn had a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting.  Vaughn nearly had half of the field goals scored by the Bearcats, as the rest of his teammates only combined to make 13 field goals.  Vaughn put the Bearcats up 20-19 early in the first half, but that would be the last lead Cincinnati had.  St. John’s used a 14-2 run to close out the first half up 11 points, 33-22. 

It was a tale of two runs early in the second half by both teams.  Cincinnati used an 11-6 run behind Vaughn and John Williamson to chop the Red Storm lead to six, 39-33.  But St. John’s countered with a 9-1 run to build their lead back up to double digits at 48-34 and never looked back.  Williamson was the only other Bearcat in double figures, finishing with 12 points. 

St. John’s will travel up the East coast to face the Connecticut Huskies on Tuesday night at 7 p.m., while Cincinnati will return home to host Syracuse on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.