Big East Sports Blog

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.

Monday, Feb.4th

• Louisville 71, #16 Marquette 57
• St. Joseph’s 77, Villanova 55

Tuesday, Feb.5th

• #6 Georgetown 63, South Florida 53
• Providence 79, DePaul 65

Wednesday, Feb.6th

• #19 UConn 63, Syracuse 61
• #22 Notre Dame 95, Seton Hall 69
• St.John’s 52, Rutgers 45

Thursday, Feb.7th

• #25 Pittsburgh 55, West Virginia 54

Friday, Feb 8th. - No games scheduled

> Find great Big East gear including Providence clothing, Villanova apparel & more through Big East Fans.

Coming down the home stretch during Rivalry Week, entering Big East play on Saturday, Georgetown, Notre Dame and UConn all went 2-0 dating back to last Saturday, Feb.2nd.  For the all the success the previously mentioned teams are having, DePaul, Villanova and Seton Hall posted goose eggs in the win column.

Beasts of the Big East

#6 Georgetown- defeated Seton Hall last Saturday 73-61, then followed up with a 10-point win against South Florida on Tuesday, 63-53.  While the Hoyas needed to rally from 10 points down, they pulled away late for the win and remain on top of the Big East standings at 9-1.

#22 Notre Dame.  Hot on the heels of the Hoyas are the Irish, who matched Georgetown by going 2-0 as well.  With wins over DePaul last Saturday 89-80 and mauling Seton Hall on Wednesday 95-69, the Irish remain just one game behind Georgetown in second place in the Big East at 7-2.

UConn - No team is hotter in the Big East right now.  The Huskies pulled out a tough, physical match up a week ago against Pitt, 60-53, and followed up one hard nosed win with another, knocking off arch rival Syracuse on Wednesday 63-61.  In their two wins this week, they’ve only surrendered an average of 57 points per game, and find themselves inside the Top 25 polls, riding a five game win streak and third in the Big East.

Iron unkind

DePaul- They played Notre Dame close, losing 89-80, but close doesn’t cut the mustard in the Big East.  The Blue Demons suffered their second straight loss this week on Tuesday, losing 79-65 to Providence.  DePaul has lost lost four straight, three on the road, since winning consecutive games over Rutgers and Florida Gulf Coast.

Seton Hall- After winning five in a row, the Pirates have had a power outage this week.  Thought they lost to the best two teams in the Big East ( 73-61 loss to Georgetown, 95-69 loss to Notre Dame), Seton Hall has only averaged 65 points in the two losses.

Villanova-Since starting 13-3, the Wildcats have lost five straight and went 0-2 this week, losing to Syracuse last weekend and getting hammered against Big Five rival St. Joe’s on Monday, 77-55.  An alarming stat this week for Villanova: they’ve given up an average of 82 points in both losses, while only scoring an average of 64.

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.

Five players for DePaul scored in double figures as the Blue Demons easily dismantled Florida Gulf Coast 92-60 on Monday night.  Draelon Burns and Will Walker led DePaul with 19 points each.  Karron Clarke scored 15 points, Dar Tucker added 14, and Mac Koshwal finished with 10.

Florida Gulf Coast kept things close in the first half, trailing 33-30 with halftime looming.  But DePaul (9-9, 4-2) broke things wide open, using a 13-2 run to go ahead 46-32 with 52 seconds left in the first half.  The Blue Demons led at the break 46-34, and effectively put this one to bed in the first three minutes of the second half, going on a 13-0 run and burying Florida Gulf Coast.

Once upon a time things looked grim for DePaul, after the Blue Demons started the season 2-7, but they’ve righted the ship, winning seven of their last nine games.  With the win, DePaul improves to 4-2 in the Big East and moved into a three-way tie for second place with West Virginia and Cincinnati also with 4-2 conference marks.

DePaul resumes conference play on Saturday when they travel to Marquette on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Seton Hall 92  Louisville 82

With just over four minutes to play in the contest, Seton Hall went on a ferocious run to finish the game, picking up the victory over visiting Louisville 92-82 on Saturday.

Trailing 80-78 in the closing minutes of the second half, Seton Hall went on a 14-2 run, electrifying the home crowd at the Prudential Center.  While Seton Hall (12-6, 2-3) got off nights from Jamar Nutter and Eugene Harvey (both combined for just 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting), they received more than plenty from center Brian Laing and Jeremy Hazell.  Hazell dropped a game and career-high 29 points, including sinking 8-of-14 3-pointers, and Laing added 25 points and six assists.  The Pirates shot 62.5 percent in the second half, making 15-of-24 field goals, while shooting 46 percent from downtown on 13 made 3-pointers.

Louisville (13-5, 3-2) was led by Jerry Smith, who scored 25 points and Terrence Williams turned in a triple-double with 10’s across the board: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists.  It is Williams’ second triple-double of the season, the first coming against Hartford on Nov.17th.  David Padgett added 12 points and Juan Palacios finished with 11.  Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark totaled just nine points on a combined 31 minutes played.  The loss snaps Louisville’s four-game winning streak.

Seton Hall will aim for their third win on Thursday night when they travel to Providence.  Louisville will be playing their 3 road game in their last four games on Wednesday against South Florida.

DePaul 75  Rutgers 73

Unfortunately sometimes you’re best just isn’t good enough and Rutgers swallowed an extremely difficult pill on Saturday, losing to DePaul 75-73.  Rutgers couldn’t have shot the ball any better than they did, shooting 61.7 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from 3-point range on 8-of-14 attempts.  However, Rutgers was unable to hold a seven point lead at halftime, 42-35, and DePaul pulled off the comeback victory.

Draelon Burns led DePaul (8-9, 4-2) with 20 points and pair of freshman, Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal, played their parts as well, with Tucker scoring all 12 of his points in the second half, and Koshwal finished with 18 and five rebounds.

With the game locked at 18 in the first half, Rutgers (8-11, 0-6), Rutgers exploded for a 16-2 run to lead 34-20, and led by as much as 15 in the first half, 37-22 with a little more than six minutes to play.  DePaul hung tough and cut the lead to seven going into halftime.  DePaul took only their second lead of the game, 64-63 with five and a half minutes to play.

The resilient Scarlet Knights took the lead back 69-66 on a 3-pointer by J.R. Inman, who led Rutgers with 22 points and eight rebounds, but Inman’s effort just wasn’t enough to keep the Blue Demons down.  DePaul responded with a 7-0 run and 73-69; the Blue Demons never trailed again.  Rutgers has now lost six straight games, all in conference.  Four of their six consecutive losses have come on the road, and the Scarlet Knights are still in search of their first win in 2008, with their last win coming over Manhattan on Dec.29th.

Rutgers will attempt to end their six-game skid when they host Villanova on Wednesday night.  DePaul will play their last out-of-conference game on Monday against Florida Gulf Coast.

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.

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.

Roy Hibbert asserted himself early and often, and showed why he’s considered one of the most dominant forces in the Big East, something DePaul found that out the hard way.

Hibbert led the Hoyas with 17 points, 11 rebounds to go along with five assists, as No.7 Georgetown routed DePaul 76-60 on Tuesday night.  Georgetown (12-1, 2-0) won their fourth straight game rather easily, leaving little doubt early that DePaul would win their fifth in a row and third straight in the Big East.

The Hoyas started fast and put DePaul behind the eight ball early, scoring the game’s first 11 points.  DePaul didn’t help their cause much, missing 18 of their first 22 shots including their first seven attempts from the field.  It was a succession of easy, uncontested baskets during the first 20 minutes and Georgetown held a monster lead at the break, 46-25.  The Blue Demons couldn’t mount any sort of surge and at one point, Georgetown led by as many as 28 in the second half.

Aside from Hibbert, the Hoyas had three other players in double figures.  Austin Freeman added 13 points and Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp each finished with 12.  Georgetown shot an impressive 54 percent from the field, while holding DePaul to 32 percent shooting. 

DePaul (6-8, 2-1), Mac Koshwal and Dar Tucker each had 14 points, with Koshwal grabbing 13 rebounds.  Will Walker added 13 points, and leading scorer Draeolon Burns finished with only six points on 2-of-9 shooting.  DePaul’s bench outscored the starters 31-29 on the night.

Georgetown’s stalwart style of defense has largely been the main reason why the Hoyas are 12-1 out of the gate this season.  The 60 points scored by DePaul marks only the third time this year the Hoyas have given up 60 points or more, and the first time since surrendering 85 points in the loss against Memphis on Dec. 22nd an opponent scored more than 55 points.

Georgetown returns home this Saturday when they host Connecticut at 2 p.m., while DePaul travels to St. John’s on Saturday at noon.