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. 

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

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.

Notre Dame was able to outlast Providence in overtime 81-74 on Thursday night, behind  31 points and 14 rebounds from Luke Harangody.  Ryan Ayers picked up the slack with 10 points, as well as Tory Jackson, who added 14.  Jackson and Ayers elevated the Irish offense without Kyle McAlarney and Rob Kurz, who were 5-of-19 combined shooting for 19 points.

Despite five players in double figures, with Dwain Williams leading the way with 20, Providence lost this one at the free throw line.  The Friars were just 6-of-16 from the line, with center Ray Hall struggling the most, going 2-of-10 from the line.  Hall had a chance to put Providence up four with a minute left but bricked a one-and-one chance from the line.  After a couple Irish misses, Providence appeared poised to win, but Harangody came up with a huge steal from Geoff McDermott and Harangody sunk both from the line to tie the game up at 61, forcing overtime.

The Irish outscored Providence 20-13 in the overtime frame, using a timely 14-5 run in the overtime session to pull away with the victory.  Providence had this one, and essentially beat themselves with their poor free throw shooting.  They outrebounded Notre Dame 48-38 and surprisingly with the prescence of Harangody, dominated the paint, outscoring Notre Dame 36-26.  However, in the Big East, on the road, 6 free throws out of 16 won’t get it done.

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.

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.

While the Fighting Irish have enjoyed the home cooking at the Joyce Center, Marquette was ready and willing to be rude hosts on Saturday night.  Notre Dame played on the road for just the second time this season as No.15 Marquette pasted the Fighting Irish 92-66 on Saturday night, behind five Golden Eagles  in double figures.

Jerel McNeal led the Marquette squad with 18 points and Lazard Hayward had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Dominic James had 16 points, Wesley Matthews added 15 and David Cubillan chipped in with 11.  Marquette (13-2, 3-1) shot the ball well against the Irish, shooting 46.6 percent for the game, while hitting on 50 percent of their 3-pointers (12-24) and shooting 80 percent from the line.

As for the Irish, despite outrebounding Marquette 46-36, their shooting touch abandoned them in the second half.  After shooting 48 percent in the first, Notre Dame went ice cold in the second, shooting 31 percent on just 9-of-29 shooting.  Luke Harangody continues to be a workhorse for Notre Dame (12-3, 2-1), leading the Irish with 29 points (18 in the first half) and 14 rebounds, but received little help from his teammates.  Rob Kurz and Klye McAlarney combined for just 19 points on 6-of-16 combined shooting.  McAlarney was fresh off a career night against UConn, scoring 32 points, but had just eight in this one.  A season-high 24 turnovers, and just 13 assists helped plague the Irish as well.  Notre Dame missed their first eight 3-point attempts to start the game and finished 4-of-19 from downtown, good for just 21 percent.

Notre Dame trailed at halftime for the first time all year, 44-36, and were quickly blitzed as the second frame began.  Marquette used a smothering 20-5 run to race away from the Irish. 

A great job by the Golden Eagles to protect home court against hot Notre Dame club that hasn’t lost since Nov.19th.  This loss, however, ends Notre Dame’s 10-game winning streak.  Marquette set the tone from the opening tap and round their rhythm early, and Irish were simply overwhelmed and overmatched on this afternoon.  The Golden Eagles’ 12 three’s were a season high, as were their 17 steals, and to help matters, Marquette’s 20 fastbreak points to just two for Notre Dame made life on the road very unpleasant for the Irish.

No.15 Marquette will hit the road this Thursday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Freedom Hall to face off against Louisville.  Notre Dame will look to regroup and rebound back home against Cincinnati on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

It’s 30 and counting for the Fighting Irish at the Joyce Center.  Another game, another visiting team unable to derail the home success of the Irish.  The UConn Huskies came calling on Saturday night in a prime time match up early on in the Big East.  They came, they tried, but the Irish conquered. 

Notre Dame defeated Connecticut 73-67 on Saturday night to win their 11th straight and 30th consecutive at home.  The Irish (12-2, 2-0) handed Connecticut (10-3, 1-1) their first loss in conference play behind a career night from Kyle McAlarney.  McAlarney scored a career-high 32 points, and Luke Harangody and Rob Kurz each posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, despite going a combined 10-of-35 from the field.

The Fighting Irish had Jim Calhoun’s squad chasing them all evening from start to finish.  Notre Dame led by as much as 21 in the first half, and led by 15 at intermission, 47-32.  The Huskies finally erased the deficit and surpassed the Irish for their only lead of the ballgame, 58-57 with about six and half minutes to play.  The lead was short-lived, however, and lasted for all of 22 seconds.  Zach Hillesland gathered a rebound off of an Irish miss and Notre Dame went back up 59-58 and never trailed the rest of the way.

It wasn’t a particularly stellar night for either team from the field, with UConn shooting 39 percent and Notre Dame shooting 37 percent.  The Huskies had their struggles from the line, missing six free throws on 11-of-17 attempts, whereas the Irish went 10-of-11 from the line.

The difference maker was clearly McAlarney.  He was 13-of-19 from the field and connected on six three-pointers.  As hard as they tried, Calhoun’s Huskies simply couldn’t get McAlarney off his game.  Jeff Adrien led UConn with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Jerome Dyson, who was coming off a career high 27 points against Seton Hall, added 13 points, and A.J. Price had 13 also.

The loss snaps Connecticut’s five-game win streak.  UConn will return home after their recent three-game road trip on Tuesday night when they face St. John’s.  Notre Dame will have a week off, and they’ll put their 11-game winning streak to the test next Saturday, Jan. 12th when they travel to Marquette to face the Golden Eagles at 2 p.m.

He may be built like a tight end, but the hardwood suits Luke Harangody just fine. Harangody had a monster game against West Virginia, scoring 29 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as Notre Dame defeated West Virginia 69-56 on Thursday night.

Notre Dame (11-2, 1-0)  won their ninth game in a row and 29th straight at home, holding West Virginia to their worst shooting night of the year, coupled with their lowest point total of the year.  The Mountaineers were held to just 32 percent shooting in the game.  They were 11-of-31 from the field in the first half (35.5 percent). 

The Irish trailed 14-11 early in the first half, but a ferocious 22-8 run put them up 33-22, and took a 37-28 lead into halftime.  Harangody, along with Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland, combined for 16 of the 22 points during their run.  Harangody was on fire in the first half connecting on his first seven shots, finishing the first half 7-of-8 from the field.  Harangody finished the game 11-of-16.

Alex Ruoff led West Virginia with 18 points and was the sole player in double figures for Bob Huggins.  While their 32 percent overall field goal percent may not have been pretty, it was their 3-point shooting that was hideous for the Mountaineers.  They didn’t see many three’s that they didn’t like, and they also didn’t connect on many of them either.  Overall, West Virginia shot a putrid 5-of-25 from beyond the arc, good for 20 percent shooting.  They were 3-of-13 in the first half and 2-of-12 in the second half.

While Notre Dame is on a roll, West Virginia has struggled the past two games with their shooting and interior defense.  In their overtime loss to Oklahoma, Blake Griffin and Longar Longar beat up West Virginia inside, combining for 40 points and 20 rebounds (16 rebounds by Griffin). Tonight it was Harangody that killed West Virginia with 29 points and 16 rebounds.  Their 3-point shooting has been dreadful in their past two losses, shooting 10-of-49 from beyond the arc.  West Virginia was also outrebounded again in the loss to Notre Dame as well.  It’s a pretty simple philosophy in basketball at any level; if you don’t shoot well and you don’t win the rebounding battle, you’re not going to win.  An ideal the Mountaineers have painfully learned the last two outings.

The Mountaineers are now 10-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.  They’ve dropped their last two games after having won their previous eight in a row.  West Virginia will look to avoid their third straight loss this Sunday afternoon when they host No. 11 Marquette at 2 p.m.  For the Fighting Irish, they’ll put their nine-game win streak and 29 straight home victories on the line when they host Connecticut at 9 p.m.