Big East Sports Blog

Five players scored in double figures, as West Viriginia handed Rutgers their fifth consecutive loss 81-63 on Thursday night.  The Mountaineers have struggled of late, winning for just the second time in their last five outings.  West Virginia led 42-27 at the break and Rutgers never threatened in the second half.  Rutgers couldn’t keep a hold of the basketball, committing 17 turnovers that resulted in 29 easy points for the Mountaineers, who turned the ball over just four times. 

The Golden Eagles swarmed the Panthers, using a 17-0 run early as the second half began and No.25 Marquette routed No.24 Pittsburgh on Friday night, 72-54.  Jerel McNeal had 17 points for Marquette, and while Dominic James was held to just five points, he dished out an array of beautiful assists, 12 in all, and James didn’t turn the ball over once.

Pittsburgh got a huge emotional boost, returning guard Levance Fields to the lineup, who missed the last 12 games with a broken left foot.  Fields, as expected, struggled to get his legs under him the first time out, shooting 1-of-7 from the field for four points.  Sam Young led the Panthers with 18 points.  Pittsburgh had a hand in helping Marquette during their 17-0 run, committing eight turnovers in the opening nine minutes of the second half and misfiring on nine of their first 11 shot attempts.  The Golden Eagles dominated the Panthers in the paint as well, pounding Pittsburgh 16-2 in the lane.  Freshman DeJuan Blair was silenced, finishing with just six points and five rebounds, and it was a tough night as well for Ronald Ramon, who had four points on 1-of-7 shooting.  Overall, Marquette’s defense limited Pittsburgh to 37 percent shooting from the field.  The Golden Eagles picked up their first win against a ranked opponent this season.

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

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.

Mountaineers edge Thundering Herd 66-64

Da’Sean Butler’s jumper in the lane with just under 6 seconds to play propelled West Virginia past Marshall 66-64 on Wednesday night.  Butler led the Mountaineers with 18 points and leading scorer Alex Ruoff turned in a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Darris Nichols finished with 10 points.

Mark Dorris and Darryl Merthie each had 20 points for Marshall (10-7), the only Thundering Herd players to score in double figures. 

The Mountaineers (15-4) allowed Marshall to hang around the final seven minutes of the game by shooting just 5-of-14 from the free throw line.  The Thundering Herd cut deficits of 12 and 5 down the stretch.  Merthie was fouled on a 3-point attempt by West Virginia forward Joe Flowers with 31 seconds left; Merthie sunk all 3 free throws to tie the game at 64.  West Virginia returns to conference play Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No.9 Georgetown.

Scarlet Knights get 1st Big East win with upset over Wildcats

The guard tandem of Mike Coburn and Anthony Farmer dropped in 22 points apiece to lead Rutgers to an upset victory over No.18 Villanova 80-68 on Wednesday night.  Rutgers entered the game 0-6 in conference play in the ‘07-’08 campaign and hadn’t beat a ranked team in more than two years, their last win coming on Jan.18th, 2006 against then-No.22 Louisville 65-56.

Freshman Malcolm Grant led Villanova (13-4, 3-3) with 23 points, including a stretch of 17 straight late in the second half, as he single-handedly tried to keep the Wildcats in the game.  Scottie Reynolds was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 16, but struggled terribly from the field, shooting 5-of-19 and missing on 7-of-8 3-point attempts.

Once again, Villanova was handcuffed by a poor start, as Rutgers (9-11, 1-6) jumped all over the Wildcats 16-2 behind a frenzied home crowd at the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center).  Villanova turned the ball over a season-high 19 times and their 36.7 percent shooting didn’t help their cause either.  Rutgers, meanwhile, shot an even 50 percent from the field.  The Scarlet Knights entered the night dead last in shooting percentage in the Big East, but you couldn’t tell on this night.  They opened the game draining eight of their first 10 shots and shot 64 percent in the first half.  Villanova began the second half down 40-32, and preceded to go scoreless from the field for almost 12 minutes.

No.18 Villanova will look to rebound Saturday afternoon back at The Pavilion against visiting Notre Dame, while Rutgers will aim for their 2nd straight conference win against No.17 Pittsburgh.

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.

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.

Just a few days after grounding Ball State’s run defense into dust, Rutgers running back Ray Rice is skipping his senior season and taking his game to the NFL.  Rice declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft this coming April.

Rice finished his career as the Scarlet Knights’ all-time leading rusher with 4, 926 yards.  He also holds the record for most touchdowns (49), rushing yards in a game (280) and rushing yards in a season (2,012).  In the victory over Ball State in the International Bowl, Rice became the 13th player in college football history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. 

During his three seasons at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights amassed a 26-12 record.  In the previous three seasons before Rice arrived in the Rutgers backfield, the Scarlet Knights failed to finish above the .500 mark for 12 straight years.

Providence thumped Rutgers on Wednesday night 76-50, keeping the Scarlet Knights winless in Big East play. Despite a see-saw first half that featured numerous lead changes with Providence leading by one at the break, 35-34, Rutgers (8-8, 0-3) went stone cold from the field in the second half, hitting on only 2-of-20 field goal attempts (10 percent shooting).  The Scarlet Knights shot just 32 percent for the game, while turning the ball over 18 times.  Providence manhandled Rutgers on the glass, 43-27, and mauled the Scarlet Knights in points in the paint, 44-14.

Providence (10-5, 1-2) notched their first win in Big East play behind 24 points from Brian McKenzie.  Jeff Xavier added 11 points and Randall Hanke finished with 12 points.  J.R. Inman led Rutgers with 11 points and Anthony Farmer was the only other Scarlet Knight in double figures with 10.  At one stretch, Rutgers went 12 minutes without a field goal during their dreadful second half.

Providence will aim for their second straight conference win on Saturday afternoon when they host South Florida at 4 p.m., and Rutgers will host Louisville on Sunday at noon.