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

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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

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.

Huskies hand Golden Eagles 2nd straight loss

Both UConn and No.13 Marquette were coming off losses last Thursday, to Providence and Louisville respectively.  On Sunday, UConn was determined to rebound from the loss at the expense of Marquette.  Connecticut dominated Marquette in Storrs, 89-73, handing the Golden Eagles their 2nd straight double-digit defeat in the Big East on Sunday.

A.J. Price led five Connecticut (12-5, 3-3) players in double figures, with 17 points and eight assists.  Craig Austrie and Jeff Adrien added 15 each, and Hasheem Thabeet turned in a good afternoon with 15 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.  As a team, UConn recorded 10 blocks in the game.

No.13 Marquette (13-4, 3-3) suffered their 2nd straight double-digit defeat on the road, and the Golden Eagles were held to just 40 percent shooting.  Lazar Hayward paced Marquette with 14 points and Wesley Mattews added 13.  In the loss last Thursday to Louisville, Marquette shot only 30 percent from the field and missed all 12 3-point attempts.  The backcourt duo of Jerel McNeal and Dominic James each added nine points apiece on a combined 7-of-20 shooting.

UConn was impressive from the free-throw line, sinking 33-of-39 attempts, with Marquette got to the line just 18 times, connect on 11.  The Huskies led 39-24 at the half, and went on a 12-5 early run in the second half to balloon their lead to 51-29, as the Golden Eagles missed on seven of their first nine shots to open the second half.  UConn’s largest lead of the game was 67-38 with nine and a half to play.

Connecticut will travel to Cincinnati on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., while Marquette will have five days off to regroup.  They’ll return to action on Saturday against DePaul.

Mountaineers use big 2nd half to storm past Bulls

Four players scored in double figures for West Virginia, as the Mountaineers picked up a 69-52 road win against South Florida on Sunday afternoon.

West Virginia (14-4, 4-2) was powered by Da’Sean Butler and Darris Nichols, who each finished with 15 points; Butler added 12 rebounds.  Alex Ruoff added 14 and Joe Mazzulla had 11.  Despite shooting only 29.6 percent in the first half, the Mountaineers picked their game up in the second, shooting 48 percent and dropping in 43 second-half points.

Kentrell Gransberry led South Florida (10-9, 1-5) once again, pouring in 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds.  Gransberry, however, had a day to forget at the free-throw line, going 2-of-11 from the charity stripe.  As a team, South Florida was just 4-of-15 from the line.  The Bulls also struggled from beyond the arc, going 4-of-19, including shooting 2-of-12 in the second half.

West Virginia, which has won three in a row, will host Marshall on Wednesday at 8 p.m.  South Florida, which has lost five straight and five of six Big East Conference games, will try to end their five-game slide on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against visiting Louisville.

There were 4 games on the Big East slate on Thursday night, with Seton Hall, Providence, Louisville and West Virginia all picking up key victories in conference play.

Seton Hall 74, South Florida 64

The monkey finally comes off their backs, as Seton Hall gets their win this season in Big East play, defeating South  Florida 74-64.  Seton Hall (11-6, 1-3) had four players score in double figures, with Jeremy Hazell leading the charge with 22 points.  Jamar Nutter added 13 points and John Garcia pitched in with 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

South Florida (10-8, 1-4) was led by Kentrell Gransberry, who had 21 points and 10 boards.  The Bulls doubled-up the Pirates early, leading 12-6 before Seton Hall raced back with a 15-0 run, all coming on 3-pointers, to go up 21-12.  The Pirates led at the break 36-30.  South Florida would get no closer than three points the entire second half, as they lost their fourth straight game.  They’ll try to end their four-game slide on Sunday afternoon when they West Virginia at 2 p.m.  Seton Hall returns to action on Saturday night when they host Louisville at 8 p.m.

West Virginia 73  St. John’s 64

With the scored tied at 29 at halftime, West Virginia used 59 percent shooting from the field in the second half to knock off St. John’s 73-64 on Wednesday night.  Da’Sean Butler led WVU (13-4, 3-2) with 19 points and Joe Alexander added 15 points.  John Flowers and Darris Nichols each finished with 10.  The Mountaineers have now won three of their last four.

St. John’s (7-9, 1-4) dropped their third straight despite 15 points off the bench from Larry Wright and 14 points from Anthony Mason Jr.  The Red Storm outrebounded the Mountaineers 39-30, but never came closer than six points in the second frame. 

It boiled down to a couple big runs by WVU in the first and second half.  Down 19-13 in the first half, the Mountaineers went on a 13-2 run to go up 26-21, however St. John’s late 8-3 run closed out the first half at 29 apiece.  With just under eight to play in the second half, WVU went on a decisive 19-6 run to led 55-43.  The win marks the 15th straight at home for West Virginia.  They’ll travel to South Florida on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., while St. John’s will be idle for five days until they return to action next Wednesday, Jan.23rd, when they host Pittsburgh at 7 p.m.

Providence 77  Connecticut 65

Providence pulled off a little bit of shocker in Gampel Pavillion on Wednesday night, defeating Connecticut 77-65.  Dwain Williams scored 23 points for the Friars, who hit 14 3-pointers on the night, topping their 13 they hit earlier in the week against South Florida.  Williams was 6-of-9 from behind the arc and Brian McKenzie was a perfect 4-of-4 from downtown, finishing with 20 points.  Geoff McDermott added 12 points and Jeff Xavier finished with 11.  The Friars are officially on a winning streak, having won three straight conference games.

Jeff Adrien led UConn (11-5, 2-3) with 16 points and 15 rebounds, Doug Wiggins had 15 and A.J. Price added 12.  The turning point of the game game when Price picked up his fourth foul with just under 13 minutes to go with UConn trailing 43-40.  With Price on the bench, Providence (12-5, 3-2) went for the kill, going on a 17-8 run to lead 60-48.  Price would return to action, but was unable to spark a Huskie run.  UConn couldn’t get the Friars lead under nine points the remainder of the second half.  While Providence flourished from 3-point range, UConn floundered, shooting just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc and 24 percent shooting in the second half.  The Huskies shot 37 percent for the game, while Providence shot 43 percent.  UConn will look to rebound off the home loss with a home victory, when they face off against Marquette on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.  Providence will have a week off and they’ll return to action next Thursday, Jan. 24th at home against Seton Hall.

Louisville 71 #13 Marquette 51

Don’t look now, but Louisville is healthy and starting to play with a lot consistency.  Just ask Marquette, who saw first hand, how dangerous Louisville is becoming.  Louisville dominated No.13 Marquette from start to finish, smashing the visiting Golden Eagles 71-51 on Thursday night. 

Louisville (13-4, 3-1) shot 49 percent from the field, as Terrence Williams led the way with a game-high 20 points and David Padgett finshed with 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Cardinals, which outscored Marquette 35-12.  The Louisville defense limited Marquette to just 30.4 percent shooting and held the Golden Eagles without a 3-point field goal; Marquette went 0-of-12 from beyond the arc.  Louisville has won four straight and moved into a 4-way tie atop the Big East standings at 3-1.

Marquette (13-3, 3-2) was reduced to a jump shooting team largely because the tenacious Louisville defense allowed close to zero dribble-drive penatration from the Golden Eagles.  Jerel McNeal led Marquette with 16 points and Wesley Matthews finished with 14.  As if the brow beating wasn’t bad enough, Marquette lost guard Dominic James in the second half, after James reaggrivated a wrist injury with about six minutes to go.  James did not return and finished with a season-low three points.  The Golden Eagles also lost the battle on the glass 40-28.

No.13 Marquette will try to rebound on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they travel to Connecticut to take on the Huskies.  Louisville will aim for their fifth straight win on Saturday night at 8 p.m. against Seton Hall.

Geoff McDermott led four Friars in double figures, scoring a game-high 24 points to lead Providence over South Florida 86-70 on Saturday.  Team leading scorer Jeff Xavier and Dwayne Williams both had 16 points and Randall Hanke added 10.  Providence (11-5, 2-2) won their second straight conference game after losing their first two, and are a perfect 8-0 at home.  South Florida (10-7, 1-3) has dropped three games in a row, all conference losses.

Providence shot the ball well, especially from beyond the arc, shooting 13-of-21 from 3-point range, connecting on eight in the first half.  Williams led the Friars with five three’s.  Providence led comfortably at the half, 43-31 and blew the game open with a 17-8 run in a seven minute spurt in the second half and the Bulls never came close to threatening.

Kentrell Gransberry led South Florida with 22 points and collected six rebounds, while Chris Howard had 16 points and Dominque Jones added 10 points.

Next up for Providence, a road tilt on Thursday night against the UConn Huskies at 7 p.m.  South Florida also returns to action Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Seton Hall

Pittsburgh may be without Levance Fields and Mike Cook, but they still have Sam Young and Keith Benjamin.  And that aint too bad.  Young and Benjamin combined for 42 points (Young 22, Benjamin 20) to help No.20 Pittsburgh knock off South Florida 79-66 on Wednesday night.

Young scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Pittsburgh (13-2, 2-1), and Benjamin scored 11 in the first frame.  Pittsburgh led at the half 40-33, and then busted the game wide open, using a 19-6 run to blow by the Bulls.  Down to only nine players due to the injuries, Pittsburgh’s bench got a nice lift from Gary McGhee, who had six points off the bench.  Pittsburgh’s largest lead came with just over four minutes to play in the game, 73-56.  The Panthers took great care of the basketball, only committing 10 turnovers, while shooting 53 percent from the field.

Kentrell Gransberry finished with a game-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Jesus Verdejo added 17 points for South Florida (10-6, 1-2).  The Bulls had won three straight before dropping their last two games to Syracuse and Pitt.

You have to admire the way head coach Jamie Dixon has this Pittsburgh team playing.  They’re not crying or pouting, or making excuses because of the injuries.  They’re just putting their heads down and keep plowing through, and competing.

Next up for Pittsburgh, they’ll host Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.  South Florida will also return to action on Saturday, a road tilt versus Providence at 4 p.m.

Syracuse remained perfect in conference play early this season, improving to 12-3 and 2-0 in Big East action with an 89-77 win over South Florida on Saturday.  The Orange had five players in double figures, led by Donte Greene with a team-high 21 points.  Double-doubles from Paul Harris Arinze Onuaku also helped Syracuse past South Florida.

Harris had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Onuaku added 16 points and 12 boards.  Freshman point guard Jonny Flynn chipped in with 12 points and Scoop Jardine finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.  The Orange have now won six straight games.

South Florida (10-5, 1-1) trailed at halftime 47-33, but a quick 9-2 spurt in the first two minutes to begin the second half brought the Bulls within 9, 49-40.  Wisely Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim called timeout and made a defensive adjustment, getting the Orange out of their traditional 2-3 zone defense and switched to man-to-man. 

The move worked like a charm, effectively putting an abrupt end to South Florida’s run.  Syracuse went on a run of their own, outscoring South Florida 12-2 over the next five and a half minutes, and the Bulls were held without a basket from the field during that stretch.  South Florida’s only points during the run were from the foul line, and the Bulls finally made a field goal with just under 13 minutes to play.

The Bulls only trailed by one, 26-25 in the first half of play but over the final eight and a half minutes of the first half, Syracuse outscored South Florida 21-8, taking a 14-point lead into halftime.  South Florida didn’t help themselves by only shooting 61.9 percent from the line and they were pounded on the glass by the Orange, 53-36.

Dominique Jones led South Florida with 23 points and Chris Howard had 19.  Kentrell Gransberry added a double-double, scoring 14 and pulling down 13 boards.  South Florida is still searching for their first road win in the Big East since they joined the conference three years ago.

Syracuse will travel to Cincinnati on Wednesday at 8 p.m. and South Florida will also be back on the hardwood on Wednesday when they return home to take on Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m.

Kentrell Gransberry and Dominique Jones combined for 44 points, nearly out-scoring Rutgers by themselves, as the duo sparked South Florida to a 68-45 rout of Rutgers on Wednesday night.  Jones led all scorers with 24 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three point range.  Gransberry turned in a stellar double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 17 rebounds.

It was the Big East opening games for both teams on Wednesday night.  It appeared South Florida was ready and geared up for their opener in conference play, while Rutgers was not.  It was a dreadful night shooting for the Scarlet Knights.  Rutgers shot 38.9 percent as a team from the field, but their 3-point shooting and free throw shooting failed them miserably.  They were 2-of-16 from beyond the arc and 1-of-8 from the foul line.  Both good for 12.5 percent shooting respectively. 

During the final 11 minutes of the ballgame, Rutgers managed to only three field goals.  Anthony Farmer was the only player Rutgers had in double figures with 14 points, while leading scorer J.R. Inman was held to just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting.

South Florida, which has 10 of their last 11 games, used an impressive 16-3 run to put the game out of reach 60-43 with four minutes to play.  The Bulls improve to 10-4 and 1-0 in the conference. 

Rutgers (8-6, 0-1) has lost three of their last four games and they’ll host No.7 Georgetown on Saturday afternoon.  South Florida will also be back in action Saturday at noon when they travel to the Carrier Dome to face Syracuse.