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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/10/2008)

Well it is opening week of the 2008-2009 college basketball season. There were many exhibition contests staged this Saturday and Sunday, and we run through the results today with some other Big East notes from articles around the web.

One recruiting update today on Durand Scott.

It will be a busy week as we gear up for the start of the season. We will finish off the countdown of the Big East All-Time Top 50 Players, complete our positional rankings of this year’s Big East players, release our preseason player awards and have the year’s first Big East Power Poll for everyone to check out.

So, let’s get on to some of the news of the day…

Exhibition Rundowns:

West Virginia 98
Mountain State 78

It was the much-anticipated public debut of Devin Ebanks and the 6-foot-9 freshman forward scored three points and added six rebounds and three blocks in the contest against a perennial NAIA power.

Once again, WVU is not the tallest or brawniest team in the physical Big East, so in that aspect, Nothing’s Changed for Undersized Mountaineer Basketball Team (Daily Mail). However, the Mountaineers might have found their go-to replacement for Joe Alexander in the form of junior Da’Sean Butler. Although it was only an exhibition against a NAIA school, the signs for Butler were encouraging as he hit 11-21 shots from the floor, including four of eight from three-point range and 12 of 19 from the foul line as Butler Scores 38 in WVU Victory (Times West Virginian), he also had a team-high 11 rebounds. Senior Alex Ruoff added 18 and freshman Kevin Jones scored 14.
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Syracuse 73
Indiana University (PA) 63

It is really tough to take anything positive or negative out of these exhibitions and that is certainly the case as a Half Hearted Syracuse Squad Loses Intensity but Wins Exhibition Game (Syracuse Post-Standard) against Division II IUP. Syracuse led by 21 at halftime, but a sloppy second half led to a much closer final score.

One bright spot on Sunday was the play of Kris Joseph. The Freshman Joseph Chips in for SU (Watertown Daily Times) with 14 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. Eric Devendorf had a team-high 15 for SU, who started Rick Jackson at the power forward position in this contest.

Syracuse will open their regular season this Sunday and Tuesday with contests related to the CBE Classic at the Carrier Dome. Local Division II power LeMoyne will be first up on Sunday for the Orange who will use the week to get better after this final exhibition. It was Not Pretty, But Still a Win for SU Basketball (Utica Observer-Dispatch) as they played without Andy Rautins who had an injured ankle.
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Connecticut 82
UMass-Lowell 63

UConn players are looking forward to getting the 2008-2009 regular season underway, a season with high expectations. In their final exhibition tune-up against Division II UMass-Lowell, the Huskies Roll and are Set for Friday’s Opener (Register Citizen) against Western Carolina.

It was a better looking Jerome Dyson that the first exhibition outing as Dyson Shines in Final Tune-up (Norwich Bulletin) with 18 points and 5 assists in the 82-63 win. AJ Price and Jeff Adrien each added 13 point and Kemba Walker and Hasheem Thabeet scored 11 in the win.

Ater Majok was in Storrs this weekend and now Majok Waits Patiently to Hear When He’ll Join the Huskies (Norwich Bulletin) as the NCAA works to sorting out his high school transcripts as he attended high school in Australia. It is expected for Majok to join the UConn program at the end of the current semester in mid-December.

According to Hasheem Thabeet: ‘I Was Only Joking’ *TheDay.com) in regards to comments made about Tyler Hansbrough and Luke Harangody in ESPN the Magazine’s college basketball preview issue.
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Louisville 84
Northern Kentucky 69

With just over 12 minutes left in their exhibition contest against Division II Northern Kentucky, the Louisville Cardinals found themselves trailing. This was not your ordinary exhibition when a local lower-level college program comes into the big boy’s arena to be slaughtered, this was actually a road contest for Louisville who travelled to NKU’s new Bank of Kentucky Arena to play a reveed up Norse squad.

NKU Keeps it Tight, but the Cards Prevail (Courier-Journal) behind super-frosh Samardo Samuels’ 29 points. Samuels connected on 10 of 11 field goals and for his effort, coach Rick Pitino descrbed it as ‘terrible’ because he had just four rebounds and gave up 15 points on the defensive side of the court.

With injured players Terrence Williams and Kyle Kuric not dressing for UL, Edgar Sosa added 18 points. Key contributions were also made by Earl Clark, Preston Knowles and Will Scott as the Cards turned a four-point deficit into a comfortable margin mid-way through the second half.

Here is a couple other UL articles from over the weekend:
McGee Drops Pounds as Cards Pick Up the Pace (Kentucky.com)
Earl Clark Back at UofL for More Grooming (Kentucky.com)
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Pittsburgh 82
LaRoche College 30

Pittsburgh pummeled local LaRoche College on Sunday, getting 18 points from Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs and Jermaine Dixon each added 11. With their regular season opening Friday night against Farleigh Dickinson, Injuries to Levance Fields and Gilbert Brown Force a Line-up Shuffle (Post-Gazette). Yesterday, Ashton Gibbs started at the point, adding six points and seven assists against just one turnover in 25 minutes.

Coach Jamie Dixon is sounding a little frustrated about the injuries, which leaves the status of senior point guard Fields up in the air as he has only participated in three full practices with the team. Gilbert Brown is Questionable for the Opener as well and Pitt might be faced with just two returning starters in the line-up when the ball is tipped Friday.

Other Pitt articles from the weekend:
Robinson Emerges at forward for Pitt (Post-Gazette)
Pitt’s Yong Dribbles to Different Beat (Tribune Review)
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Notre Dame 79
Stonehill 47

Notre Dame got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Luke Harangody and point guard Tory Jackson added 15 as the Irish used a strong second half to extend a 29-24 halftime lead to defeat Stonehill in the final 2008-2009 exhibition for the Irish.

Notre Dame Puts Away Stonehill (Journal-Gazette) by shooting 57% in the second half and holding their Division II foe to just 29% shooting after intermission.
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Marquette 94
CSU-Pueblo 73

Marquette got 23 points from junior Lazar Hayward and 22 from senior Jerel McNeal as the Golden Eagles gave coach Buzz Williams his first exhibition win by defeating the Division II ThunderWolves 94-73.

While the game was never close and the Golden Eagles put up some nice statistics with 28 assists on 34 made field goals and shooting just over 50% from the field, the Big Picture is Not Finalized (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) for the Golden Eagles as they look to continue their improvement towards the team they want to become.
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Providence 105
Slippery Rock 84

It seems like you can change the coaching staff, but until personnel changes are made through recruiting, Defense Will Still Be a Problem for Friars (Providence Journal). In their final exhibition, PC turned up the offense, getting 21 points from Jeff Xavier, 19 from Weyinmi Efejuku and 17 from Brian McKenzie, but Keno davis expressed concern about the defense, rebounds and ability to play tougher, traits that always seem to keep the Friars just out of the mix of the upper-half of the conference.

Related article:
Friars’ Keno Davis was Groomed to Coach from the Start (P-J)
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More Big East Notes from the Weekend:

Straight Hoops Express Hits DePaul (Daily Herald).
Gilchrist Relieved About Chance to Play (St. Petersburg Times)
A Big East Scouting Report (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Recruiting Note:

Durand Scott has narrowed his college choices to Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Miami (FL), but with the early signing period set to begin on Wednesday, those three schools are Still Waiting on Scott (ZagsBlog.net) to make his college choice.

Scott will be out of action for a few more weeks due to the ankle injury he suffered in the Metro Classic of last month.

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