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OPENING NIGHT RESULTS & NOTES

The college basketball season tipped off on Friday evening and the eight Big East teams in action all fared better than Kentucky on the opening evening. So the conference is off to an 8-0 start and there was a few interesting story lines in the first night to touch on, let’s review the games…

South Florida 60
SMU 46

The Bulls shook off a slow start as they held SMU to 28% shooting from the floor. USF got a game-high 18 points from senior Jesus Verdejo and Dominique Jones added 13.

The Bulls are at Virginia next Wednesday and will look to find more production from their frontcourt.
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Pittsburgh 86
Farleigh Dickinson 63

The big news out of Pittsburgh was the presence of Levance Fields in the starting line-up and the Panthers senior leader showed little signs of rust with 15 points and 8 assists and 0 turnovers in 25 minutes as Pitt’s Debut Turns into Fields’ Day (Beaver County Times).

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead of 16-2 as DeJuan Blair led the charge. The sophomore center finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Sam Young added 15 for Pitt, who led by as much as 82-49 before FDU made the final look a little better in the final minutes.

Pitt will face a tough Miami (OH) squad on Monday.
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Connecticut 81
Western Carolina 55

Jerome Dyson and Hasheem Thabeet were the Husky stars in the opener as they each scored 23 points. Thabeets full monster line also included 17 rebounds and 5 blocks in 33 minutes as he looked like Hasheem the Dream in Husky Opener (Bristol Press).

While it was an impressive ‘comeback’ of sorts for Dyson who struggled down the stretch last season, it wasn’t as much for AJ Price in his first game back since the ACL tear he suffered in the opening round loss to San Diego in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Price was scoreless in 25 minutes with four assists and five turnovers and was ejected from the game for punching Western Carolina’s Joey Parker at about the seven minute mark of the second half.

It’s a Go for Charlie O (New Haven Register): UConn got word late Thursday from the NCAA that Charlie Okwandu, a sophomore JUCO transfer, had his eligibility cleared. Okwandu saw five minutes of action against Western Carolina and did not score.

Up next for the Huskies is Hartford on Monday.
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Villanova 78
Albany 60

A balanced Wildcat attack placed six players in double figures, including Corey Stokes (13), Dante Cunningham (13), Scottie Reynolds (13), Antonio Pena (12), Reggie Redding (11) and Corey Fisher (10) as ‘Nova shot 55% from the field.

Already with Shane Clark out until, most likely, mid-December due to recent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Villanova will also be without senior Dwayne Anderson for the foreseeable future. Anderson is Out (Philly.com) indefinitely with a stress fracture in his leg.

Villanova hosts Fordham on Monday night in their next outing.
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Rutgers 63
Marist 61

In the closest contest of the night, they were Sweatin’ at the RAC (Hoops Haven) as the Scarlet Knights escape a hot environment with a two-point win.

Freshman Mike Rosario led the way with 17 points and Greg Echenique (11 pts, 15 rebounds, 6 blocks) and Hamady N’Diaye (8 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks) dominated the paint keying RU to a school record 16 blocked shots.

RU shot just 16-30 from the line in a tight contest and also had just five team assists on the night.

As part of the Jersey Challenge, RU is back in action in Newark (DE) Sunday to take on Delaware.
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Seton Hall 88
St. Francis (NY) 61

The Heat is on Seton Hall as Bobby Gonzalez Opens Third Season (NY Daily News) and his short-handed Pirates (currently just 8 scholarship players) responded by blasting St. Francis Friday night.

The Pirates forced 18 turnovers and got 23 points from Jeremy Hazell, 17 from Robert Mitchell and Mike Davis added 13 points before fouling out in 17 minutes of action.

Paul Gause showed he is rounding back into form after an injury-filled 2007-2008 as he put together a stat-line of 10 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals.

The Pirates will host Columbia on Sunday afternoon before heading to the Puerto Rico Tio-off Classic next week.
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Marquette 95
Houston Baptist 64

The Golden Eagles made Buzz Williams a winner in his Golden Eagle coaching debut by turning an 8-point halftime lead into a rout in the second half. Seniors Wesley Mathews (27 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals) and Jerel McNeal (20 points) led the way and Lazar Hayward added a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Marquette forced 24 Houston Baptist turnovers. Dominic James scored just 5 points, but added 6 steals to the winning cause.

Injury news at Marquette as well as freshman center Chris Otule is Out a Month (MUTV Sports) with a broken bone in his left foot. Otule joins Joseph Fulce on the shelf at the moment, leaving Pat Hazel as the Golden Eagles lone frontcourt reserve.

Marquette hosts Chicago State on Monday.
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St. John’s 73
Long Island 63

St. John’s Runs Past LIU, 73-63 (Newsday) as sophomore DJ Kennedy shined with 23 points. Classmates Justin Burrell (14) and Sean Evans (13 points, 11 rebounds) also reached double figures with Evans registering a double-double on the night.

St. John’s opens the Preseason NIT on Monday when they meet Cornell.
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On Saturday’s schedule:
Northeastern at Providence, 7 PM

It is Keno Davis’ regular season debut as head coach of PC and Northeastern’s Bill Coen Looks for Win Over Davis’ Friars (Providence Journal) at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Elon at West Virginia, 7 PM.

West Virginia Tips Off Basketball Season Tonight (Charleston Gazette) at the Coliseum against Elon.
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Other Notes:

The recruitment of Westchester CC sophomore center Jarrid Famous continues to expand as Louisville is now in the picture. Louisville is Trying to Get Famous (ZagsBlog.net) as well as Big East schools Seton Hall, Connecticut and West Virginia.

Rick Pitino is scheduled to stop by Westchester CC on November 25th to make Louisville’s case to get Famous.
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Here is a New York Times article about St. John’s landing heralded local recruit Omari Lawrence as the guard signed his letter of intent on Thursday: At Last, Fortune Shines on St. John’s.
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The Hartford Courant reports that Charles Okwandu is cleared (as also noted above), Ater Majok was in Storrs tonight for the UConn opener and is still awaiting word from the NCAA on his eligibility and a quick note on Durand Scott, the talented NYC guard who is indicating he will choose between Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Miami. The Courant’s Mike Anthony seems to be hearing similar sentiments that Miami is looking more and more like the likely destination for Scott, although, we will wait and see…

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