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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/25/2008)

The Big East flexed it’s powerful muscles last night as Connecticut won the Paradise Jam Tournament championship over nationally ranked Wisconsin, Syracuse upended nationally ranked Florida in the CBE Classic and Notre Dame pounded Indiana into oblivion in Maui. Cincinnati and St. John’s also cruised to comfortable victories as well.

Tonight, Syracuse takes on Kansas with another championship at stake, Notre Dame faces a stiff early season test against Texas and South Florida, Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, St. John’s and Marquette look to hold a pre-Thanksgiving feast at home against some non-conference turkeys.

Also, a story on Samardo Samuels from his native country and Providence prepares for a tough trip west for Thanksgiving.

Catch all the action when Syracuse takes on Kansas tonight at the Black Bear Saloon!!

YESTERDAY’S BIG EAST GAMES:

Connecticut 76
Wisconsin 57

Connecticut concluded an impressive showing in the Paradise Jam with another double-digit victory over a ranked team as Connecticut’s Defensive Pressure Cooks Wisconsin (Connecticut Post) in a 76-57 win over the Badgers.

Looking every bit of a top 5 team nationally, UConn easily handled Miami (FL) and the Badgers in back-to-back outings in the Virgin Islands. On Monday, the Huskies forced 20 turnovers, turning the Wisky miscues into 31 points of their own.
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Syracuse 89
Florida 83

it is definitely A Happy Recap (Syracuse.com) today for Orange fans as Syracuse upended nationally ranked Florida in the CBE Classic last night. Andy Rautins connected on five three-pointers in the first half, scoring all 15 of his points and then in the second half Jonny Flynn found his range, finishing with 18 points and Paul Harris (18 pts, 11 rebounds) and Arinze Onuaku (13 pts, 12 rebounds) produced double-doubles for SU.

Harris’ Physical Play helped Ignite SU (Post-Standard) as the Orange say Later Gators (Post-Standard) while picking up a statement win on a neutral floor.

The Orange will meet Kansas tonight in the finals of the CBE Clasic in Kansas City (MO), a rematch from the NCAA Title game of 2003.
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AP Photo

Notre Dame 88
Indiana 50

Even with Luke Harangody managing ‘just’ 14 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes of action, Rebuilding Indiana is No Match for Notre Dame (Chicago Tribune) as the Irish blowout the Hoosiers, 88-50, in Maui.

Indiana turned the ball over 20 times, and amanaged just 6 team assists against the ND defense. Tory Jackson scored 21 points for Notre Dame and Kyle McAlarney bounced back from being scoreless against LMU on Friday with 18 on six three-point baskets. Luke Zeller recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the contest.

Notre Dame advances to face Texas today as the Maui Invitational continues.
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St. John’s 73
Eastern Michigan 61

With Anthony Mason Jr. lost for the season, Norm Roberts and his team can not take anything for granted. With a line-up featuring seven sophomores and two freshman in their nine-player rotation, even a victory over Eastern Michigan (1-4) can be considers a Confidence-Booster in Win for the Redstorm (Newsday).

Last night, the ‘storm got out to a big early lead and cruised to a victory in the NIT Tip-Off consolation round in front of 893 fans in the house at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s improves to 4-1 on the young season as the Mason-less Johnnies Beat Eastern Michigan, 73-61 (NY Daily News) and will meet Loyola of Chicago tonight.

Sophomore DJ Kennedy led SJU with 16 points and Justin Burrell added 14.
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Cincinnati 82
Coastal Carolina 56

AP Photo

Early on this season it looks as if Mick Cronin is using the approach of The More the Merrier (cincinnati.com) as he is utilizing the Bearcats depth to get a look at everyone in game action. Last night, 10 different Bearcats played at least 11 minutes and 10 also reached the scoring column, led by junior Deonta Vaughn’s (pictured at right) 17 points and UC put away Coastal Carolin in the second half for a 82-56 victory.

The win makes it Four Straight Wins for UC (Cincinnati.com) and was part of the Global Sports Classic. The action now shifts west to Las Vegas in the Global Sports Classic for the Bearcats with a match-up against Florida State. UNLV and Cal will be the other two participants in Vegas as the exempted tournament concludes.
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TODAY’s BIG EAST GAMES:

Notre Dame vs. Texas, 7 PM in the Maui Invitational

Syracuse vs. Kansas, 10 PM in the CBE Classic

St. John’s vs. Loyola (IL), 8 PM in the NIT Tip-Off Consolation Round
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West Virginia vs. Delaware State, 7 PM at the Charleston Civic Center in the Las Vegas Invitational

West Virginia heads a bit south to Their Second Home (Charleston Gazette) in Charleston (WV) as the Mountaineers face Delaware State in an opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational. WVU will also face in-state rival Marshall in the Civic Center later in the season.

WVU will take on Iowa Friday and the Kansas State-Kentucky winner Saturday as the Las Vegas Invitational continues.
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Belmont at Pittsburgh, 7 PM

Fourth Ranked Panthers host Belmont Bruins (WPXI) tonight at the Peterson Events Center. DeJuan Blair is averaging 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds a contest early on for Pitt.

The three-point shot is the great equalizer in college basketball and that reason is not lost on the Panthers as Belmont Poses Threat to Pitt (Tribune-Review) as one of the top shooting teams in the NCAA. Belmont has played in the last three NCAA Tournaments, meeting UCLA, Georgetown and Duke in the first round, so they have experience meeting the big boys and UCLA and the Hoyas were on their way to the Final Four those seasons.
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High Point at South Florida, 7 PM

USF/High Point Game Preview (St. Petersburg Times)
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Monmouth at Villanova, 7:30 PM

Texas Southern at Marquette, 8 PM

The Buzz Williams era at Marquette is off to a high-powered start with the Golden Eagles averaging 100.3 points a game through their first three contests. MU Looks to Break Century Mark Again (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) again tonight when Texas Southern visits the Bradley Center. If Marquette can eclipse 100 points, it would be the third consecutive game doing so, a first in the 92-year history of the program.
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OTHER BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Louisville freshman big man and the rest of the Cardinals finally hit the court for real over the weekend. The Kingston Chronicle takes a look at the opening weekend of Samuels, a native of Jamaica, as Samuels Makes Auspicious Debut for Louisville, averaging 21 points, 5 rebounds and two blocked shots a game helping the Cards to the Billy Minardi Classic Championship.
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Providence heads west this week to represent the Big East in the 76 Classic in Anaheim. The Friars are Set for Big Time Competition in Anaheim (Providence Journal).

PC begins play in the three-game, four-day tournament on Thanksgiving night against a Baylor team that finished just outside the Top 25 in this week’s poll. No. 14 Arizona State and UNC-Charlotte play in the same bracket, while No. 19 Wake Forest, a strong St. Mary’s team, Texas-El Paso and Cal-Fullerton round out the field on the other side of the bracket.

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The Black Bear Saloon, at 261 Main Street in Stamford (CT), is an official Big East gamewatch location of the NBE Basketball Report, featuring the ESPN Fullcourt package to catch all of the action this season!

Catch all the action when Syracuse takes on Kansas tonight at the Black Bear Saloon!!
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