Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, DePaul News, Louisville News, Marquette News, Notre Dame News, Pittsburgh News, Seton Hall News, St. John's News, Syracuse News, West Virginia News

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/19/2008)

The news of this morning is that Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf has been Suspended (Post-Standard) immediately from Syracuse University and is ‘prohibited from all University activities, including participation on the men’s basketball team,’ according to the University’s press release.

The Appeals Board also imposed a community service requirement that Devendorf must meet should he desire to return to the University for the Spring 2009 semester. If he fulfills this requirement and returns, Devendorf must also meet an additional set of requirements to remain a student at SU

So…it looks like there is a door left ajar for Devendorf to play once the spring semester begins January 12th at Syracuse. That would mean he misses at least the first four games of the Big East schedule.

The Big East salvaged a split in the SEC/Big East Invitational this year as Cincinnati and Louisville swept the SEC representatives from Mississippi last night at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The most exciting part of this ‘challenge series’ this year was the news that Mississippi’s Andy Kennedy was Arrested in Cincinnati (AP) after an early Thursday morning altercation with a taxi cab driver. Kennedy’s Arrest Adds Intrigue (Cincinnati.com) to an otherwise blah event.

Marquette and DePaul have a pre-holiday pastry treat this evening with games scheduled. Well, lets at least hope DePaul avoids trouble against winless Southern on their home floor.

In anticipation of this weekend’s Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, Zach Smart offers up a pair of St. John’s articles looking at the Redstorm recruiting picture and the team in the absence of Anthony Mason Jr on our St. John’s Team Blog Site for fans to check out.

Also, some looks around the league at important games this weekend, three-point impacts of the new distance for Pitt and Notre Dame. Also, an injury at SHU tests their depth even more and some looks at the league as the conference season approaches quickly.

In the early game at the US Bank Arena last night of the SEC/Big East Invitational, Cincinnati got out to a large lead and kept Mississippi State at bay for a 75-63 win.

The Bearcats got a balanced effort to offset a 24-point, 4-block performance from Bulldog Jarvis Varnado as Varnado Can’t Win By Himself (Daily Journal) as his teammates offer little help for ailing coach Rick Stansbury.

The Bearcats Answer Every Move made by Stansbury (Clarion Ledger) as they built a 22-point second half lead. Mississippi State got to within seven before UC put the game away down the stretch.

Deonta Vaughn led the balanced Bearcats with 16 points and they also got production from Dion Dixon (14 points), Yancy Gates and Larry Davis (12 points each) and dominated the boards with a 41-27 rebounding edge.
——————————————————–

The nightcap also went the way of the Big East as Louisville started out strong, let Ole Miss back into the game, then closed out the Rebels for a 77-68 win.

Earl Clark looked like a high NBA draft prospect with a 25-point, 16-rebound, 4-assist, 5-block performance as Clark Carries Cards on a Sloppy Night (Louisville Courier-Journal) in a game that featured 94 missed shots.

Take away Earl Clark’s performance and the two teams combined to shoot 41-130 from the field (31.5%), which led to impressive rebounding totals, with UL out-boarding Ole Miss 62-47 as Clark (16 boards), Samardo Samuels (13 rebounds) and Terrence Williams (11) all cracked double-digit rebounds.

With both teams struggling to score, it was ‘Superman’ Clark Leading the Cards (Kentucky.com) like he is supposed to do.
————————————————————

On the schedule tonight, Marquette will host Western Carolina (5-3), who lost their season opener at UConn by the score of 81-55.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a SEC/Big East Invitational loss to Tennessee where their interior shortcomings were again at the forefront. In the ‘Big’ East, Marquette Could Come Up Short (Sportsline.com) as the tallest player of the nine that dress for Buzz Williams measures in at 6-foot-6 and a half.

Even with their lack of interior strength, the Eagles are Getting to the Free Throw Line (Journal-Sentinel), led by Wesley Mathews, to get their easy chance points by the use of putting the ball on the floor and attacking aggressively.

The lack of size should not be an issue tonight against Western Carolina, but will make some match-ups tougher once Big East play arrives later this month.
————————————————————–

After blowing a 20-point lead against Liberty, DePaul avoided disaster with two Dar Tucker free throws with 1.1 seconds on the clock to snap a four-game losing streak with a 64-63 win over the Flames in a contest that is part of the Las Vegas Classic.

Tonight DePaul hosts Southern in Game Two of the Las Vegas Classic (depaulbluedemons.com) at Allstate Arena before the action heads west next week.
————————————————————

A few interesting match-ups involving Big East teams on Saturday, including the Top Ten match-up between Connecticut and Gonzaga in Seattle as well as the Top 25 match-up of Syracuse and Memphis at the FedEx Forum.

The Axeman at Syracuse.com is On the Beat for SU-Memphis as some pre-game hype begins.

UConn got out of the northeast in the nick of time, even though it took quiet an effort, but the Hartford Courant says Hello from Seattle in preparation for this weekend’s big showdown with the Zags.
————————————————————–

It is no real secret that Seton Hall can least avoid any injuries and the fragile knees of John Garcia would be a constant worry. it looks like the worst fears have been realized as the Bad News for SHU is that Garcia is out (mycentraljersey.com), possibly for up to three weeks, with a knee injury sustained against St. Peter’s last week.

NCAA rulings on Keon Lawrence’s waiver and Melvyn Oliver’s academic qualifying status continue to be waited on anxiously by the Pirate program as well.

Seton Hall hosts IUPUI, who recently tool Arizona State to OT, at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday evening.
—————————————————————–

Another interesting match-up this weekend will take place early on Saturday afternoon when West Virginia hosts Miami of Ohio at the Coliseum.

The Redhawks are Set to Face Huggins and the Mountaineers (Dayton Daily News) and have already been through match-up with UCLA, Pittsburgh and Xavier all on the road. Those three games account for all three of Miami’s losses. The Redhawks lost very tough games to UCLA (by 5) and to Xavier (by 7) and they also own a 16-point win at Temple (ask Tennessee how tough that is). The one major blemish on their resume was where they where destroyed by Pittsburgh, 82-53, but that might tell us more about the Panthers than anything else.
————————————————————————

Led by Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame is funding the New Three-Point Line is Just Fine (South Bend Tribune) to their liking early on this season.
————————————————————————

While the Irish have some impressive three-point shooting weapons, that is not a strength that Pittsburgh has the luxury of. Pitt is looking in an unexpected direction for their top perimeter threat as the Panthers Come up Biggs on 3-Point Shots (Post-Gazette) with senior Tyrell Biggs, a 6-foot-8, 250 lb power forward, hitting 53.3% (8-15) of his attempts from beyond the arc thus far.

He is edging out freshman Ashton Gibbs (11-21) who is sitting at 52.4% on the season.
—————————————————————

Dick ‘Hoops’ Weiss takes a look at Who Are the Real Contenders in the Big East (FoxSports.com) as conference play approaches.
————————————————————————

As mentioned earlier, a few OOC losses and the questions begin…Is the Big East Really That Good in Basketball (Daily Mail)? I guess nobody is seeing other conferences lose…

See our ‘Donate to NBE’ page for more details on our site donation drive!

Be Sociable, Share!

•