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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (1/23/2009)

Three games inthe Big East last night produced an overtime win for Providence as Seton Hall let a golden opportunity for their first conference win get away. Georgetown saw West Virginia come into the MCI Center and push them around on their home floor and Cincinnati rallied to defeat St. John’s on the road.

Elsewhere in the Big East, Marquette is humming along with their experienced gurd trio. Syracuse has some foul shooting woes that might call for some strategic decisions in close games, Pittsburgh is looking to attack the basket more and a look at to see if DePaul is in over their heads.

A couple articles take a look at Andre Drummond, a promising 2011 6’10 prospect, and Adreian Payne, a high-potential 6’10 2010 prospect. A couple previews to the busy weekend in high school hoops also are available on this Friday afternoon.

West Virginia is not going to go quietly from the Big East picture.

Looking like possibly the odd team out of the race to finish in the top eight of the conference, the Mountaineers embarked on a tough stretch of games last night in DC with a match-up against 14th-ranked Georgetown at the Verizon Center.

Da’Sean Butler pured in a game-high 27 points as WVU Knocks Off the Hoyas, 75-58 (Times West Virginian) in front of 12,875 fans and a national TV audience watching on ESPN.

The final rebounding margin showed a 39-31 edge for the undersized Mountaineers, but the dominance on the boards certainly seemed to be much more one-sided. After a slow start, trailing 9-2 early as they began the game 1-9 from the field, it was all WVU from that point on as Frustration, Errant Shots Doom Hoyas (Washington Times) against intense effort from Bob Huggins’ squad.

With the Hoyas still hanging around and observers waiting for a Georgetown run to make things interesting, an Alex Ruoff Dunk Keys Mountaineer Upset (Daily Mail) run to close the game. With 5:32 left, Ruoff drove the lane as the Hoya defense parted like the Red Sea and he flushed home a one-hand jam that started a game-ending 17-7 run for the Mountaineers.

WVU, which also got 13 points from Darryl Bryant and 10 each from Ruoff and Wellington Smith, moved to 3-2 in the Big East. WVU next hosts rival Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Hoyas, Humbled at Home (Washington Post), for the second time already in conference play, fell to 3-3 in league action.

Chris Wright led G’town with 13 points, but the sophomore point guard did not register an assist in his 31 minutes on the floor.

Notes:

-Georgetown turned the ball over 19 times, shot 39% and registered just 8 team assists, a stark contrast to the previous team quarterbacked by Jonathan Wallace

-Alex Ruoff struggled from the field (3-10), but was credited with 9 assists to just one turnover

-West Virginia shot 55% (29-53) after starting the game 1-9. For the game they shot 48%.
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The losses continue to pile up for Seton Hall as they let a very winnable game against Providence virtually slip through their fingers in the last possession of regulation as the Friars escape Newark (NJ) with a 98-93 overtime victory.

In what seemed like a game of Survivor, the Friars Outlast and Outwit SHU by attacking the basket and causing three Pirates to be DQ’d because of fouls (Paul Gause, Robert Mitchell and John Garcia), eliminating nearly any chance SHU had in the extra session.

With both teams settling for perimter jumpers in the first half, PC went to the foul line six times compared to five for SHU. Late in the game and in overtime, PC went to attacking the basket and finished 31-42 from the foul line, including 14 (all their points) of 16 in overtime. The Pirates were just 12-22 from the line, including several misses in the final minutes of regulation as Seton Hall Losses to Providence (Star Ledger).

PC have been stung by many close losses in the Big East the last few years, maybe now the Friars are Learning to Assert Themselves in the Big East (Providence Journal. At 5-2 in Big East play, So Far, So Good, but Schedule Gets Tough for PC (Providence Journal) with Syracuse, Connecticut, Villanova and West Virginia representing an upcoming gauntlet.

Jeff Xaiver led PC with 20 points, including five of seven three’s. Weyinmi Efejuku added 19 points, Marshon Brooks added 14, Jonathan Kale had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Sharaud Curry added 13 points in PC’s balanced attack. Geoff McDermott (9 points) connected on the final of two free throws with 10 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 84.

Seton Hall had a chance to win in regulation after McDermott’s free throw, but Eugene Harvey (11 points, 7 assists) was stripped of the ball and SHU did not get a shot, or a pass, off in the final posession. It was a strange play, as Harvey casually brough the ball up the court as the other Pirates watched. SHU looked totally unprepared for a game-end situation, and they had a timeout remaining…

Jeremy Hazell scored 30 for the Pirates and hit three’s in bunches to help SHU rally from deficits of 14 (ist half) and 8 (second half) quickly. Robert Mitchell had 20, but was just 10-24 from the floor before fouling out. Paul Gause was excellent with 19 points (6-7 from field and 5-6 from ’3′) as well as 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Notes:

-Seton Hall is 0-6 in the Big East. Worst start in conference play since 0-7 in 1985-1986. They hope to avoid that fate with a home date against ranked Georgetown on Saturday.

-NJIT has more wins in 2009 than SHU and Rutgers, the state of New Jersey reps of the Big East, combined. The Pirates and Knights are both 0-6 in league play.

-PC held a 41-30 rebounding edge and connected on 11-20 three’s.
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Tempers and frustrations boiled over in the meeting between St. John’s and Cincinnati at Carnesecca Arena last night. When order was restored, it was the Redstorm in Foul Mood After Collapse (Newsday) and their fifth loss in six Big East contests.

With the score 43-35 in favor of SJU following a DJ Kennedy three-pointer 2:57 into the second half, referee karl Hess stopped the game and issued a double technical to Kennedy and UC forward Rashad Bishop for excessive jawing that had been building throughout the game. When both continued even after being seperated and issued T’s, Curtis Shaw then hit the pair again with double technicals, ejecting both from the game.

Already short on players because of a string of injuries (Anthony Mason, Malik Boothe and Rob Thomas unavailable), the double ejection crippled the Redstorm as UC Grinds out a Victory (Cincinnati Enquirer), outscoring SJU 36-17 over the final 17:03 of the game.

Deonta Vaughn scored 20 of his game-high 23 in the second half, including 10 in a row in a spurt that allowed UC to take control of the game after trailing 55-52 with 7:50 to go.

Bishop added 15 for the Bearcats despite missing the final 17 minutes.

Even though Kennedy Gets Thrown Out (Daily News), the Redstorm extended the lead to as many as 11, 51-40, with 13:16 left, but they managed just one field goal in the last 7:50 and were outscored 31-9 to close the game.

Paris Horne had 20 for the ‘storm and Justin Burrell added 15. Sean Evans had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but was just 4-13 from the foul line.

Notes:

-Cincinnati matched last year’s win total (13-19) as they moved to 13-7 overall. They are not 3-4 in the Big East, winning three of their last four.

-UC was able to press SJU effectively as Boothe and Kennedy were unavailable the final 17 minutes, causing 21 turnovers.

-As a team, SJU was 14-31 from the foul line, aided by Evans’ 4 of 13 effort.

-The Redstorm held a 43-33 rebounding edge, but it was negated by the 21 turnovers to UC just turning it over 10 times in the game.
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Marquette sits atop the Big East standings with a 5-0 record, currently tied with Louisville heading into this weekend, but a tough schedule awaits in the coming future. When that schedule gets tougher, do not expect it to faze the Golden Eagles as Buzz Williams inherited a pretty good situation as Marquette’s Senior Trio is a Rare Luxury (Journal Inquirer) in college basketball.

With the Golden Eagles 5-0 and Providence now 5-2 under new coach Keno Davis, the newbies in the conference coaching ranks are looking good. Williams has MU Humming (Journal-Sentinel) along with a date this weekend against DePaul.
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Syracuse is looking at quite a dilemma as Free-Throw Shooting is Very Troublesome for the Orange (Auburn Citizen). As a team, SU shoots just 62.5% from the ‘charity’ stripe. The biggest culprit is the nation’s leading field goal shooter, Arinze Onuaku, who is an awful 35% from the aptly named ‘foul’ line in his case. What is worse, in Big East play, the SU big man is just 6-32, which is 19%. The questions is…what do you do with Onuaku in tight games?
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According to the Chicago Sun-Times, it Looks Like a Wrong Season at DePaul in many ways. After being swept in a home and home by South Florida, the very real possibility of an 0-18 conference record is settling in. While that still is likely unrealistic, what seems to be more realistic is the thought that the Blue Demons are out of place in the Big East, a conference that is over their heads, according to the article.
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In their win over SU, Pittsburgh re-established their attacking offensive style by getting free throw attempts, something that has been lacking from their attack recently as head coach Jamie Dixon Asks for Offensive Penetration (Post-Gazette), especially against a zone, to prevent from settling for jumpers.
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The Chicago Tribune takes a look at who is hot and who is not in the Big East while also taking a look at how Big East Road Games are Inhospitable to the Visitors.
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Andre Drummmond, although just a sophomore, is a name to remember and is a name that college recruiters are already familiar with. Playing his high school basketball in the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut staff has been to several of his games this season, including Jim Calhoun taking in one personally. it looks very certain that Capital Prep’s 6’10 Drummond has a Big Future (Hartford Courant).
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Another 6’10 prospect high on potential is Jefferson High School of Dayton (OH) junior Adreian Payne. With a wingspan of 7-foot-2 and plenty of room to add muscle to the frame, Jefferson’s Payne is Growing into a Dominant Role (Dayton Daily News) this season. At the same time, Payne Keeps College Recruiters Waiting as he is still open on his college decision. He has taken an unofficial visit to West Virginia as well as some other in-state teams. In a recent NBE article, Catching Up With Adreian Payne, he also mentioned Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburgh among Big East schools of interest. Also, a possible unofficial to Pitt could happen sooner or later.
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NBA scouts and, in many cases, recruiting rankings value potential of players. College coaches, however, need the production to win in the here and now. Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard takes a closer look at college basketball’s age old question: Production or Potential?
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It is another busy weekend of high school hoops and here A Look at the PrimeTime High School Shootout (NJ.com) which begins tonight and Look at the Newark Invitational which will tip off tomorrow. NBE will be reporting on both events, as well as the SNY.tv Invitational, which takes place tonight and tomorrow at NYU (See below for more info).

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