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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/14/2009)

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Friday the 13th of November saw nine Big East teams make their regular season debuts for the 2009-2010 season and all nine got by unscathed, but it was not without drama and a couple very narrow escapes.

Seton Hall avoided a disastrous loss with a buzzer-beating win. Pittsburgh rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit and Villanova took just a one-point lead at the half before blowing their game wide open. South Florida opened on the road and rallied from a halftime deficit to win their opener. St. John’s, Connecticut, Providence, Marquette and Georgetown more or less cruised to opening wins, with the Hoyas victorious on the road.

Below we recap some of the opening night action while we preview Saturday’s action that sees Rutgers and Notre Dame open their season with Providence continuing on in the World Vision Classic on their home court.

Seton Hall looked anything but the team some are pointing at as a darkhorse this season as they needed a 30-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer by Eugene Harvey to escape with a 53-51 win over St. Peter’s (Star-Ledger) at the Prudential Center in Newark (NJ). Harvey came off the bench and led the Pirates with 16 points as SHU overcame an 0-10 night from the field by Jeremy Hazell.

In the last two minutes, the lead changed hands six times and St. Peter’s took a 51-50 lead on a Wesley Jenkins bucket with 3.6 seconds left. Harvey then took a pass from Herb Pope after a SHU timeout and connected on a running game winner from well beyond the three-point line to steal victory from St. Peter’s.

Seton Hall used a starting line-up of Jordan Theodore, Hazell, Robert Mitchell, Pope and John Garcia. For the first time in his 93-game SHU career, Harvey came off the bench. Those were the 6 players that pretty much went to work tonight, combining for 189 of the 200 available minutes with Melvyn Oliver, Ferrakohn Hall and Jamel Jackson making cameo appearances. With Jeff Robinson sitting out until December and Keon Lawrence suspended indefinitely, the improved depth for the Pirates is still to come.

The other concerning stat, SHU was outrebounded 43-35 with the Peacocks doing a very solid job on the offensive glass. Another area SHU needs to show much more improvement in.

Pope, playing in his first game with Seton Hall, scored six points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists, including on SHU’s last two buckets and blocked four shots.

Seton Hall is back in action on Sunday when they host Monmouth.
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Pittsburgh opened their season on Friday against an experienced Wofford club that tested the young Panthers’ mettle right from the get-go. Wofford led by as many as 10 in the first half and stretched their seven-point halftime lead to a 41-28 advantage in the early stages of the second half. Pitt closed the gap with a 10-0 run, but Wofford again stretched the lead to double-digits as the game moved past the midway point of the second half.

But, like the Pitt teams before this one, these young Panther pups showed their toughness and they gutted it out with Brad Wanamaker and Dante Taylor picking up the offensive slack. The took the lead for good at 59-58 on a Gary McGhee old-fashioned three-point play off a missed free throw and McGhee followed that up with another basket off a rebound to give Pitt a three-point lead. The Panthers held on with Ashton Gibbs knocking down a couple free throws and Wofford missed a game-tying three in the closing seconds.

Wanamaker finished with 15 points and Taylor added 13 in 19 minutes. McGhee scored 7, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in 21 minutes, splitting the time with Taylor in the middle.
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South Florida got 23 points and 9 rebounds from sophomore Augustus Gilchrist as the Bulls erases a three-point halftime deficit to beat SMU in Dallas 67-61.

Senior Chris Howard added 14 points and 7 assists with Dominique Jones scoring 13. In his debut, Jarrid Famous had nine points and two rebounds in 29 minutes for USF.
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The halftime score raised some eyebrows as Villanova held just a 35-34 advantage over Fairleigh Dickinson. Things returned to normal in the second half as ‘Nova busted things open on their way to an 84-61 victory.

Juniors Corey Stokes (20 points) and Corey Fisher (13 pts) led the effort as the only two Wildcats to score in double figures. Freshman Mouphtau Yarou played while questions of his age continued to be talked about. Prior to the game, Yarou’s Age was Upheld and C Helps ‘Nova Win (Philadelphia Inquirer). In 20 minutes, Yarou had six points and three rebounds. Antonio Pena added nine points and 10 rebounds for the winners.
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Connecticut was never really able to shake pesky William and Mary, but they were really never threatened either in their 75-66 win.

Jerome Dyson led UConn’s attack with 27 points and 8 assists. Stanley Robinson added 17 and Kemba Walker was the thirs Husky to crack double figures by scoring 12.
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St. John’s placed five players in double figures, led by DJ Kennedy’s 16 points, in an 83-70 win over Long Island at Carnesecca Arena Friday evening.

JUCO transfer Dwight Hardy added 14 and SJU outrebounded LIU 43-32 in the game.
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The most lopsided victory was courtesy of Providence who took apart Bryant 96-53 Friday night. While the Friars Shooters Blast Away from Distance (Providence Journal) showing a quick trigger from the perimeter, it was a pair of redshirts that sat out last year that made the biggest marks.

Jamine Peterson had 18 points in 21 minutes and Bilal Dixon scored 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds in his 21 minutes of action. The Friars held a 52-29 rebounding edge and had 11 players, all whom scored, play at least 12 minutes in the game.
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Marquette got a big night from junior Jimmy Butler as they cruised past Centenary, 85-62. Butler scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, picking up the slack for Lazar Hayward (9 points) who was limited due to fouls.

Marquette shot 51% from the field and outrebounded the Gents 43-26 in the contest.
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Georgetown opened up on the road against Tulane in what was a homecoming for sophomore Greg Monroe. The 6-foot-10 New Orleans native did not disappoint with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes leading the Hoyas to the 74-58 win.

Austin Freeman added 16 points and sophomore Jason Clark scored 13 for the Hoyas as they shot 53% from the floor in the game as a team.
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SATURDAY SCHEDULE:

North Florida @ Notre Dame, 2 PM

Marist @ Rutgers, 2 PM

Bucknell @ Providence, 6:30 PM