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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/18/2009)

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So far so good for the Big East conference with all 29 games Big East teams have participated in going into the win column. Only the Big 12 has also yet to lose a contest in the season’s first week plus to date.

There was nearly a couple losses last night, but Georgetown and St. John’s each pulled out tight ones by scoring with 6 seconds left. UConn had another tussle, needing to rally from a nine-point second half defecit for a win. DePaul was able to grind out a season opening win while Pitt, Marquette and Louisville, who blasted Arkansas from the SEC, all had easier times in their games.

Cincinnati will try to make it an even 30-0 for the Big East tonight when they host Toledo at Fifth Third Arena.

Elsewhere, Dion Waiters followed through with his verbal commitment to Syracuse, although it seems that he was considering other options recently. Recruiting update on Doron Lamb and is Jayvaugh Pinkston’s decision to hold off on his decision related to the upcoming decision from Tobias Harris?? Also, freshmen Danny Jennings and Brandon Triche are making their marks early in the college careers.

Read all of this in today’s news and notes below…

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LAST NIGHT’S GAME ACTION:

Georgetown 46, Temple 45
–Georgetown head coach John Thompson III and Temple head coach Fran Dunphy have seen their share of close battles before when they were coaching in the Ivy League at Princeton and Penn respectively. On Tuesday afternoon, they had another close battle as Temple Loses on Georgetown’s Late Lay-up (PHiladelphia Inquirer) by Greg Monroe. The Hoyas prevailed, 46-45, before 8,712 fans at the Verizon Center.

Last season Georgetown let several close games slip away and their season snowballed down hill afterwards. Tuesday’s contest looked to be heading in a similar direction as the Hoyas saw a 12-point second half lead turn into a defecit in the final minutes. However, a Finishing Kick Propels the Hoyas (Washington Post) to the win as center Greg Monroe Shows Up Just at the Right Time (Washington Post) to score on a lay-up with 6.5 seconds left to steal the win.

Monroe finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds in the win. The Hoyas were led offensively by junior guard Chris Wright’s 15 points.

Still, some of the concerning signs from last year’s struggles are still evident early on for Georgetown as they struggled to score and they committed more than twice as many turnovers (16) as assists (7) and they were out-rebounded, with the opponent doing tough work on the offensive glass. Also, four players accounted for 96% (44) of the 46 points the Hoyas scored.

The Hoyas, 2-0, have a pretty easy string of games ahead until December 8th when they meet Butler and then face Washington on December 12th. Plenty of time to improve on some of the areas of concern.
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Pittsburgh 71, Binghamption 46
–Pittsburgh narrowly escaped an upset bid in their opener against Wofford (who, by the way, won at Georgia last night), but their was no such drama on Tuesday as Pitt Routs Binghamption 71-46 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) at the Peterson Events Center.

After going 0-5 from three-point range in the opening game, Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs Breaks Out in Pitt Rout (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review), connecting on five of his six made three’s and scoring 17 of his career-high 22 points in the first half, helping Pitt take a 37-17 lead at the break as BU was Unable to Meet Pitt’s Challenge (Press & Sun Bulletin).

The match-up was the opening game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic for Pittsburgh, which will meet Eastern Kentucky on Thursday before heading to Kansas City next week to play Wichita State and then either Texas or Iowa. Gibbs, a key player on the USA gold-medal winning U19 2009 FIBA World Championship club, connected on five threes in a nine minute span in the first half that broke the game open. Starting backcourt mate Travon Woodall, a redshirt freshman, finished with 10 points and 13 assists while leading Pitt’s attack.

Junior Brad Wanamaker added 14 points for Pitt, which was credited with 24 team assists on 27 made baskets as the team shot 50% (27-54) from the floor in the game.
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Connecticut 76, Hofstra 67
–Connecticut had all they could handle Tuesday night to advance in the NIT Season Tip-Off as Hofstra Puts a Scare into UConn but Falls 76-67 (Newsday) at Gampel Pavilion.

Hofstra led by nine points, 54-45 with nine minutes left but a 14-4 run in under four minutes gave UConn a 59-58 lead. It was a back and forth game until the Huskies finished on a 9-1 run in the final moments to secure the win.

Jerome Dyson made 14 of 15 free throws to finish with 23 points, including nine straight points to help Connecticut finally put some distance between themselves and the Pride in the final minute. UConn Needs Late Rally to Beat Hofstra (Hartford Courant) which led to the New Haven Register to ask if we are Still Waiting on the Real Huskies or if this is it?

Hofstra, which played a line-up that used four guards often, out-rebounded the bigger Huskies 43-39, including doubling them up on the offensive glass. While Ater Majok Will Help, Others Have to Grow (Courant) and improve in the meantime for the Huskies. The competition will get much tougher with UConn moving on to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off against LSU next Wednesday. Duke and Arizona State are the other semifinalists.

Kemba Walker added 16 points for UConn which also got 15 from Stanley Robinson and 10 from Gavin Edwards. Freshman center Alex Oriakhi scored 8 points and added 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
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St. John’s 69, St. Bonaventure 68
–St. John’s averted an early season pitfall against an improving St. Bonaventure club as point guard Malik Boothe Saves the Storm (NY Post) with a pair of free throws with 6.2 seconds left to lift SJU past the Bonnies 69-68 at the Rochester (NY) Blue Cross Arena.

D.J. Kennedy had 18 points and Paris Horne added 15 for the Red Storm (2-0) in the win as St. John’s Holds off Upstart Bonnies (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) as Michael Davenport fired a 3-point attempt from 25 feet that clanked off the back of the rim as time expired.
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Louisville 96, Arkansas 66
–Louisville head coach Rick Pitino saw a familiar face on the opposing Arkansas bench as former player John Pelphrey led the Razorbacks into action in St. Louis as part of the Hall of Fame Showcase double-header. A short-handed Arkansas team was no match for the depth of UL which cruised to a 96-66 win, placing six players in double figures, led by Reginald Delk.

Delk Provides a Big Spark as Louisville Wins Opener (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) by making eight of nine shots, including four of five three’s, while scoring 20 points in 22 minutes of action.

It was also a homecoming for Jared Swopshire who was born and raised in St. Louis before moving to Bradenton (FL) and attending IMG Academy for his junior and senior seasons of high school. Swopshire Comes up Big in Return (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) as he posts a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in a starting role for the Cards.

Samardo Samuels added 17 points and Jerry Smith (14), Edgar Sosa (12) and Preston Knowles (11) also reached double figures in scoring. Louisville also registered 25 assists as a team against just 10 turnovers.
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Marquette 86, UMES 60
–Marquette is going to rely on senior Lazar Hayward often this season and in the Golden Eages 86-60 win Tuesday night over UMES, Hayward Finally Steps Up (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) scoring 28 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, both leading MU in the game.

It was more than those stats that made head coach Buzz Williams happy as his senior was the one banging in the paint, grabbing rebounds, spacing the floor, firing up his teammates. Things missing in the opener as Hayward battled foul trouble and saw more pine time and playing time.

Jimmy Butler added 13 points and guards David Cubillan and Dwight Buycks each added a dozen points in the win. Marquette has a few more cupcakes ahead before the schedule gets tougher late next week with a stretch of games against Xavier (11/26), NC State (12/5), Wisc-Milwaukee (12/8) and Wisconsin (12/12).
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DePaul 59, Columbia 53
–It definitely was not pretty, but DePaul got their season off on the right foot ahead of their trip to the Paradise Jam as DePaul Wins Opener, 59-53 (Chicago Tribune), over Columbia Tuesday night.

Mac Koshwal had a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Will Walker added 15 as the Blue Demons overcame a woeful performance from the foul line, shooting 9-24 (37.5%) as a team, to earn the opening win.
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S GAME:

Toledo @ Cincinnati, 7:30 PM
–Preview: Toledo @ Cincinnati (Toledo Blade)
–UC Puts Gag Order on Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati Enquirer)
–Cashmere Wright Disappointed with Cincinnati Debut (Cincinnati Enquirer)
–Bearcats Offense Looked More of the Same vs. Prairie View (SNY.tv)

Cincinnati and head coach Mick Cronin will look for improvement tonight when the Bearcats host Toledo over their first game. UC had to rally from an eight point defecit to beat Prairie View A&M on Monday night, 69-62. Freshman Lance Stephenson made his much anticipated debut, but was just two of 10 from the field in the opener.
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MORE BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard has an excellent story on Syracuse freshman point guard Brandon Triche as Triche Adjusts to Transition from High School to college. Triche has started both games for the Orange this season and will face his biggest test against the outstanding backcourt of Cal on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the Coaches vs Cancer Tournament.
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Speaking of Syracuse, Dion Waiters is officially a member of the SU basketball family as Waiters Reaffirms commitment to Syracuse (Philadelphia Inquirer) by signing his letter of intent this week. The Inquirer reports that Waiters almost changed his mind and went to Memphis. The 17-year-old, 6-foot-4, 215-lb guard also thought about chasing a professional career overseas instead of going to college.

Waiters averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists for Life Center last season before suffering a season-ending broken left ankle in the eighth game.
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It looks like West Virginia freshman Danny Jennings has quickly found a role with the Mountaineers as Amid Offensive Stars, Jennings Brings the ‘D’ (Daily Mail) for Bob Huggins’ team.
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Yesterday there was the news that Jayvaughn Pinkston was set to make his college decision during a press conference at Bishop Loughlin High School today. However, now it looks like Pinkston is not 100% set on a school and Pinkston Will Hold off on Decision (ZagsBlog.com).

Many have speculated that Tennessee and Villanova are the favorites and the NY Daily News ran a story yesterday that Tennessee would be the choice. New Heights director Kimani Young told NBE yesterday that it was not a confirmed story and Pinkston is considering all five of his finalists, which also includes St. John’s, Marquette and Seton Hall.

The conspiracy theories are making the rounds as Tobias Harris, who is expected to sign a LOI today and make his college announcement tomorrow, also has Tennessee as a finalist. In fact, Harris made an unplanned visit, stopping by Tennessee just yesterday after making his trip to Georgia Tech. Would this make the Tennessee staff hold off on Pinkston? We will likely see what happens very soon…
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ZagsBlog.com also has the update on Doron Lamb who visited Connecticut last weekend. Lamb has also visited Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky and will come home for Thanksgiving and Lamb Will Weight Options with his family. A visit to Arizona is not out of the question as well.