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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/1/2009)

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We flip another page of the 2009 calendar and Big East conference play is less than four weeks away. The conference continues to flex it’s muscles in the early going with another 3-0 Monday and the Big East cummulative conference record now stands at 79-12.

Last night it was Seton Hall rolling, even with the Pirates having three scholarship players unavailable, Syracuse doominating a local rival, with Wesley Johnson continuing to impress, and Georgetown looking more like the team you would expect in a win over Mount St. Mary’s.

Tonight, Providence hits the road in what will be a solid test. Cincinnati plays as a ranked team for the first time in a while and Notre Dame hosts Idaho State.

In other News & Notes, Villanova could be looking at a tough blow to their season, Pitt readies for the annual ‘City Game’ and the improvement of Gary McGhee is a welcomed development. West Virginia has a lot to like from their trip West, Marquette will try to rebound from a disappointing end to the Old Spice Classic and Louisville hopes to benefit from their loss last weekend.

Read about these and more below…

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MONDAY’S BIG EAST ACTION:

Seton Hall 93, NJIT 53
–Seton Hall improved to 5-0 by devouring the holiday pastry, otherwise known as NJIT, 93-53, before an announced Prudential Center crowd of 5,540. Herb Pope (22 points) and Jeremy Hazell (21 pts) Combine for 43 Points in the SHU Win over NJIT (Star Ledger). Jamel Jackson connected on five three pointers to account for his fifteen points.

In the game, Eugene Harvey got a quick hook and was replaced by Jordan Theodore, who also started the second half as Seton Hall Overpowers NJIT (The Record).

“He [Harvey] started the game with three turnovers and we had a little exchange,” SHU coach Bobby Gonzalez said of Harvey in The Record. “That’s part of Eugene’s makeup. Sometimes he just gets down on himself. Now I can push a button and put somebody else in. He’s got to handle that.”

Also, Ferrakohn Hall replaced John Garcia in the second half starting line-up and the Pirates put the game away with a 21-4 run after the break against the smaller NJIT line-up.

The Pirates are in action again on Thursday at home against Hartford (2-4). They are still unlikely to have Keon Lawrence in the line-up as he remains on indefinite suspension for violation of team rules which resulted from his involvement in a 2:30 AM parkway crash where he was charged with DUI. Also, Seton Hall Center Melvyn Oliver is ‘Temporarily Removed’ from the Team to Concentrate on Academics (Star-Ledger). The announcement came prior to the SHU win over Long Island Saturday night. The Pirates will have Jeff Robinson, a mid-year transfer from memphis, available in just over two weeks after the first semester ends, which I believe is their December 19th game with Temple, most likely their biggest test before playing Syracuse and West Virginia to open conference play later in the month. That is also the timeframe that we are hearing for Lawrence’s return, although nothing officially has been announced.

The Pirates are still looking to get deeper and better…
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Syracuse 92, Colgate 58
–Syracuse continues to roll along and improves to 7-0 with a victory over an upstate rival last night in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse Knocks Out Colgate Early (Syracuse Post-Standard), taking leads of 18-5 and 30-10 and leading by as much as 33 points in the first half and then cruising to a 92-58 win.

Once again, Wesley Johnson is establishing himself as the show in Western NY this winter, finishing with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in just 23 minutes and proving No Pass is Too High for Johnson (Post-Standard) as he soared to slam home an alley-oop from Andy Rautins that put an exclamation point on the win and Johnson’s performance. Johnson’s early season performance has led to NBA Talk After 7 Games (Auburn Citizen) as he was the MVP of the 2K Sports Classic, dazzling the crowds at Madison Square Garden in wins over North Carolina and Cal. He’s also turning heads at the Carrier Dome, averaging 18.3 points per game and shooting 52 percent from the 3-point line.

Rautins, SU Serve Notice (Watertown Daily Times) that this is a different Orange team this year. Rautins, a redshirt senior, led SU with eight assists as –Syracuse was credited as a team with 35 assists on 39 made baskets, an impressive ratio, to say the least.

SU faces Maine this weekend at the Dome before a taking on Florida in the SEC/Big East Challenger December 10th in a meeting of two of the biggest early season risers nationally.
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Georgetown 83, Mount St. Mary’s 62

–Georgetown imrpoved to 5-0 last night as the Hoyas Get a Balanced Effort (Washington Times) in an 83-62 win over Mount St. Mary’s at the Verizon Center. Looking more like a balanced team with the efficient offense clicking, Georgetown had four players in double digits led by sophomore Greg Monroe’s 19 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Wright contributed 18 points and while Monroe and Wright Pace the Short-Handed Hoyas (Washington Post) it is the continued contributions of Jason Clark, who scored 12 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 steals, and a big game from Julian Vaughn will hopefully be a sign of things to come. The junior power forward scored 14 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 3 assists and 3 blocks in the victory.

The Hoyas have some interesting tests ahead following American this weekend with Butler (12/8) and Washington (12/12) on neutral courts next week.
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TUESDAY’S BIG EAST SCHEDULE:

Providence @ Northeastern, 7:00 PM

–Visit From Friars is a Very Big Deal for Northeastern (Providence Journal)
–Capsule Preview: PC at Northeastern (Providence Journal)

It is “White Out Providence” night at Northeastern as the Huskies are 2-2 and return four starters from last year’s 19-13 team that played in the CBI. It will be a tough atmosphere for the young Friars, who are 4-2 and coming off a tough loss to Boston College over the weekend.
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Texas Southern @ Cincinnati, 7:30 PM
–Finally Cincinnati Basketball is Ranked Again (Cincinnati Enquirer)
–Cincinnati vs. Texas Southern Preview (CBS Sports)
–Top 25 Spot Not Altering Bearcats Atitude (CNATI.com)

The Bearcats, who play Texas Southern (3-4) at 7:30 tonight at Fifth Third Arena, returned to the Top 25 on the strength of their performance last week in the Maui Invitational where they knocked off Top 25 teams Vanderbilt and Maryland before losing in overtime to Gonzaga.
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Idaho State @ Notre Dame, 7:30 PM

–Positive Signs Surfaced in Challenge for Notre Dame (South Bend Tribune)
–Irish Junior Gets His Chance (Journal-Gazette)
–Bengals Face Huge Test (Idaho State Journal)

Idaho State, which won 68-65 at Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday, was picked to finish third in the Big Sky Conference, was 13-19 last year and 9-7 in the conference. With two points in tonight;s game, Luke Harangody will become the seventh player in ND history to score 2,000 career points.
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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

Villanova began the season as a Big East favorite and was widely expected to be a final four contender. With a mix of experienced guards and a nationally acclaimed recruiting class, Jay Wright’s squad had a mix of established veterans and high potential newcomers. One player expected to play a huge role in the improvement of the team as they progressed from November into the Big East schedule and in their preparation for the post season was 6-foot-10, 250-lb freshman Mouphtau Yarou. However, Illness May Cost ‘Nova’s Yarou the Season (DelCo Times). The viral infection that sent him home from Puerto Rico during the Purto Rico Tip-off Tournament could force the center from Benin to miss the remainder of the season.

“Obviously, it’s very serious,” Wright told the DelCo Times by phone on Monday. “We know what it is, but we’re just not ready to say exact what it is until we have all the facts. We won’t be able to do that for a few days. We’re awaiting the final evaluation from the medical experts.”

Yarou will definitely not play when the third-ranked Wildcats (6-0) entertain Drexel (3-4) Wednesday night at the Pavilion, it will be the fifth straight game he has missed.

The loss of Yarou could mean more playing time for Maurice Sutton. The 6-11 redshirt freshman has been solid in the first six games. He has started three times is averaging 4.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and nearly two blocked shots a game.
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Pittsburgh has a history of replacing good players that move on with the next line of good players they have developed behind them. While this year they are tasked with replacing great players, such as DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, a drop-off was expected and definitely looks to be the case. However, that should not underscore the improvement of junior center Gary McGhee as Pitt’s McGhee Shows He is Ready to Step up His Game (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

McGhee, a 6-foot-10 junior, is averaging 8.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and has posted double-doubles in the past two games, including 11 points and 10 rebounds matched up against Dexter Pittman of Texas in the CBE Classic finals.

McGhee’s improvement will be put to the test against Duquesne this week in the annual city game. The Dukes are 5-1 and have forward Damian Saunders who has developed into a top performer in the A-10. Pitt Returns to Mellon Arena After Infamous 2000 City Game Loss to Duquesne (Tribune-Review) and hopes to avoid a similar finish.
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West Virginia took home a championship inthe 76 Classic over the Thanksgiving weekend and the Mountaineers See a lot to Like in Anaheim (Daily Mail). However, for WVU fans, no sight from the weekend was probably more welcomed than the return of sophomore Devin Ebanks to the team. After being away from the team for ‘personal reasons’, Ebanks returned to the team and came off the bench in the last two games in Anaheim and played a vital role. If this team is going to win more championships this season, Ebanks role will continue to expand and grow.

Da’Sean Butler averaged 18.7 points and shot 55.9 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent form 3-point range in the three games and was named the event’s MVP. However, Bob Huggins pointed out the performance of Kevin Jones as the team’s best player. Jones averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and made 15 of 23 shots while doing ‘everything’ according to his coach.
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Despite blowing a 17-point second half lead in the loss to Florida State in the Old Spice Classic championship game, the positives of the weekend outweigh the negatives greatly for Marquette and that is what Todd Rosiak looks at in his Weekly Golden Eagles Report (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) as MU sits at 6-1. Next up is a date Saturday with North Carolina State at the Bradley Center.
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Coaches talk alot about teaching moments. While Louisville head coach Rick Pitino wil lnever publicly talk about a good loss, he seems to be one that uses teaching moments from November losses better than anyone. So, this past weekend Louisville Suffers ‘Beneficial’ Loss to UNLV (Louisville Courier-Journal) and the Cards Now Know What Needs Doing (Courier-Journal) in order for them to reach their potential, hence, a teaching moment.
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