Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, Connecticut Recruiting, DePaul News, Louisville News, Notre Dame News, Pittsburgh News, Providence News, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall News, St. John's News, USF News, Villanova News

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/2/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

Three more wins last night for the Big East, moving the cummulative non-conference record for the conference to 82-12 (87%) on the 2009-2010 season. Last night Providence got past Northeastern on the road and Cincinnati and Notre Dame earned wins on their home court.

Busy night this evening on the Big East schedule as seven games are on tap. Connecticut, South Florida, Villanova, Louisville, St. John’s and DePaul are all large home favorites while Pittsburgh takes on city rival Duquesne at Mellon Arena.

Bad news out of DePaul and Villanova as big men they are counting on will be out of the line-up for some time. Seton Hall is getting a nice lift by a freshman forward and recruiting updates on doron Lamb and a late addition to the Rutgers recruiting class from the early period is in, too.

TUESDAY NIGHT IN THE BIG EAST:

Providence 76, Northeastern 72
–Providence burned the nets at a 56% shooting clip from the floor to escape hostile Northeastern with a win, the final PC 76, Northeastern 72 (Providence Journal).

The Friars, behind Sharaud Curry’s 13 points in the first half, took a 40-29 lead at the break and extended the lead to 72-59 with 4:47 remaining before a 13-2 run by the hosts cut the PC lead to 74-72 in the final moments. After a Marshon Brooks airball, the Friars called timeout with 15 seconds on the game clock and one second on the shot clock. Running a set play, freshman Vincent Council found Jamie ‘Big Shot’ Peterson with a lob pass that the high-flying sophomore converted to beat the shot clock and clinch the win for Providence.

The senior Curry led PC with 19 points and Peterson added 18 of his own to go with 9 rebounds. In all, PC placed five players in double figures with Bilal Dixon and Council scoring 11 and Brooks adding 10.

It has come at a key time, with conference play nearing, that Curry Has Rediscovered his Shooting Touch (Providence Journal) as his 19-point performance last night followed a 20-point outing in Saturday’s loss to Boston College. Curry hit seven of 10 shots last night and was three of three from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Friars move to 5-2 on the season and have their annual in-state tussle with Rhode Island on Saturday. Last night’s trip to Northeastern was used to gain experience for what they will see on the road this weekend. The Huskies fell to 2-3 with the loss.
——————————–

Cincinnati 94, Texas Southern 57
–Cincinnati played like the nationally ranked team they are on Tuesday night as Mick cronin’s team shot 57% fromt he floor, outrebounded Texas Southern 47-25 and placed seven players in double figures in a 94-57 rout at Fifth Third Arena.

The win uppded UC’s record to 5-1 as they head into a nine-day break before returning to action against Miami (OH) on December 10th. On Tuesday, Depth Shined for #22 UC (CNATI.com) as Rashad Bishop (14) and Dion Dixon (13) led the seven players reaching double figures. Freshman phenon Lance Stephenson was not one of the seven in double figures, scoring just seven points himself, but he led the Bearcats with 11 rebounds and 7 assists in the contest.

Still, even with the easy win, a coach needs to find something to be unhappy about. However, Mick Cronin was not upset with his team, instead Cronin was Disappointed in the Fans (CNATI.com) as 6,825 showed up to see No. 22 Cincinnati.

Former UC star Nick Van Exel had a good view of the action and received a rousing ovation from the UC fans that did show. Van Exel is a first-year assistant coach with Texas Southern and last night watched as his alma mater UC Breezed Past Texas Southern (Cincinnati Enquirer) for the win.
——————————–

Notre Dame 80, Idaho State 70
–It was a big night for Notre Dame big man Luke Harangody as the Senior Scores 2000th Career Point in Victory (Journal Gazette) over Idaho State. Reaching the milestone 22 seconds into the contest did not slow down as Harangody Sets Another Record in the Win (NWI Times) becoming the first Irish player to combine 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Harangody finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds leading the Irish to the 80-70 win.

The Irish shot 55% from the floor for the game. Ben Hansbrough added 14 in the win. But the night belonged to Harangody as the6-foot-8 forward from Schererville (IN) now stands sixth on Notre Dame’s career scoring list, as he passed former Irish star and current Indiana Pacer Troy Murphy. His 2,025 career points are just 535 less than Austin Carr’s all-time record of 2,560.

After a close first half, ND used an 18-5 run to begin the second half and put the game away. Idaho State did manage to shoot 51% on the game, indicating the Irish could still use improvements on the defensive end of the floor before Big East play starts later this month.
———————————————————————————–

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S BIG EAST SCHEDULE:

Boston @ Connecticut, 7:00 PM
–UConn Bench Needs to Show Some Life (Middletown Press)
–UConn’s Darius Smith Showing Signs of Life (Connecticut Post)
–Calhoun Hopes Bench Awakens Soon (New Haven Register)

The Huskies look to lick their wounds and rebound from the drubbing at the hands of Duke last week when they host Boston U tonight. Jim Calhoun will be looking for the bench to help out more over the course of the next few games leading up to the SEC/Big East clash with Kentucky on December 9th.
———————

Pittsburgh vs Duquesne at Mellon Arena, 7:00 PM
–Final City Game at Mellon Arena (Post-Gazette)
–Best of the City Game (Post-Gazette)
–http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/pitt/s_655744.html”>Pitt, Duquesne to Play Final City Game to Mellon (Tribune-Review)
–Saunders off the Great Start (Tribune-Review)
–Pitt Needs to Handle Turnover Problem (Tribune Review)
–Far from Strangers, Dukes and Panthers Meet Up (Tribune-Review)

A pair of 5-1 teams square off to close Mellon Arena and the Panthers take on the Dukes in their annual ‘City Game’. Pitt will need to control Damian Saunders, a former Marquette recruit, who is one of the better players in the Atlantic 10.
———————

Hampton @ South Florida, 7:00 PM

The 6-1 Bulls host 2-5 Hampton tonight. USF is off for 11 days following tonight’s game. After starting off 0-5, Hampton has won two in a row, but this is a game the Bulls should handle easily on their home court.
——————–

Drexel @ Villanova, 7:00 PM
–Drexel/Villanova Preview (CBS Sports)
–Villanova Freshman Out With Hepatitis (Philadelphia Inquirer)
–Yarou Suffering from Hepatitis B (Delaware County Times)

The Wildcats will continue the process of moving ahead now that freshman center Mouphtau Yarou has been diagnosed with Hepatitis B. The is no timetable for Yarou’s return, but the Wildcats are still a very potent club led by senior Scottie Reynolds and junior Corey Fisher in the backcourt. Local rival Drexel is up next. Earlier this year, Drexel fell to Big East foe Rutgers on a Greg Echenique buzzer-beater by the score of 58-56.
———————

Stetson @ Louisville, 7:00 PM
–Marra May Play Bigger Role for Louisville Basketball (Courier-Journal)
–Injured Knowles, Siva Wont Play vs. Stetson (Courier-Journal)

Knowles has an injured thumb and Siva a sprained wrist and neither will play tonight for the Cards. Rick Pitino is also shuffling his line-up as Rakeem Buckles will enter the starting line-up as UL looks to rebound from their weekend loss at UNLV when they return to Freedom Hall tonight.
———————-

Stony Brook @ St. John’s, 7:00 PM
–St. John’s Must Keep Focus vs Stony Brook as Date with Duke Looms (NY Daily News)

The Red Storm and their fans are very anxious to see how good this team really is. They have earned a few solid wins early, beating Siena and Temple, and they have escaped the bad early season losses that have haunted them in the past, edging St. Bonaventure and Brown. They will get a chance at a measuring stick game with Duke, but first things first, tonight they host 5-1 Stony Brook at Carnesecca Arena.
———————–

Alabama State @ DePaul, 8:30 PM
–Report: DePaul’s Koshwal to Miss 4-6 Weeks (Chicago Tribune)
–Men’s Hoops Host Alabama State (BlueDemons.com)

While tonight’s game is unlikely to, or shouldn’t, be too much of a test for the Blue Demons, their forseeable future took a hit with the news Mac Koshwal could be sidelined up to 6 weeks with a foot injury. DePaul starts conference play in three and a half weeks and not having their 6-foot-10 big man would be a big blow to a team with such a small margin of error in the Big East.
———————————————————————————–

ADDITIONAL BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Jerry Carino has a look at Seton Hall freshman forward Ferrakohn Hall as Hall’s Hall has been a Pleasant Surprise (Hoops Haven) for Bobby Gonzalez’s Pirates, off to an undefeated start.

The 6-foot-8 forward had five points, three boards, two assists and a steal in the 93-53 romp over NJIT Monday night where he got the start for the second half to help combat a smaller line-up that was a tough match-up for senior John Garcia.

The Memphis native was a late addition for the Pirates’ 2009 recruiting class and looks to be a solid building block for the future.
——————————————————————————

There is still no decision from Oak Hill senior shooting guard Doron Lamb and it looks like one is not coming soon in regards to his future college destination. Lamb is Waiting to Decide (TheShiver.com) between Oklahoma, Kentucky, Connecticut, Arizona and Kansas and, according to his father, all five are equal right now.
———————————————————————————–

Rutgers slipped a late commitment into the mix from the early signing period as Gilvydas Biruta signed a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Scarlet Knights. The Lithuanian National Team Pefromer Signed with Rutgers (New Jersey Newsroom) and joins Austin Carroll in the 2010 recruiting class signed by Fred Hill this fall.

Biruta, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward who is a senior at St. Benedict Prep in Newark (NJ), is typical of a European big man as he is very comfortable in stepping away from the basket. His signing leaves one open scholarship currently for RU in the class of 2010.
——————————————————————————