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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/9/2009)

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The Big East went 2-1 last night, splitting a pair of games in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden with Georgetown claiming a ‘W’ over Butler and Pitt falling to Indiana, and Marquette getting past city rival UW-Milwaukee.

Earlier today NBE announced our effort to helps support The V Foundation for Cancer Research and how you can help in those efforts. See the details in our earlier post (NBE Sports Supports the Jimmy V Foundation) for more information.

Tonight is a busy night around the Big East as seven games are on the schedule. Of those games, the anticipation for the 2009 SEC/Big East Invitational is high as UConn and Kentucky hook up in Madison Square Garden in the night cap of tonight’s doubleheader. Georgia and St. John’s hook up in the opener tonight. Also tonight Notre Dame, Rutgers and West Virginia entertain guests at home while Providence hits the road for a match-up with George Washington and Villanova takes on St. Joe’s in a ‘City Series’ match-up at the Palestra.

Also, it might be three months away, but our 2010 Big East Tournament & Tickets page has the links needed for Big East basketball fans to purchase tickets to any or all of the 2010 Big East Tournament sessions. Stub Hub and the Big East conference have teamed up to provide fans with quality tickets and you can get tickets to any Big East conference or non-league game by following this link: StubHub.com – The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online

Read on below for information on these contests…

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TUESDAY NIGHT’S GAMES:

Georgetown 72, Butler 65
–Greg Monroe scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Georgetown last night in the opening game of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden as the No. 15 Hoyas Dominate Butler, 72-65, In First Real Test of the Season (Washington Post). Austin Freeman added 18 as John Thompson III’s club improves to 7-0 on the season.

Monroe Shined on New York Stage (Washington Times) as an Assertive Monroe Steals the Show (ESPN) giving Hoya fans and coaching staff what they had hoped for this season from the potential star. Both his point and rebound totals last night where career highs for the 6-foot-10 center from New Orleans.

The Georgetown defense was also stout, limiting Butler to 31% shooting in the game and outrebounding the Bulldogs 43-30. Monroe and Julian Vaughn limited Butler star Matt Howard, the 2008-2009 Horizon League player of the year, to just 9 points on 1-9 shooting from the field in 25 minutes before he fouled out.

Butler Squanders Opportunity Against Ranked Opponent (Indianapolis Star) as they were out-toughed by the Hoyas of the Big East. Georgetown led by as many as 17 points in the second half and withstood a late Butler rally by making enough free throws. Twenty Hoya turnovers contributed to the Bulldogs making it just interesting enough at the end.

The Hoyas (7-0) will look to match their best start under coach Thompson III with a victory against No. 17 Washington in the John Wooden Classic this Saturday in Anaheim (CA).
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Indiana 74, Pittsburgh 64
–The offensive woes of Pittsburgh continued Tuesday night as Indiana Knocks off Pitt in Jimmy V Classic, 74-64, last night in Madison Square Garden. The Panthers shot just 31% from the field and time and time again failed to finish opportunities as IU’s Tom Crean Picks Up 200th Career Victory (Indianapolis Star). It was his 10th win at Indiana following 190 as coach of Marquette previously.

Pitt trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half, before rallying down the stretch, including a nine-point spurt in 19 seconds as Freshman Dante Taylor’s put-back got the Panthers to within 70-64 with 58 seconds to play. Indiana was able to hold on to hand Pitt only its fourth loss in its past 15 games at Madison Square Garden.

“We got what we really deserved,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said afterwards in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We didn’t play well. Indiana did.”

Indiana shot 44% against Pitt, but found it easy inside as they scored 40 points in the paint and 25 from the foul line. The Hoosiers had to make just four perimeter shots (one three) to score 74 points and beat Pitt. Not a typical performance on the defensive end of the court by a Dixon coached team.

Senior Jermaine Dixon played 13 minutes for Pittsburgh in his first action of the season recovering from a broken foot. Dixon was noticeably a step behind as he works his way back into game shape.

Sophomore Ashton Gibbs had a career high 25 points and junior Brad Wanamaker added 18 for Pitt. The Panthers return home Saturday to host Kent and they know where they need to improve.

“I’m not concerned about the offense,” freshman Dante Taylor, who scored 12 points in the loss said to the Post-Gazette following the game. “I’m more concerned about the defense. We’re letting teams score too easily. We’re not taking pride in defense. We need to put our foot down, stand up and play defense.”
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Marquette 71, UW-Milwaukee 51
–Marquette bounced back from a pair of demoralizing losses with a Sloppy But Satisfying (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) over city rival UW-Milwaukee 71-51 at the Bradley Center Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles ran their record to 37-0 against their intra-city foe as Jimmy Butler led the way with 20 points on a snowy Milwaukee evening. Darius Johnson-Odom provided a lift off the bench with 15 points and lazar Hayward added 13.

Marquette forced 21 turnovers and shot 52% from the floor in the win. Next up for the Golden Eages is a date in Madison against the rival Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday in their annual rivalry match-up.
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S BIG EAST GAMES:

SEC/BIG EAST INVITATIONAL:
–Wake up Call: Best of Big East/SEC To Hoop It Up (Tampa Tribune)
–An SEC/Big East Invitation Well Worth an RSVP (Fanhouse)

St. John’s vs. Georgia (4-3), 7:00 PM at Madison Square Garden
–Bulldogs Take Game to NYC (Athens Banner-Herald)

Connecticut vs. Kentucky (8-0), 9:30 PM at Madison Square Garden
–Kentucky-UConn is a Heavyweight Match-up (NY Times)
–Kentucky’s John Wall Gears up for Garden (Newsday)
–Youth a Concern for Both UConn & Kentucky (Hartford Courant)
–Huskies Return to Big Stage, Face Kentucky (TheDay.com)
–No Love Lost Between Calipari, Calhoun (Kentucky.com)
–UConn Prepared for Young, Talented Kentucky Team (Norwich Bulletin)

The 2009 SEC/Big East Invitational tips off Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden with St. John’s battling Georgia in the first game and the much anticipated Kentucky/UConn match-up in the nightcap. John Calipari’s super freshman class, led by the exciting John Wall, will take on Jim Calhoun’s Huskies.

It will be an exciting night of basketball…
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Duquesne (6-2) @ West Virginia, 7:00 PM
–Mountaineers Set for Duquesne Challenge (Daily Mail)
–Huggins, Everhart Share West Virginia Roots (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
–WVU Looks for Better Defense vs Dukes (Charleston Gazette)
–WVU Hosts Everhart, Duquesne Tonight (Times West Virginia)
–Duquesne’s Everhart Has History with WVU’s Huggins (Post-Gazette)

The Mountaineers welcome Duquesne to Morgantown for their annual metting. The Dukes are coached by Ron Everhart, a very close and long-time friend of WVU coach Bob Huggins. Last year, WVU rallied from an 8-point halftime deficit to defeat the Dukes 68-63. Duquense recently lost in double overtime to Pittsburgh in their annual city game and will look to give the deeper, bigger and more talented Mountaineers a game as well.
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Providence @ George Washington (6-1), 7:00 PM
–Friars Will Provide a Measuring Stick for Improving George Washington (Providence Journal)
–Capsule Preview: PC at George Washington (Providence Journal)

The Friars played Saturday (loss at Rhode Island) and Monday (win vs Brown) and now hit the road for a Wednesday night contest at George Washington. The Colonials won just nine and 10 games the last two seasons, so their 6-1 start is one of the better stories of the 2009-2010 season as they have turned over their roster in the rebuilding phase. Tonight will pose a stiff test with the Friars.
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IUPUI (7-2) @ Notre Dame, 7:30 PM
–New Line-up Looks Goof for Irish (Elkhart Truth)
–Irish Approach Puts Foes on Edge (South Bend Tribune)
–Forward Adds Scoring Threat to Irish Offense (Journal Gazette)

Quietly, IUPUI has put together a 7-2 start, losing to Auburn and Kansas State on the road, ahead of their Wednesday night meeting with the Irish. ND looks to build on their 8-1 start and are paced, as expected, by Luke Harangody who is averaging 26 points and 10 rebounds a game. The irish are also getting a huge lift from Tom Abromaitis who is second on the team in scoring at 14.7 a game and is coming off a 31-point performance in his first start in a win over UCF.
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Monmouth (2-6) @ Rutgers, 7:30 PM
–Monmouth – Rutgers Scouting Report (mycentraljersey.com)

The Scarlet Knights look to get past their slow starts and sloppy play when they host in-state foe Monmouth at the RAC tonight. Greg Echenique has put together a string of productive games and freshman Dane Miller had his best game in his young career as RU rallied to beat winless Colgate on Sunday.
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Villanova vs. St. Joseph’s (3-4), 9:00 PM at the Palestra
–No Comparing Villanova’s Big 5 Dominance (Philadelphia Daily News)
–Villanova and St. Joe’s Meet in city Series (Philadelphia Inquirer)
–‘Nova Expecting a Battle with St. Joe’s (DelCo Times)

The ‘Holy War’ battle between ‘Nova and St. Joe’s has become the highlight of the annual ‘City Series’ of Philadelphia in recent years. The two long-time rivals will meet up at the historic Palestra for the 9 PM tip-off tonight. The third ranked Wildcats will look to use their backcourt strength to push the tempo and prevent St. Joe’s big man Ahmad Nivins from dictating the game.
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