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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/27/2009)

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The Big East regular season got off to quite a start Saturday afternoon as Seton Hall and West Virginia hooked up for a nationally televised affair. The game certainly was memorable and exciting and featured a huge individual performance from Jeremy Hazell and a miracle comeback by SHU to force overtime, but in the end, WVU showed why they are a legit national contender this year.

On Sunday three Big East teams are hosts in their final pre-conference tune-ups. Also, Louisville picks up a big commitment and UConn is one team taking a look at a 2011 big forward from the West Coast. Also, see what former SHU great Dan Callandrillo is up to these days.

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. With all the excitement recently at Madison Square Garden, Big East Tournament tickets could make a great holiday gift for any Big East fan on your shopping list. 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 all of today’s News & Notes…

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West Virginia 90, Seton Hall 84 (OT)
–West Virginia and Seton Hall tipped off the 2009-2010 Big East conference schedule taking center stage the day after Christmas with a nationally televised match-up that did not disappoint fans getting their college basketball fix. The Pirates Miss Chance to Upset West Virginia (mycentraljersey.com), falling 90-84 in overtime before 9,800 fans at the Prudential Center in Newark (NJ) Saturday afternoon.

After 39 minutes and 15 seconds of play, not too many people expected to hear that this game was going to be in overtime. WVU had a 75-65 lead and looked to be in control of the contest. However, a frantic rally over the last 45 seconds saw SHU outscore the visitors 12-2, capped by a 25-footer by Jeremy Hazell to send the game into overtime and delight the home fans.

However, Da’Sean Butler connected on a three early in OT and the Mountaineers never trailed again to earn the victory in the conference opener.

Hazell poured in 41 points on the afternoon but Hazell’s Big Day Was Not Enough for SHU to Upset No. 6 WVU (Star Ledger) as the Pirates were just 16-33 from the foul line in the contest, including a 1-10 effort from the charity stripe by Herb Pope.

The Mountaineers got 22 points, 17 rebounds (16 defensive boards) and 7 assists (without a turnover) from sophomore Devin Ebanks as well as 21 points and 6 assists from Butler and 19 points and 14 rebounds from Kevin Jones.

Once again Bob Huggins went with a point guard-less line-up for the most part as he started five players between 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8 (Ebanks, Jones, Butler, John Flowers and Wellington Smith) as Daryl Bryant and Joe Mazzulla combined to play just 25 of the 45 minutes in the game.

WVU will host Marquette Tuesday night in Morgantown ahead of a New Year’s Day match-up with fellow top ten team Purdue.

Pope finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds and Eugene Harvey added 10 in support of Hazell’s 41 point effort. Even in their frantic pace, the Pirates turned the ball over just six times all game and held their own with the bigger Mountaineers.

It is not going to get any easier for the Pirates as No. 5 Syracuse comes to the ‘Rock’ on Tuesday night for a Big East conference battle. The game is a tough ticket as it is a sell out, but you can check at StubHub.com – The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online over the next couple days to see if any tickets become available.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:

Radford (5-4) @ Louisville, 1 PM.
–Radford a Big Test for Cards’ Big Men (Louisville Courier-Journal)
–UL’s Terrence Jennings Returning Sunday (Courier-Journal)
–UofL Sphomore Kuric Becoming a Quiet Killer (C-J)

What to watch for: Radford’s 6-foot-11 Art Parakhouski, a senior from Minsk, Belarus, is averaging 22.7 points and leads NCAA Division I in rebounding at 14 per game. He is joined in a front court by 6-8 Joey Lynch-Flohr (14.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and 6-8 Lazar Trifunovic (13.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and will test UL’s Samardo Samuels, Terrence Jennings & co.
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Iona (8-4) @ Connecticut, 2 PM.
–Going Gets Tougher for UConn Men (Rep-Am)
–UConn Wary of Iona (Connecticut Post)

What to watch for: Will we get a ‘complete’ game from UConn as Big East play is right around the corner? Iona has been battle tested, winning at Providence and battling tough with Florida State and Baylor previously.
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Presbyterian (2-10) @ Marquette, 2 PM.
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MORE NEWS & NOTES:

Checking in the NBE Big East All-Time Top 50 last year at #27 was Dan Callandrillo and the Asbury Park Press had a recent article titled Life and Basketball chronicling how the former Seton Hall star is giving back to the sport he loves.
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According to the Tuscon Citizen, Connecticut is one of the schools interested in Class of 2011 forward Angelo Chol of San Diego’s Hoover High School. Chol, 6-foot-8, 200 pounds, is a rebounding monster, averaging 12.3 a game as well as 17.1 points a game. Arizona, North Carolina, Kansas and others, according to his high school coach, are interested in Chol.
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As most have probably heard, Louisville picked up a big commitment on Christmas Day as 2011 G/F Wayne Blackshear became the fourth player in the class of 2011 to verbally commit to the Cards. It is a Big 2011 Commitment for Rick Pitino and Louisville.
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