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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (2/9/2010)

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Big Monday saw a big conference tilt as top five teams Villanova and West Virginia met in Morgantown. It was the Wildcats coming up on top and remaining at the nead of the Big East standings with Syracuse. Also last night, Pittsburgh cruised in a non-conference match-up against a local neighbor. Pitt and WVU meet later during this ESPN Rivalry Week.

Tonight Georgetown looks to avoid a stumble following Saturday’s big win over Villanova when they travel to Providence as the Friars are in the midst of a killer portion of their schedule. Rutgers will also be in action tonight when they head out of conference to host Caldwell College.

In other Big East news, Providence is still recruiting for the class of 2010 and Rick Pitino has been making some rounds recently watching recruits in the NYC area. Marquette has been a surprise that seems under the radar and a Louisville line-up change seems to have helped both the new starter and new reserve.

Also, it might be another month and a half 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. The Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden is an event Big East fans must experience when they have the opportunity and here is your chance to get your tickets early before they become harder, and more expensive, to find. 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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MONDAY’S BIG EAST GAMES:

Villanova 82, West Virginia 75

Big Monday kicked off ESPN’s ‘Rivalry Week’ with a top five match-up in the Big East as West Virginia welcomed Villanova inside the Coliseum from the snow and cold that has blanketed the Midwest. It turned out to be a Long, Cold Night (Times West Virginian) for the hosts and their fans as Villanova Rallys From Georgetown Loss and Beats WVU (Philadelphia Daily News), 82-75.

Scottie Reynolds scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as the Wildcats sizzled all night shooting 57% from the field and 19 of 22 from the line to hold the Mountaineers at bay the entire game. Villanova Beats West Virginia on the Road (Philadelphia Inquirer) to move into a 1st place tie with Syracuse at 10-1 in the Big East, two games ahead of WVU at 8-3 in third place all alone.

Corey Fisher added 17 points and Antonio Pena had 10 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Villanova earned a split on their murderous Saturday/Monday road trip and will do it again this coming weekend, but at home, when they take on Providence Saturday afternoon and then Connecticut Monday night.

WVU’s 6-game Win Streak is Snapped (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) with the loss as the Atmopshere was Markedly Different in the Coliseum (Times West Virginian) compared to last week when Pittsburgh visited. Even with a crowd of 15,593 fans braving the snow and new security measures following the unruly display of previous games, the building was quiet during long stretches as the Wildcats led nealry wire to wire as the Battle of Top Five Teams was One-sided (Daily Mail) as the Mountaineers Misfire (Charleston Gazette), especually from beyond the arc, shooting just seven of 27 on three’s. WVU also was just 18 of 32 (56%) from the charity stripe, handcuffing any comeback hopes as an early 15-3 run got the visitors in front 21-10 and leading by as many as 13 in the first half. A few WVU runs brought them closer, but they could not get any closer than five the rest of the game.

‘Truck’ Bryant led the Mountaineers with 15 and Da’Sean Butler and devin Ebanks each scored 13. Bob Huggins’ team also got a spark from Casey Mitchell, who finished with 12 points in nine minutes. Mitchell had scored just three points over the last month (8 games) after being expected to help from the perimeter this season.

West Virginia will hit the road for a Friday night visit to Pittsburgh for a 9 PM Rivalry Week ‘Backyard Brawl.’ Following the incidents of last week when the two teams met, this could be one wild Friday night…
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Pittsburgh 77, Robert Morris 53

Pittsburgh picked up a tune-up win ahead of Friday’s match-up with the Mountaineers as Pitt Pulls Away from Robert Morris (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) using a 30-7 run in a 12-minute span that covered the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.

The win snapped a nine-game win streak for the Colonials as Pitt is 28-0 against Robert Morris and owns a 75-1 record against nonconference opponents at the Peterson Events Center.

The score was tied at 32-all before Pitt finished the half on a 7-1 run and then began the second half with a 23-6 run to push their lead to 62-39 as they neared the halfway mark of the 2nd half as Pitt Routs Robert Morris, 77-53 (Post-Gazette) in a match-up of neighboring schools.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 20 points and Jermaine Dixon scored 18 as the guard duo hit seven of 16 three’s between them. Junior Brad Wanamaker added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and a game-high four assits.

Pitt, 7-4 in the Big East, is tied with Georgetown in fourth place in the league standings. The win pushed the Panthers’ overall record to 18-6 ahead of Friday’s showdown with the third-place Mountaineers.
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TUESDAY’S BIG EAST GAMES:

Georgetown (7-4) at Providence (4-7), 7 PM.

–Georgetown Plays Host to Providence After Upset of Villanova (Washington Post)
–Freshman Council Wasting No Time making an Impact at PC (Providence Journal)
–Capsule Preview: Georgetown @ PC (Providence Journal)

The Hoyas look to avoid a letdown after their win over ‘Nova and avoid what happened last week when they followed up a big win over Duke with a home loss to USF in their very next game. The Friars are on a three-game losing streak and tonight launches a stretch of four games in a row against top 10 clubs. The good news is that three of them are at home…
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Caldwell @ Rutgers, 7:30 PM

–More than Two Decades in, Mark Corina Still Hoping to Build Caldwell College’s Profile (Star ledger)
–Rutgers’ Dane Miller Earns Big East’s Freshman of the Week (Star-Ledger)

The Scarlet Knights take a break fro mtheir Big East schedule to host lewr-level Caldwell College tonight at the RAC.
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MORE BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal reports that PC is Still Recruiting for Next Fall despite their current scholarship situation for the 2010-2011 season being full on paper. Providence welcomed John Wilkins, a 6-foot-9 native of Belgium who is now enrolled at Southeastern Iowa Community College, for a visit last weekend. Wilkins signed to attend Bradley back in the fall of 2008 but never enrolled there. Coaches from PC, Marquette, Kansas State, Tennessee and others have stopped by for a look according to his JUCO coach Terry Carroll. Wilkins is currently ineligible to play Juco ball because he appeared in five professional games in his native country four years ago, so he could have four years of eligibility at the 1-A level depending on the NCAA ruling regarding his play with professionals back home (see Deniz Kilicli).

Also on the PC radar are Rice HS big man Kadeem Jack and Bryon Allen, a 6-2 point guard at St. Thomas More in Connecticut.
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With Louisville coach Rick Pitino moving Terrence Jennings from the bench into the starting line-up, someone was the odd man out. In this case, Jared Swopshire lost his starting spot. However, it has been a Good Swap for the Cards as Swopshire has been Better as a Reserve (Louisville Courier-Journal) and his ability to accept the role has made for better team chemistry and frontcourt rotation.

Despite coming off the bench, Swopshire has played a team-high 66 minutes in the last two games, wins over Connecticut and Rutgers, averaging 11 points a game and 8.5 rebounds.
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It was quite a scene this weekend for a Super Win for Christ the King over Rice (NY Post) in a Nike sponsored event in front of a capacity crowd of 1,800 in the Christ the King gym in Middle Village, Queens.

Among the 1,800 in attendance for the high school contest according to the NY Post were Louisville coach Rick Pitino, Florida’s Billy Donovan and Knicks forward David Lee, who all sat courtside. The Knicks City Dancers entertained, Clyde Frazier tossed out a few of his trademarked terms over the PA and Funkmaster Flex and rapper Fabolous whipped the crowd in a frenzy at halftime.

Coaches were on hand to see Rice’s Kadeem Jack, who had to run to the game after being stuck in traffic with his mother. Rice scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter. CTK sophomore Omar Calhoun is also a recruit catching the eye of UL and others scored 11 and Jack’s Rice teammate Jermaine Sanders scored a game-high 20 points.

Contributor Zach Smart also informed NBE yesterday that coach Pitino stayed in the NY area and was at Mount Vernon High School on Monday afternoon checking out the action as Jabarie Hinds and his teammates took on rival New Rochelle. As reported by Adam Zagoria yesterday, Louisville is one of The Top Six Schools Recruiting Mount Vernon’s Hinds (ZagsBlog.com).
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The Weekly Golden Eagles Report compiled by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is always an info-filled look at the Marquette basketball program. Quietly, Buzz Williams’ quad has been one of the bigger surprises in the Big East and nationally with a 6-5 league record and 15-8 overall mark. MU has won four in a row and only faces one of the Big East’s nationally ranked teams the rest of the way in Pittsburgh, and that is a home game. For the fourth consecutive week, Marquette leads the nation in three-point accuracy at 42.4% (188 for 443), with Sacred Heart (42.0%), Utah State, Saint Mary’s and Tennessee Tech (41.6%) trailing.

Four conference wins in their last seven games would give MU at least 10 Big East wins for the fifth time in as many years as a Big East member. Pittsburgh is the only other team to have reached double digits in victories in each of the last four years.
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