Syracuse News

BIG EAST REPORT – 12/29/2011 – ORANGE STAY UNBEATEN; HOYAS PICK UP SIGNATURE WIN

Coming into their BIG EAST opener against Seton Hall, Jim Boeheim and the Syracause Orange knew they had to stop Pirate senior forward Herb Pope to keep SHU from having any hopes of upsetting the No. 1 team in the nation at the Carrier Dome. Mission accomplished for the Orange who moved to 14-0 with a 75-49 win last night.

“I thought our forwards did the best job all year of getting back in there and helping with him [Pope], and then Fab [Melo] and Baye [Keita] blocked a lot of shots,” said SU coach Jim Boeheim after the game.

Pope entered the contest averaging 20.3 points a game and 11.4 rebounds, but he was stymied inside by the Orange 2-3 zone defense and finished with just four points on 2-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds, while committing six turnovers and four fouls in 28 ineffective minutes.

“I thought we did a good job tonight interior on Pope and getting to their shooters,” said Beoehim.

Melo recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 blocks, also adding seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Dion Waiters was the high-scorer for the Orange with 15 points coming off the bench. The Orange, who lead the nation in steals with an 11.6 mark, had 17 steals
against the Pirates and they forced Kevin Willard’s club into 23 turnovers while only committing seven themselves.

Syracuse visits DePaul Sunday. Last year, SU beat the Blue Demons 107-59 at the Carrier Dome. It was the largest margin of victory in a conference game.

Seton Hall saw their eight-game win streak stopped with a thud, never challenging the top-ranked Orange, trailing 34-15 at the half and by as many as 33 in the second half. With 14 points, Jordan Theodore was the only Pirate to reach double figures in the loss.

The Hall hosts West Virginia Friday. The Pirates have lost six straight in the series. Their last win was 71-64 at home on Feb. 14, 2006.
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Georgetown lost an 11-point lead in the second half at Louisville, but regrouped to prevail 71-68, handing the Cards their first loss of the season.

Sophomore guard Markel Starks scored a career-high 20 points and freshman forward Otto Porter contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

“He hit some big shots for us tonight when we needed shots to be made,” Hoya head coach John Thompson III said of Starks. “He made some big plays and his defensive got better in the second half.”

Four freshmen saw action off the bench for Georgetown, led by Porter’s contributions. Jabril Trawick (9 points) Mikael Hopkins (2 points) and Greg Whittingham all made meaningful contributions as the Hoya bench outscored their Cardinals counterparts 25-17.

“It’s no doubt about that,” said Thompson about the key contributions of the four rookies. “Otto (Porter), Jabril (Trawick), Mikael (Hopkins) came in and gave us outstanding minutes. You say freshman class, and they are freshmen and this is their first BIG EAST experience, but they’ve been doing that since the summer. It’s a group that plays hard and competes.”

The Hoyas host Providence Saturday and will put their current nine-game winning streak on the line. GU has beaten the Friars in the last five meetings and holds a 31-16 advantage in BIG EAST regular-season play.

The Cardinals saw their 20-game home winning streak end with the loss. Kyle Kuric led the team with 17 points and guards Peyton Siva and Russ Smith added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Louisville will play at No. 3 Kentucky on Saturday, a tall order for the fourth-ranked Cards that Rick Pitino knows will greatly challenge his squad.

“Well, I think Kentucky is the better basketball team right now,” said Pitino. “Running up and down and trying to outscore Kentucky would be a futile attempt to try to get a ‘W.’ They are a very good team defensively and that causes a lot of offense so we’ve got to really study. It’s more about personnel than it is any sets.”
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Jeremy Lamb scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor in the victory at South Florida, 60-57. Lamb scored 16 points in the second half.

The game was the Huskies’ first on an away court this season and the first of a three-game suspension being served by coach Jim Calhoun. Associate head coach George Blaney took the controls and will do so again as UConn hosts St. John’s in Hartford on Saturday. The Huskies have dropped their last two meetings against the Red Storm after winning nine in a row.

Toarlyn Fitzpatrick recorded 14 points and game highs of 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss. Augustus Gilchrist added 12 points and five rebounds. Stan Heath’s club will look to bounce back and get their first conference win on Sunday when they host Rutgers. USF has won their last three home meetings against the Scarlet Knights.
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Senior Truck Bryant scored a career-high 34 points to lead West Virginia to an 83-69 victory over Villanova in the Big East opener for both teams last night at the WV Coliseum.

Kevin Jones, who suffered a cut near his right eye that required stitches, had 13 points and seven rebounds. Gary Browne came off the bench to score 11 points. Deniz Kilicli added 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

WVU plays at Seton Hall Friday. The Mountaineers won last year’s meeting 56-44 in Morgantown.

Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek each scored 20 points in the loss for ‘Nova.

The key stretch of the game came with 5:47 left and the score tied at 63 when Bryant hit two of three free throws to start a 10-2 spurt where WVU took control of the game for good. Browne followed with a three-pointer and then Bryant answered a Wayns three with one of his own. Brown capped off the run with a driving lay-up to make the score 73-65

The lead eventually swelled to as many as 16 in the last minute, making the final distance between the two teams a little deceiving.

“That’s the best 7-6 team there is in the country,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of Villanova. “I thought they were extremely physical.”

The Wildcats play Sunday at Marquette in their next outing, hoping to even their conference record.
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Thursday’s schedule shows three BIG EAST teams hosting non-conference opponents, all on national television. Rutgers battles No. 10/10 Florida on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. followed by Vanderbilt at Marquette. At 9 p.m., ESPNU has Cincinnati hosting Oklahoma at US Bank Arena.

Thursday, December 29
Florida at Rutgers – ESPN2…………………………………..7:00
–Former RU guard Mike ROsario might miss homecoming because of back injury

Oklahoma at Cincinnati USBA – ESPNU…………………….9:00
–The Bearcats host Oklahoma Thursday at US Bank Arena. Last season UC beat the Sooners 66-56 in Oklahoma City.

Vanderbilt at Marquette – ESPN2…………………………9:00
–In last year’s matchup against Vandy, MU lost 77-76 in Nashville.
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The 2012 BIG EAST Tournament promises to be one to remember. As usual, tickets will sellout, but fans can get yours early at the best prices by following the links below and get that special holiday gift for YOURSELF that you did not receive from your loved ones. Also, buy with our relationship with TicketNetwork and .

BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON TIPS OFF

Notre Dame and St. John’s began the BIG EAST portion of the 2011-12 season Tuesday with wins against Pittsburgh and Providence, respectively, on Tuesday night.

Notre Dame extended its homecourt winning streak to 28 games with last night’s win, 72-59 over No. 22 Pittsburgh. The Irish haven’t lost at Purcell Pavilion since Feb. 14, 2010, when they fell 69-68 to St. John’s.

Guard Alex Dragicevich scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Irish on Tuesday night. Dragicevich, who had scored just six points in six previous BIG EAST games before this season, scored 17 of his 22 after halftime, which included making all three of his attempts beyond the three-point arc.

The Irish rallied from a 26-25 halftime deficit by shooting 72% (18-25) after intermission.

“I have been a part of a lot of fun games here,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said after the game. “But this one ranks right up there with the best. To see us play with that swagger in the second half, I guess I just wasn’t sure this group was ready for that.”

Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins also reached double figured for Notre Dame, scoring 15 points a piece. Grant added a game-high nine assists and Jack Cooley helped ND stay close on the boards, grabbing 14 shots off the backboards to go with his eight points.

“We have a week to practice and after a win you always have a little more juice,” said Brey. “It’s just great to be 1-0 in this league, especially at home, that feels good. It’s something to build on and God knows we needed something to build on.”

The Irish play the first of back-to-back road games with a Jan. 4 visit to Cincinnati. Notre Dame has won three straight against the Bearcats, including a pair of wins last season.

For Pitt it was their second consecutive loss after falling to non-conference opponent Wagner on Dec. 23 at the Peterson Events Center.

“We need to play better, we will play better and that’s what we have to work on,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said following last night’s loss. “We are a team that has a lot of things to improve on and we will get there and we know we’ve got things to work on.”

Sophomore Talib Zanna led the Panthers with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Seniors Ashton Gibbs and Nasir Robinson each added 12. Gibbs passed current Pitt assistant coach and former point guard Brandin Knight for 12th place on Pittsburgh’s career scoring chart (1,443 points).

Junior guard Tray Woodall returned to the lineup after missing six games with a groin/abdominal injury, but did not score in 18 minutes.

Last night’s loss was just the seventh time in Jamie Dixon’s nine-year tenure that Pitt had lost back-to-back games. Pitt will try to avoid a third-straight defeat when, like the Irish, they take on Cincinnati in their next game. Pittsburgh has won its last six meetings against Cincinnati. The Panthers are 6-1 against the Bearcats in regular-season BIG EAST play. They will host Mick Cronin’s club at the Peterson Events Center on New Year’s Day.
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Freshman Moe Harkless scored 32 points in his BIG EAST debut to lead St. John’s past Providence last night, 91-67, at Carnesecca Arena. Harkless’ total is the most by a freshman in his first BIG EAST game in league history. The previous mark of 30 points was held by Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy and Georgetown’s Allen Iverson.

“I didn’t even know that,” Harkless said following the game on his record-setting performance. “That’s an honor to even be mentioned with those guys. Being able to break the record is a great feeling.”

For the seventh consecutive game the Redstorm was coached by associate head coach Mike Dunlap as Steve Lavin continues his recovery from prostate surgery.

“We were able to play a team that came in pretty hot and has played some good people, so we are very pleased with that win,” said Dunlap. “We’ve still got to work Amir [Garrett] in and now we have a seven-man rotation.”

D’Angelo Harrison added 25 points and 7 assists in the win and Phil Greene also finished in double figures with 12. In all, SJU freshmen combined to score 77 of the 91 points put on the scoreboard for the ‘Storm.

Up next for the Redstorm is a New Year’s Eve date with defending national champion UConn. St. John’s has won its last two meetings
against Connecticut.

The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for the Friars, who also had their worst defensive effort of the season, a trait that has plagued them in recent BIG EAST seasons. SJU scored 91 points and shot 56.5% from the field. PC also hurt themselves by turning the ball over 20 times. All in all it was not the performance Friar head coach Ed Cooley was expecting from his team.

“Our kids were just pathetic today in every imaginable way,” said Cooley afterwards. “I thought we were very selfish today. We weren’t tough at all. We just weren’t tough. I could take losing games. As a coach you’re going to lose a lot of games and you’re going to win some games. But you just have to show that passion to compete and we didn’t show that tonight. I’m very disappointed with our execution and our competitive level.”

Gerard Coleman scored 20 points against the Red Storm for Providence, which will look to avoid an 0-2 BIG EAST start when they travel to Washington DC to take on Georgetown at the Verizon Center Saturday. PC has not won at Georgetown since March of 2005.
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Tonight’s BIG EAST Schedule:
Wednesday, December 28
GEORGETOWN at LOUISVILLE – ESPN2……………………….7:00
SETON HALL at SYRACUSE………………………………..7:00
VILLANOVA at WEST VIRGINIA…………………………….7:00
CONNECTICUT at SOUTH FLORIDA…………………………..9:00

Eight more teams begin BIG EAST play Wednesday, including tough tests for the league’s two unbeaten clubs. Top-ranked Syracuse takes a 13-0 record into a 7 p.m. game against 11-1 Seton Hall at the Carrier Dome. While the Orange and Pirates split their two contests last season, the 90-68 drubbing SHU put on SU at the Dome last season will be certainly on the mind of the Syracuse players. No. 4/4 Louisville (12-0) hosts No. 12/12 Georgetown (10-1) on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. U of L is 2-4 against the Hoyas in BIG EAST play.

West Virginia and Villanova also meet at 7 p.m. in Morgantown, W.Va. The Wildcats hold a 10-9 edge in the series in conference regular-season play. No. 9/9 Connecticut plays its first road game of the season when it visits USF at 9 p.m. The Huskies will be without coach Jim Calhoun, who begins an NCAA-imposed three-game suspension. UConn has an 8-1 edge in its all-time series against the Bulls.
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The 2012 BIG EAST Tournament promises to be one to remember. As usual, tickets will sellout, but fans can get yours early at the best prices by following the links below and get that special holiday gift for YOURSELF that you did not receive from your loved ones. Also, buy with our relationship with TicketNetwork and .

MERNAGHS WEEKLY WATCH: TOP 3 PLUS SOME OTHER NOTES

1. Kentucky

The reason I had Kentucky #1 going into the season was on full display last night against St. John’s.

Yes the Wildcats have the most talent.

Yes, they have great athleticism and skill on offense.

But did you catch what they were able to do defensively?

Our Good Lord, Yahweh, Sweet Jesus, whoever Atheists worship (Bill Maher?) and Allah couldn’t have scored on Kentucky last night.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Anthony Davis bring an impact on D and the rest of the Wildcats all follow suit to avoid having to hang their heads in shame (or hear Cal call them bad names). The amount of late clock situations that they forced the Johnnies into was ridiculous, and yes I know the undermanned group from Jamaica was trying to control their pace some, but there’s a big difference between that and not being able to get a shot off on multiple possessions.
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CANTOR: BOEHEIM IS OUR COACH

Amidst growing calls for Syracuse University head men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim to be suspended, resign or be fired while an investigation of child molestation allegations against his former longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine ensues, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor gave the Hall of Fame coach a vote of confidence on Tuesday.

“Coach Boeheim is our coach,” Cantor said emerging from an economic development conference with state officials the Associated Press reported.

“Coach Boeheim is our coach; he’s getting the team ready tonight,” Cantor said. “We’re very pleased with what he said Sunday night, and we stand by him.”
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Mernagh’s Nightly Nuggets: Oakland/UNLV/Boeheim

Star of the Night: Reggie Hamilton Oakland

Tennessee couldn’t stop Oakland guard Reggie Hamilton, who gave the Vols a sour taste, not to mention a career-high 35 points, in road game that Counzo Martin is on record saying he never would’ve scheduled had it been up to him. Martin’s crew was just in Maui about 105 hours ago and has since played two games, both on the road, since returning from paradise. They will face Pitt in the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge this weekend. But tonight belongs to Greg Kampe’s Oakland Grizzlies, and their sharpshooter Hamilton. The O-Rena was rocking and one of the best smaller college atmospheres was on display for the entire country. Oakland has a program, in fact they’ve had one for a number of years now. They also just made it damn-near impossible to get any other BCS league school to come to Suburban Detroit to play them in the future. This was Oakland’s second win in as many seasons over Tennessee. The final was 89-81 and Drew Valentine added 15 points, Laval Lucas-Perry 14 and Travis Bader 13 for Oakland (4-2).

Belated Stars of Saturday Night: UNLV

Anytime you beat North Carolina it’s a huge win. When you beat the #1 ranked Tar Heels that are being proclaimed as the second coming of the Dream Team by some, it’s momentous. Oscar Bellfield (16 points and 9 assists) and Chace Stanback (28 points and 10 rebounds) were both instrumental, but the truth is the entire Rebels rotation contributed to their 90-80 victory in the Desert. Great win for Dave Rice in his first season at the helm, while a tip of the hat also goes to Lon Kruger for leaving the deck stacked in Sin City before leaving for Oklahoma. Shabazz Muhammad, the nation’s #1 ranked recruit and Bishop Gorman star, watched the upset from a seat in Orleans Arena.

Great Win of the Night: Xavier

Chris Mack’s squad went into Vanderbilt and won in OT after Mark Lyons made a great attacking play to send the game into the extra session.

Good Win of the Night: WVU

The Mountaineers drilled Akron but don’t get it twisted, while it was a really good win, and their second strong performance in a row, the Zips were without suspended star point guard Alex Abreu. He’s a difference maker for Akron. Still, props to Team Huggins — Jabarie Hinds, as we well knew, is a player player.

Goat of the Season (and not in the greatest of all time way): Jim Boeheim

The longtime pompous and arrogant Syracuse coach has done a lot of things over the years to prove to the discerning eye that he’s just another big-time coach living in the fantasy bubble that achieving success in places like Syracuse produces. Coming out in defense of longtime assistant Bernie Fine when Fine was being accused of molestation by a former ball boy for his program was okay, if that had been all Boeheim did. Instead he attacked the alleged victims, calling them liars and saying it was a scheme, a money grab. Boeheim said he’s known Fine for 35 years etc etc. Well, with the release of the tape of Fine’s wife openly discussing the alleged molestation with the victim it seems as if Boeheim really didn’t know his friend that well. Boeheim released a statement apologizing for his remarks (sort of) but I missed the part where he apologized for calling alleged victims of sexual assault, things that allegedly started happening when they were defenseless boys, liars. The victims coming out against Fine are growing in numbers. Boeheim’s words were unforgivable — he did exactly what bullies do. Then again, we’ve come to expect that kind of behavior from him.

NBE PODCAST: PREVIEWING VA TECH/SYRACUSE MATCH-UP

ESPN’s ‘Feast Week’ kicks it into another gear tonight when the Dick’s Sporting Goods Preseason NIT Tip-off hits Madison Square Garden for the semifinals this evening. Up first in the two-game doubleheader from the World’s Most Famous Arena is Stanford and Oklahoma State at 7 PM and the nightcap will feature former BIG EAST rivals, and soon to be ACC rivals, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

Both the Orange and Hokies are off to dominating starts. Syracuse is 4-0 and overwhelming their opponents by an average score of 89.8 to 57.5 a game.

Through the first four games James Southerland and Dion Waiters lead SU in scoring at 13.8 points a game. The Orange have 10 players averaging at least 12 minutes and four points a game.

Some have questiones if the Orange have a true ‘go-to’ player, a notion coach Jim Boeheim scoffs at pointing to the team’s tremendous depth as reason a designated go-to player is not needed. In the last two games the SU bench has outscored their counterparts from Albany and Colgate 109-20.

Virginia Tech has been led by Dorenzo Hudson’s 19.3 points a game in their 3-0 start, which has included wins over ETSU, Monmouth and FIU. Freshman Dorian FInney-Smith leads the team in rebounding (11/game) and assists (4.3) in getting his college career off to a strong start.

In today’s NBE Podcast below, NBE’s Raphielle Johnson welcomes Matthew Worner to the show to preview tonight’s game and talk VA Tech sports with a big weekend ahead for Hokie sports teams. Matthew is the Virginia Tech blogger for SCACCHoops.com and we appreciate him taking the time this morning…

Orange fans, get your 2011-2012 season tickets below:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE NOTES – AROUND THE BIG EAST 11.16.2011

BIG EAST teams are a combined 31-2 in the early going this season, with both losses coming yesterday.

West Virginia got the day started off early for BIG EAST watchers with a 10 AM game hosting Kent State as part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-ff Marathon. The young Mountaineers fell to one of the MAC pre-season favorites 70-60 in Morgantown.

WVU had a 5-point lead at the half, but it quickly disappeared and Rob Senderoff earned his first win as the new head coach of Kent Statet. A 19-4 run midway through the second half seized control of the game for the Golden Flashes. Bob Huggins did not want to use youth as an excuse.

“We throw the ball to them; we throw the ball to them for layups, we don’t get back and today it wasn’t just the freshmen,” said Huggins to msnsportsnet.com. “Today we had seniors who didn’t do their job.”
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2011-2012 BIG EAST PREVIEW – PART I – TWO THAT SHOULD WIN IT

By Ray Mernagh

I have a job separate from this one that, while not as fulfilling, happens to pay my mortgage every month.

At that job there’s a lady from West Virginia, Maggie who, aside from being a wonderful person and a dear friend, is a huge fan of Big East basketball. At least five times a day, like clockwork, Maggie will say “I love the Big East Ray, why do they have to do this?” over the cubicle wall that makes eye contact between us impossible unless we’re both standing.

“It’s dead Maggie,” I’ll say. “It ain’t right, but it’s dead.” And then I’ll hear the reservation sink in through her sigh that travels over the wall…until she says it again a few hours later. I feel like a cold hearted bastard telling a little kid there’s no Santa Claus. But as we all know, Big East basketball is, within the next few years, dead as we know it.

It’s a funny thing too, because Maggie isn’t talking about Big East football — although she and her husband Terry never miss a WVU football game. Nope, she’s talking about hoops, Huggs, and all the magical sh!t that goes with that combination when you place it within the Big East — New York City, Madison Square Garden at Big East Tournament time and the sea of Mountaineer fans that love the fact that they’re a part of such a fantastic league.
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NORTH CAROLINA DOMINATES ACC PRESEASON POLLING

Roy Williams knows people have been talking about how good his team is going to be this season. Time is nearing for his Tar Heels to show it on the court.

Yesterday’s voting by media members at the ACC’s annual Operation Basketball on Wednesday in Charlotte only demonstrated how dominant many expect UNC to be this season as North Carolina was selected first in the poll, garnering 57 of the possible 59 first place votes and 706 total points.

North Carolina sophomore forward Harrison Barnes was selected as the preseason Player of the Year and joins teammates John Henson and Tyler Zeller on the preseason all-conference team.

Duke was selected second in the preseason media poll, with the other two first place votes and 649 points. Blue Devils’ freshman Austin RIvers was pegged as the preseason Rooke of the Year in the voting.

The rest of the voting rounded out in this order:

3) Florida State, 560 points
4) Virginia, 463 points
5) Miami, 455 points
6) Virginia Tech, 411 points
7) Clemson, 403 points
8} NC State, 316 points
9) Maryland, 264 points
10) Georgia Tech, 176 points
11) Wake Forest, 109 points
12) Boston College, 90 points

Miami’s Malcolm Grant, Seth Curry of Duke and Mike Scott of Virginia joined the trio of Tar Heels on the preseason all-conference team.

The word from media day yesterday was the ACC is beginning internal discussions over changes it will make to the conference tournament when Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league. Like the BIG EAST which spreads their end of the season conference festival over five days to include all 16 teams, the ACC will likely follow a similar format to include all the programs.

ACC commissioner John Swofford also told media members it’s likely the ACC will go to an 18-game regular-season conference schedule when the league expands, which might not be until 2014-15 if Syracuse and Pitt are held to the 27-month exit notice by the BIG EAST.

RANDOM BIG EAST REALIGNMENT RAMBLINGS

By Raphielle Johnson

Wednesday was a big day for the Big East Conference with Men’s Basketball Media Day being held at the New York Athletic Club with Madison Square Garden still being renovated. Of course the topic du jour had little to do with the upcoming action on the courts around the league but rather what the next step will be for a conference hit hard by realignment. Tuesday’s teleconference with commissioner John Marinatto, which was supposed to clear up matters and leave this stage to the players and coaches, did little in that regard.

Media from around the country wanted to hear directly from the coaches how the lack of stability is affecting them from a recruiting standpoint as well as what options may be available to them in the near future. Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey essentially said that regardless of what may happen (Big East expansion to 12 football-playing members or a Big 12 expansion that includes current Big East members) the Irish will be alright, which is to be expected of a school with such a storied football program.

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino minced no words on the subject, saying that while he couldn’t imagine the Big East without charter member Syracuse he could imagine the conference without Pittsburgh. And then came the unfortunate analogy that sparked numerous “pot meet kettle” reactions given the coach’s own issue a couple summers ago.
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BIG EAST COACHES’ POLL RESULTS

From the BIG EAST Basketball Men’s Media Day in NYC:

Big East preseason coaches’ poll (First place votes in parenthesis):

1. Connecticut (7) 209 points
(tie) Syracuse (5) 209 points
3. Louisville (3) 201 points
4. Pittsburgh (1) 188 points
5. Cincinnati 169 points
6. Marquette 155 points
7. West Virginia 132 points
8. Villanova 127 points
9. Notre Dame 114 points
10. Georgetown 104 points
11. Rutgers 75 points
12. St. John’s 71 points
13. Seton Hall 56 points
14. South Florida 43 points
15. Providence 40 points
16. DePaul 27 points

Preseason awards:

Big East Preseason Player of the Year: Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh

Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year: Andre Drummond, Connecticut

Big East Preseason First Team: Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh; Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut; Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette; Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame; Kris Joseph, Syracuse; Kevin Jones, West Virginia.

Big East Preseason Second Team: Yancy Gates, Cincinnati; Alex Oriahki, Connecticut; Peyton Siva, Louisville; Scoop Jardine, Syracuse; Maalik Wayns, Villanova.

Big East Preseason Honorable Mention: Andre Drummond, Connecticut; Shabazz Napier, Connecticut; Cleveland Melvin, DePaul; Jae Crowder, Marquette; Augustus Gilchrist, USF

Today is only media day, but you can get your 2012 BIG EAST Tournament Tickets for yourself or that special fan this upcoming holiday season. The tournament is certain to sell-out to the general public, but all season great seats at great prices will be available through our 2012 BIG EAST Tournament Page. You can begin browsing below:

MERNAGH: THIS BIG EAST MEANT A LOT…SO DON’T SAY IT DIDN’T

by Ray Mernagh

I’m not sure what to make of this feeling that’s come over me after allowing all this conference realignment mess to sink in. After all, my initial reaction (Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes) was so mature, so enlightened, that it made me feel what’s best described as false pride about how adult my response was. Then a funny thing happened on my journey to accepting this with a rational level of, dare I say, Bilas-like comportment — I got stuck.

I couldn’t write a damn thing about the upcoming season, completely paralyzed regarding any news coming out of the entire world of college basketball. In fact I think I conned myself into thinking it was just my extraordinary amount of work on other sports the last few weeks (freelance variety) that had kept me from my usual barrage of words this time of year.

But that was just me kidding myself.

Denial.

Then Thursday night, while watching college football of all things, it hit me.

This hurts.

I mean, it’s ridiculous to blow up this conference.

Nobody really knows what the end game will be here but one thing is obvious — the Big East that we’ve known for the last several years is soon to be no longer.
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CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

By Ray Mernagh

Talk about a no news weekend with Big East basketball huh?

Yes, that first sentence is dripping with sarcasm.

As we all know by now Pitt and Syracuse have jumped to the ACC. UCONN and Rutgers are probably next. West Virginia, rest assured, has some plans of their own.

Without a doubt it’s the end of something very special. The end of an era in which Big East Basketball was synonymous with best/greatest/elite or whatever term you choose to go with to describe the league that last season saw it’s 9th place finisher win the National Title. Even Coach K, now that he knows Pitt and Syracuse (and UConn?) are coming, has admitted that maybe the ACC wasn’t as great as his comments the last few years would have led us to believe.
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2011-2012 BIG EAST TEAM CAPSULE: SYRACUSE

Syracuse Orange
Head Coach: Jim Boeheim (36th year at Syracuse, 856-301 record)
2010-2011: 12-6 BIG EAST, 27-8 overall NCAA 2nd Round

Returning Players:
- Sr. F Kris Joseph (14.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
- Sr. G Scoop Jardine (12.5 ppg, 5.9 apg)
- Jr. G Brandon Triche (11.1 ppg)
- Jr. F James Southerland (4.9 ppg)
- Jr. F Mookie Jones (3.5 ppg)
- So. G Dion Waiters (6.6 ppg)
- So. F C.J. Fair (6.4 ppg)
- So. C Fab Melo (2.3 ppg)
- So. C Baye Moussa Keita (2.2 ppg)

Incoming Players:
- Fr. C Rakeem Christmas (Philadelphia, PA)
- Fr. G Michael Carter-Williams (Hamilton, MA)
- Fr. G Trevor Cooney (Wilmington, DE)

Players Moved On:
- Rick Jackson (Graduation)
- DaShonte Riley (Transfer)

Stat Notes:
- The Orange won seven of their final nine games in 2010-2011 with their only losses coming to UConn in overtime and Marquette in the NCAA Tournament.
- Jim Boeheim’s squad returns every major contributor from last year except big man Rick Jackson, who averaged 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game and started every contest since his junior season.
- Last season Syracuse did not lose a game to a non-BIG EAST foe. The Orange was undefeated in non-conference games and their season-ending NCAA Tournament loss came at the hands of conference rival Marquette.

Star Watch:
- Scoop Jardine was chosen as a member of the USA team for the World University Games in China and should be the leader of a crowded Syracuse backcourt. Jardine came into his own last season as a scorer and a distributor and should be productive at either guard spot.

Newcomer to Watch:
- Every player on Boeheim’s loaded roster will have to earn playing time and minutes will be precious but the 6-9 Rakeem Christmas is talented and athletic enough to help out on the interior early on, especially if sophomore center Fab Melo’s struggles continue.

Notes: The Orange will take part in the Preseason NIT (11/14-11/16, 11/23, 11/25), play at N.C. State (12/17), and host Florida in the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge (12/2). Follow the link HERE for tickets.

– team capsule compiled by Brian Batko

2011-12 BIG EAST CONFERENCE COMPOSITE MEN’S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

The BIG EAST basketball conference released their 2011-2012 composite Men’s Basketball Schedule this afternoon. All 144 conference games will be televised either nationally or be ESPN regional. With an incredible 91 percent of all conference games in 2011-12 including a team that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, more than half of the league games will be televised nationally by ESPN or CBS.

It is the fifth consecutive season that all 144 league games will be televised.

“Last year’s historic success proved once again that the BIG EAST Conference continues to be among the most competitive conferences in the country from top to bottom,” said BIG EAST Commissioner John Marinatto in a statement released by the league today. “With a record 11 teams earning their way into last year’s NCAA Championship, our coaches and players reaffirmed the fact that BIG EAST basketball and excellence are synonymous. Our schools continue to take great advantage of the unparalleled media exposure they are afforded annually from both ESPN and CBS Sports – which is one of the reasons why we are confident that the 2011-12 season will be as exciting as any in our history.”

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HOOP GROUP END OF SUMMER CLASSIC RUNDOWN – 17U EDITION

By Brian Bosworth

The 17U brackets at Hoop Group’s End of Summer Classic featured some familiar names along with some newcomers as many young players were playing up. The NJ Playaz were the big winners capping their successful summer with a triple overtime victory in the platinum bracket final over New Heights. Players from those teams and others stood out on this day.

Savon Goodman (NJ Playaz/2012) – verbal to Villanova – Goodman had one of the best performances I’ve seen out of him all summer on the last day of the live period. He was up to his usual tricks of cleaning both backboards, running the floor hard, and finishing with authority at the rim. Those skills have defined his game and will make him a fan favorite at Villanova. Today he mixed in some perimeter skills that I hadn’t previously seen from him. Goodman knocked down numerous jump shots including some corner 3s and once he established the jumper used a shot fake to explode past defenders to the rim. If he can continue improving his perimeter game and become a full time small forward, Goodman would jump his game up to a different level. He has NBA athleticism but only the size to contribute at small forward at that level so it will be interesting to track his progress in this area.
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NOW A SENIOR, SCOOP JARDINE HOPES TO GO OUT ON TOP AT SYRACUSE

Philly native continues to improve, on and off the court, each year at SU

By Lauren Kirschman

Each year of his Syracuse career, Scoop Jardine worked on developing a different aspect of his game.

One year, he simply focused on improving himself off the court by eating healthy and going to sleep on time. College athletes usually don’t concentrate on honing those skills, but Jardine said making the effort helped his game.

All those years of work paid off, as Jardine is ready to step in as the leader of the Orange for his senior season after scoring 12.5 points and a dishing out a team-leading 5.9 assists per game last year.
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2011-2012 BIG EAST HOME & HOME GAMES REVEALED

The official release from the BIG EAST is expected today, but main television partner ESPN has the information already and Andy Katz posted this summary on the college nation blog earlier this morning:

Cincinnati: Villanova, Marquette, St. John’s

Last season: DePaul, Georgetown, St. John’s
Finish: 26-9, 11-7 (NCAA)
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Connecticut: Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Syracuse

Last season: Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame
Finish: 32-9, 9-9 (NCAA)
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DePaul: Louisville, St. John’s, Seton Hall

Last season: Cincinnati, South Florida, West Virginia
Finish: 7-24, 1-17
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Georgetown: Marquette, Providence, St. John’s

Last season: Cincinnati, St. John’s, Syracuse
Finish: 21-11, 10-8 (NCAA)
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Louisville: Pitt, Syracuse, DePaul

Last season: Connecticut, Providence, West Virginia
Finish: 25-10, 12-6 (NCAA)
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Marquette: Cincinnati, Georgetown, Villanova

Last season: Connecticut, Notre Dame, Seton Hall
Finish: 22-15, 9-9 (NCAA)
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Notre Dame: Connecticut, Rutgers, West Virginia

Last season: Connecticut, Marquette, St. John’s
Finish: 27-7, 14-4 (NCAA)
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Pittsburgh: Louisville, South Florida, West Virginia

Last season: South Florida, Villanova, West Virginia
Finish: 28-6, 15-3 (NCAA)
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Providence: Georgetown, South Florida, Syracuse

Last season: Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida
Finish: 15-17, 4-14
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Rutgers: Notre Dame, Seton Hall, West Virginia

Last season: Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova
Finish: 15-17, 5-13
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St. John’s: Cincinnati, DePaul, Georgetown

Last season: Cincinnati, Georgetown, Notre Dame
Finish: 21-12, 12-6 (NCAA)
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Seton Hall: Connecticut, DePaul, Rutgers

Last season: Marquette, Rutgers, Syracuse
Finish: 13-18, 7-11
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South Florida: Pitt, Providence, Villanova

Last season: DePaul, Pitt, Providence
Finish: 10-23, 3-15
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Syracuse: Connecticut, Providence, Louisville

Last season: Georgetown, Seton Hall, Villanova
Finish: 27-8, 12-6 (NCAA)
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Villanova: Marquette, South Florida, Cincinnati

Last season: Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse
Finish: 21-12, 9-9
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West Virginia: Pitt, Notre Dame, Rutgers

Last season: DePaul, Louisville, Pitt
Finish: 21-12, 11-7 (NCAA)
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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (6/29/2011)

College basketball is a year-round sport. In the summer there is news of players coming and going from programs to keep track of, a busy recruiting season and more and more summer leagues that offer the players a chance to stay sharp against high-level competition. While many incoming freshmen just celebrated their high school graduation in the last few weeks and even days, many are already on a college campus and competing in the summer leagues and attending classes with their new teammates.

Today we take a quick run through some of the latest stories in the BIG EAST that touch on each of those subjects…

In Mike Helfgot’s Recruiting Notes in the Chicago Tribune there is an update on 6-foot-2 rising junior Jaylon Tate, who recently confirmed rumors he will be transferring from De La Salle High School to Chicago Simeon. At Simeon Tate will join a loaded roster that includes classmates Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn and senior Steve Taylor. All four players are considered sure-fire high-major recruits.

As for Tate, Helfgot reports that has offers from Northwestern, Providence and Xavier, according to his mother, Arisa Johnson, with several other high-majors such as DePaul, Marquette, Tennessee, Florida State and, as of this week, UCLA, expressing serious interest.
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BIG EAST/SEC CHALLENGE MATCH-UPS & SCHEDULE

(release per SEC conference)

The Southeastern Conference will match up against the Big East Conference for 12 games over three days in early December for the Big East/SEC Challenge. Every SEC member will be a part of the event while 12 of the 16 Big East schools will participate. Six of the games will be played at SEC home arenas while six will be played at home facilities for Big East schools. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 12 games of the three-day event.

This year’s event features the defending national champion (Connecticut), another Final Four participant (Kentucky) and an Elite Eight team (Florida) from last year’s NCAA Tournament. Nine of the schools are ranked in an early preseason top 25 by ESPN.com’s Andy Katz, including seven of the top 15 teams: No. 2 Kentucky, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 6 Connecticut, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 9 Louisville, No. 12 Florida and No. 14 Alabama.

Last year the SEC finished with a 3-1 record in the annual event. Arkansas and Kentucky earned victories over Seton Hall and No. 23 Notre Dame, respectively, on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in Louisville, Ky. Tennessee upset No. 3 Pittsburgh while Auburn fell to Rutgers at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Dec. 11. In the event of a 6-6 tie this year, the Challenge trophy will remain with the conference that won the previous year.

This is the fifth year that the SEC and Big East have played each other as a part of an in-season event with the overall series tied 8-8. Previously known as the SEC/Big East Invitational, the first four years of the event (2007-2010) featured four matchups between the two conferences from two neutral sites.

The event title will alternate to the SEC/Big East Challenge in 2012 and be played Thursday, Nov. 29 through Saturday, Dec. 1. SEC teams will alternate home and away games.

Marquette, Notre Dame, South Florida and Villanova are not part of the 12-team field for the BIG EAST in 2011.

2011 BIG EAST/SEC CHALLENGE (times and networks are to be determined)

-Thursday, Dec. 1:
Georgetown at Alabama
Providence at South Carolina
St. John’s at Kentucky
Ole Miss at DePaul

-Friday, Dec. 2:
Auburn at Seton Hall
Florida at Syracuse
Cincinnati at Georgia
Vanderbilt at Louisville

-Saturday, Dec. 3:
Arkansas at Connecticut
West Virginia at Mississippi State
LSU at Rutgers
Pittsburgh at Tennessee

Lose the challenge to the SEC and the BIG EAST might be in need of looking into payday loans to build some conference equity come NCAA Tournament time!

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