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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/21/2009)

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It was a busy weekend during a BUSY time of year. Today, our first order of business is to run down the action of the 16 Big East teams as 15 of them were in action in 16 games over the Saturday/Sunday period with South Florida playing twice in Las Vegas. Tonight, Providence (the lone team not in action over the weekend) hits the court as does St. John’s who will be looking for a Holoday Festival title at Madison Square Garden.

In other action, upsets continued as Seton Hall and Georgetown were both removed from the ranks of the unbeaten on their home floors this weekend. In the case of the Hoyas, it was in a rare game in their on campus gym. For SHU, it was with the reinforcements they have been eagerly awaiting.

Ater Majok made his long-awaited debut and Reggie Reddign returned to action this weekend as well. Cincinnati has a couple players trying to work their way back into the good graces of Mick Cronin while Jim Calhoun had some words for a few of his big men after yesterday’s contest. It looks like Rutgers has a season-ending injury on their hands and Huggy Bear is looking a little grumpy today.

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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Cincinnati
-The Bearcats rebounded from back-to-back losses earlier in the week (Sunday at Xavier, Wednesday at UAB) by blitzing Lipscomb (4-6), 80-52, at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday. Freshman Lance Stephenson led all scorers with 19 points.

A couple things jumped out of the boxscore. The first was Deonta Vaughn’s shooting struggles continued as the senior was just two of nine from the field while missing seven of his eight three-point attempts. The second, Yancy Gates played just four minutes.

Vaughn started at point guard and did finish with seven assists as Cashmere Wright played just nine minutes in the game, all in the second half. Gates did not play at all in the second half and did not score or grab a rebound.

“He didn’t get back on defense, didn’t get a rebound, and he didn’t post up,” Cronin said of Gates who averages 12 points and seven rebounds a game as Cronin’s Message Speaks Loudly (Cincinnati Enquirer) with Big East play around the corner.

UC has their final pre-conference tuneup Tuesday night when they host Winthrop.
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Connecticut
-The Huskies had an 11 day break following their 64-61 loss to Kentucky and it took a little while for the UConn Men Shake off the Rust (Waterbury Rep-Am) as Stanley Robinson Gives Flat Huskies a Spark in Win Over Central Florida (TheDay.com) on Sunday afternoon.

Robinson scored 26 points on nine of 13 shooting from the field to lead UConn to a 60-51 victory over UCF. The game grated on the nerves of coach Jim Calhoun who watched the Huskies score just 20 points in the first half and trail 25-20 at intermission. Robinson’s high-flying alley-oop dunk in the second half seemed to awaken the team and crowd enough to earn the win.

The game marked the anticiapted debut of freshman forward Ater Majok after a year and a half of wait. The 6-foot-10 forward started, played 16 minutes, and finished with one point and three rebounds as Majok Struggles in Debut (TheDay.com) including being berated by coach Calhoun heading to a timeout for all to hear in a quiet XL Center.

“Get the (expletive) out!” Calhoun screamed.

Majok was not the only Husky starter struggling or catching Calhoun’s wrath. Freshman center Alex Oriakhi was 0-1 from the field and 0-1 from the foul line with just two rebounds before fouling out in 24 minutes.

“Alex doesn’t want the ball,” said the coach as Calhoun Questions Oriakhi’s Desire (Hartford Courant). “He made a decision a while ago that he’s a conscientious objector. He doesn’t want to score. Even rebounding, he’s decided after averaging 11 rebounds for the first five games that he’s probably not going to get a rebound, either. He was lousy today, had no energy whatsoever.”

Happy Holidays UConn Huskies! It should make for an intense week of practice as UConn faces Maine Tuesday and Iona Sunday ahead of their conference opener 12/30 at Cincinnati.
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DePaul
-Following their embarrasing loss Wednesday night to American, the Blue Demons rebounded on Saturday to defeat Texas State (3-8) by the score of 86-69.

Will Walker led the way with 23 points and Devin Hill and Mike Stovall each scored 19, giving Jerry Wainwright’s club a much needed lift offensively while Mac Koshwal is still out with a foot injury.

Stovall, who had not scored in double figures once in the first 10 games this season, played all 40 minutes and added nine rebounds, six assists and six steals (along with five turnovers) to a full state sheet.

The Blue Demons finish their pre-conference slate with a trip to florida to take on Florida Gulf Coast (3-6) Tuesday. They will open Big East play at Pittsburgh 12/28.
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Georgetown
-It was deja vu all over again with the Hoyas hosting Old Dominion on campus at McDonough Arena. Just like in 2006, when Old Dominion upset the Hoyas 75-62, ODU did it again, this time beating the nationally ranked Hoyas 61-57.

With the nation’s capitol being snowed in by a blizzard, 2,500 fans packed McDonough to see Georgetown Upset (Washington Post) and suffer their first loss of the season.

Greg Monroe had 15 points and 7 rebounds to lead Georgetown in the loss.

The Hoyas host Harvard this Wednesay and then ring in the New Year with their Big East opener on New Year’s Eve by hosting St. John’s.
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Louisville
-The cards seem to be getting back on track and their 102-75 win Saturday over Western Kentucky is a pretty good indication things are settling back down after dropping three of four earlier in the non-conference schedule.

Against WKU, senior guards Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa paced a balanced UL attack that saw six players score in double figures and 12 overall score with 17 points a piece. Samardo Samuels added 14 points and nine rebounds as a Press Change Helps UL Turn on the Heat Against WKU (Louisville Courier-Journal).

Rick Pitino’s squad will host Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday and Radford on Sunday before their 12/30 Big East opener with South Florida.
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Marquette
-The Golden Eagles played their first game following Jeronne Maymon’s departure and dispatched North Florida (1-7) by the score of 78-51. The win helps MU rebound after droping three of their previous four contests.

Junior Jimmy Butler had a game-high 21 points and Joseph Fulce added 13 points and 10 rebounds as the junior, playing an expanded role in the wake of Maymon’s unexpected departure from the team earlier in the week, Fulce Finds His Way to Play (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) by posting career highs in points and rebounds in his 23 minutes of action.

Lazar Hayward also scored 13 points as the Golden Eagles finish the pre-conference schedule by hosting Presbyterian on December 27th. Big East play tips off for Marquette 12/29 at West Virginia.
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Notre Dame
-The Fighting Irish shook off the upset home loss to Loyola Marmount the previous Saturday by turning back UCLA in South Bend on Saturday by the score of 84-73.

Luke Harangody scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Irish. All five of Mike Brey’s starters scored in double figures with Tim Abromaitis adding 17 to the cause.

The Busy Start to the Season Has Put Irish in Position to Rest (Journal Gazette) with the Big East schedule looming ahead. ND will host Bucknell on Tuesday (12/22) and will return to action on 12/30 to open Big East play hosting Providence.
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Pittsburgh
-The Panthers shuffled some things around Saturday, moving Jermaine Dixon back into the starting line-up and shifting Ashton Gibbs to point guard, for their match-up with Mount St. Mary’s. The result was a 66-48 home win as Brad Wanamaker scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and had seven assists. Gibbs added 19 in the win.

In his first start, Jermaine Dixon scored four points in 19 minutes. The Panthers will also add junior Gilbert Brown to the mix this week as he served a one-semester suspension from school for violating academic policy. Pitt hosts Ohio (7-3) on Tuesday before opening Big East play Monday 12/28 against DePaul. Is Pitt Basketball Ready for the Big East (Beaver County Times)? Maybe not quite yet, but coach Jamie Dixon thinks they are getting closer.

“We’re a new team come tomorrow when you factor in Jermaine and Gilbert,” Dixon said. “… I still think we can play better and we will play better.”
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Providence
-Keno Davis is not looking for a repeat performance from December 12th tonight as Davis Hopes Friars Learned Their Lesson in Iona Loss (Providence Journal) as they return to action tonight to host Yale for the first time since the loss.

-Capsule Preview: Yale at PC (Providence Journal)
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Rutgers
-The Scarlet Knights got past woeful NJIT on Saturday afternoon, 71-62, at the RAC. Sophomore Mike Rosario led the way with 15 points and senior Hamady N’Diaye, stepping in for the injured Greg Echenique, added 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots.

N’Diaye better be used to the longer minutes as word is that Echenique is out for the Season (ZagsBlog.com) and will apply for a medical redshirt.

Freshman Austin Johnson also stepped up his game on Saturday, adding 13 points.

The Knights will host St. Peter’s this Tuesday and then travel to face North Carolina on December 28th before starting their Big East schedule on January 2nd when hosting Cincinnati.
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Seton Hall
-The Pirates entered Saturday night’s contest with Temple at 8-0 and getting the services of Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robinson to an already talented cast. However, their 8-0 mark was built playing the easiest schedule to date (according to realtimerpi.com) and Temple was regarded as their firest true test. If so, SHU failed as they watched a 13-point second half lead evaporate during a 71-65 loss to the Owls.

One week after scoring 134 points against VMI, the Pirates could only muster a fraction of that total against the Temple match-up zone. The loss led to some Tough Words from SHU’s Herb Pope (Star-Ledger) who told Brendan Prunty following the game that the Pirates are a “fraud” right now and the loss shows it.

In their first action of the season, Lawrence finished 11 points in 28 minutes of action and Robinson scored five in 15 minutes. Both players started the second half. One week after scoring 40 points in 34 minutes of action, shooting 14 of 17, Jamel Jackson played just nine minutes and was one of two from the field, hitting his only three-point attempt, while starting two-guard Jeremy Hazell shot 4 of 17, including 1-11 from beyond the arc, in 36 minutes.

Pope finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season. He also added four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

SHU hosts Navy on Tuesday before jumping into the fire in Big East play, hosting West Virginia on December 26th and then Syracuse on the 29th.
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St. John’s
-trailing 59-54 late in the contest it looked like the Red Storm’s four game losing streak to Hofstra was going to become five. However, that was not to be the case this time as the Storm’s Late Flurry Vanquishes Hofstra (NY Daily News) as St. John’s Ends Game on 18-1 Run to Beat Pride (Newsday), 72-60, in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, advancing to face two-time defending Ivy League champion Cornell in Monday’s title game.

DJ Kennedy scored 10 of the 18 points in the game-ending run and finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds as St. John’s Shows Maturity and Reslience in Win (NY Daily News). Dwight Hardy added 17 and fellow JUCo recruit Justin Borwnlee added 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Following tonight’s Holiday Festival finale against Cornell, SJU is back in action on Wednesday hosting Bryant before a New Year’s Eve date at Georgetown to begin Big East conference play.
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Syracuse
-St. Bonaventure came into the Dome and gave the Orange a test on Saturday, but in the end, Syracuse Closes Out St. Bona to Remain Unbeaten (Buffalo News), 85-72.

Junior Rick Jackson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Wes Johnson also had a double-double with 17 and 10 while Kris Joseph came off the bench to score 17 of his own in the win.

The Orange have a final pre-conference tune-up on Tuesday when they host Oakland ahead of their Big East opener at a href=”http://w3.nbebasketball.com/big-east-team-pages/seton-hall/”>Seton Hall on the 29th.
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South Florida
-The Bulls are 10-2 for the first time in 18 years after the USF Men’s Basketball Team Rallies to Defeat San Diego in Vegas (St. Pete Times), 69-60. The 10 wins also surpasses last year’s win total of nine.

Senior Mike Mercer had 19 points to fuel the comeback victory over San Diego before an estimated crowd of 150 in the Holiday Hoops Classic at the South Point Arena.

The previous night saw Dominique Jones score 23 in a 69-49 win over San Francisco.

The Bulls are now off until December 30th when they open Big East play against Louisville on the road.
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Villanova
-Jay Wright’s Wildcats rebounded from suffering their first loss of the season the Sunday before at Temple by thrashing Fordham, 96-58, on Saturday. Reggie Redding returned to the team after a semester-long suspension and An Addition to Villanova’s Starting Line-up (NY Times) paid immediate dividends as the senior finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds in 27 minutes of action in his season debut.

Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds and Antonio Pena each scored 17 to lead VU in the win.

Wednesday the Wildcats will host Delaware to close their pre-conference schedule before beginning Big East play with Marquette on January 2nd at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
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West Virginia
-The Mountaineers watched a 17-point second half lead evaporate as Cleveland State tied the game at 78-all in the waning seconds. Despite Da’Sean Butler’s layup with 1.2 seconds left to lift WVU to an 80-78 win, Mountaineer head coach Bob Huggins Was not Happy (Charleston Gazette) with his team’s sloppy response to Cleveland State’s full court pressure that largely accounted for the 17 Mountaineer turnovers.

With a Big East opener against Seton Hall on December 26th, you can bet the Pressing Issue (Times West Virginia) will be adressed.

In the meantime, there is still work to be done as No. 20 Mississippi will visit Morgantown on Wednesday night for a non-conference tilt between ranked teams.

In the win over Cleveland State, sophomore Kevin Jones continues his strong play this season with a career-high 23 points.
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