Connecticut News

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/14/2009) & NOTES

It was a very up and down week for the Big East conference last week. While Syracuse and West Virginia continue to roll, Georgetown also proved they will be a force to be reckoned with this year. Seton Hall remained undefeated, but outside of those four, the results were very mixed for the rest of the conference. Villanova, Cincinnati and Marquette lost to local rivals, Pittsburgh, UConn and DePaul lost in made-for-tv match-ups, Louisville, Providence, Notre Dame and South Florida lost head-scratchers at home while St. John’s continues to play solid ball and Rutgers came out of the week unscathed in wins and losses, but suffered a big loss in personnel due to injury.

Eleven NBE writers and contributors tried to sort everything out and with two weeks left until conference play begins, here is the latest Big East Power Poll, along with some team updates from links found this morning on the internet…

Read more

RAY MERNAGH’S FRIDAY COLLEGE HOOPS TALK WITH NBE

by RAY MERNAGH

What I Already Knew But Re-Learned: John Wall is the best D-1 basketball player in the country. It had been a while since my eyes had seen Wall’s act in all its glory. Big-time MSG stage and the young man performed as if he had 40 minutes to get through an 80-minute concerto. Did anyone else notice the NBA bodies on Calipari’s young Bigs? My goodness! Cal can talk all he wants about “we’re really 4-5″ or whatever it is he’s trying to sell. One thing, and one thing only, matters this season: a championship. If this team doesn’t cut down the nets in April, the season will be a disappointment to everybody in the Big Blue Nation. Welcome to Camelot Cal!

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/11/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

It is a rare off night in the Big East this Friday night, but there is still plenty of interesting news and notes to discuss heading into the weekend. The SEC/Big East Invitational ended up in a 2-2 tie this year as Syracuse picked up another big win with a victory over Florida last night. In the first half of the double-header, DePaul was blown out of the St. Pete Times Forum by Mississippi State. Also last night, Cincinnati picked up a hard-fought win ahead of their crosstown shootout date with rival Xavier.

Also in today’s News & Notes is a look at Greg Echenique’s injury and how Rutgers will fill the big shoes. Articles on the young Pitt forwards playing out of position with more on Dante Taylor, Jordan Theodore and the list UConn is hoping from with the addition of Ater Majok in less than two weeks. The Huskies are not wallowing in their loss to Kentucky as the effort was definitely a positive in the eyes of Jim Calhoun. Also, a look at the recruitment of Chane Behanan and an interesting look at the youth and experience of Big East teams this year.

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…

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/10/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

A busy wednesday night yielded a 6-1 mark for the Big East conference in non-conference action. The SEC and Big East split the two games at Madison Square Garden in the opening night of the 2009 SEC/Big East Invitational with St. John’s turning back Georgia and UConn finding out first hand how good John Wall is in a loss to Kentucky.

Elsewhere, Providence lit up the scoreboard in a road win at George Washington and ‘Nova picked up a hard-fought win in the ‘Holy War’ contest against rival St. Joe’s. Notre Dame, Rutgers and West Virginia also picked up home wins last night.

Tonight, the SEC/Big East Invitational concludes with DePaul meeting Mississippi State and Syracuse battling Florida in a highly anticipated match-up. Cincinnati is also in action as the Bearcats must avoid looking ahead to their Crosstown Shootout against Xavier and take care of the task on hand this evening.

In other news, the roster shuffle at South Florida looks to be on schedule again this year. Freshman Jordan Dumars is transferring and current transfer Anthony Crater is not looking to be joining the team when expected in the coming week. But, the biggest blow is an injury to Augustus Gilchrist and the forward could be out for a significant amount of time. Also on the shelf for a while is Rutgers big man Greg Echenique. At Pitt, they are getting a little healthier, but Jermaine Dixon is still playing his way back to health and the Panthers need his scoring touch soon.

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…

Read more

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

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

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…

Read more

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (12/7/2009)

For the third consecutive poll, the team with the most 1st place votes does not finish in the top spot. Actually, West Virginia, with the most 1st place votes, finishes third in this week’s poll. Villanova returns to the top spot after their win over Maryland last night in the BB&T Classic in DC. Syracuse also slips in front of WVU as all three teams are neck and neck. Louisville gets hammered as they lost at home by 22 points with three of their top four guards missing against UNC-C because of injuries. Seton Hall also creeps up in this week’s voting.

Here are the poll results (1st place votes in parenthesis):

1) Villanova (3), 151 points.
2) Syracuse (3), 149 points.
3) West Virginia (4), 148 points.
4) Connecticut, 120 points.
5) Georgetown, 117 points.
6) Cincinnati, 112 points.
7) Seton Hall, 85 points.
8] Notre Dame, 82 points.
9) St. John’s, 74 points.
10) Pittsburgh, 72 points.
11) Louisville, 71 points.
12) Marquette, 63 points.
13) South Florida, 52 points.
14) DePaul, 26 points.
15) Providence, 22 points.
16) Rutgers, 16 points.

Player of the Week: Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

co-Freshman of the Week: Dane Miller, Rutgers & Brandon Triche, Syracuse

Here are the poll voters:

NBE Blogger
Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of Pittsburgh Sports Report
Ron Bailey, Publisher of i95ballerz.com
Jeff Borzello, NBE Senior Basketball Analyst and Publisher of March Madness All Season
Raphielle Johnson, NBE contributor and CollegeHoopsNet.com writer
Alex Schwartz, President of Northstar Basketball
Ray Balter, NBE contributor
Doug Ferguson, NBE Midwest Editor and lead writer at the NBE Association Report
Alex Jesswein, NBE Contributor/Milwaukee correspondent
John Sessions, sports reporter for The Cowl.

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

MONDAY’S PASS THE ROCK AROUND THE BIG EAST (12/7/09)

by RAY MERNAGH

Wow, some tough results for the Big East over the weekend (particularly Saturday). Lets take a look back and delve into some specifics, plus look ahead to some huge early-season games that are almost upon us.

First up, a look at the weekend results.

The Good: Villanova handled Maryland last night in DC 95-86 in a pretty fun game to watch. ‘Nova hit 16-39 three-pointers with the two Coreys doing a lot of the more efficient damage. Corey Fisher played a wonderful game, making good decisions all night especially knowing when to go to the rim and finish. He finished with 20 on 6-13 shooting (4-6 from deep and 4-4 from the line) plus added 2 steals and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes. His ‘brother’ Stokes might as well start going by Corey Strokes, because the young man’s stroke from deep looks to be the smoothest on the East Side of the country. Stokes finished with 18, also on 6-13 shooting (5-11 from the arc) along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Scottie Reynolds went for 25, shot 7-18 (3-10 from deep) dished out 8 assists but turned it over 5 times. Antonio Pena continued to do work inside by grabbing 11 boards (6 offensive). Taylor King let it fly 17 times (whoa there brother) with 3 of his 5 makes coming from deep. Jay Wright got steady play out of his younger guards Dominic Cheek (6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists) in 16 minutes plus a huge steal down the stretch and Maalik Wayns (3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 9 minutes). Nova killed Maryland on the boards by +12 (42-30) with 20 of the 42 being offensive rebounds. Defensively I thought Nova really turned it up and got stops down the stretch…but they also fouled a lot late in the game. Most impressive thing about the win (which is an impressive one nonetheless as the Turtle is going to be good this year): Maryland got big games from three different guys and it still didn’t matter. Maryland’s Freshman big, Jordan Williams, was a load inside with 19 and 12 (he hits his FT’s too). Sean Mosely had 26 and his backcourt mate Eric Hayes had 20. Nova did a great job limiting Greivis Vasquez, Maryland’s emotional one, to 12 points before he fouled out. Really solid win for the Wildcats. The three-point shooting might not always be there for them, but their relentless pursuit of the ball off the glass will pay dividends all season long, as will their depth (and they don’t even have Reggie Redding back yet).

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/7/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

It was a busy weekend in the Big East, but Saturday put a large dent in the conference’s gaudy non-conference record. Providence and Marquette lost big leads while DePaul and St. John’s lost games they were expected to lose. The shocker game in Louisville as the Cards were run out of their own gym. Overall, the conference was just 2-5 on Saturday (not counting West Virginia’s exhibition victory). Pittsburgh won a record-setting (for lack of offense) affair on Friday night while Rutgers, Notre Dame, UConn and Villanova picked up wins on Sunday to salvage the weekend for the conference. After a 7-5 mark this weekend, the Big East is still sitting pretty with an overall mark of 98-17.

In other news, Deniz Kilicli made the most of his opportunity to play in WVU’s Saturday exhibition win over Charleston. Recruiting updates on Maurice Harkless and Doron Lamb are also available as well as brief looks at Providence and Seton Hall’s games tonight on the schedule.

Read more

NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL 3.1)

BY PAT STEVENS

The early returns from the prep school ranks look to be another good season ahead with the Big East signing the most prep school players of any conference in the Fall Signing Period.

Originally there were 13 expected Big East signees for the Fall Signing Period, however that number fluctuated some during the eventful week in mid-November.

In total, 10 prep school players signed with Big East teams – Russ Smith (Louisville/South Kent), J.J. Moore (Pittsburgh/South Kent), Austin Carroll (Rutgers/Brewster Academy), CJ Fair (Syracuse/Brewster Academy), Ron Giplaye (Providence/Notre Dame Prep), Gerard Coleman (Providence/Tilton School), Markus Kennedy (Villanova/Winchendon School), Nate Lubick (Georgetown/St. Mark’s), Isaiah Epps (Pittsburgh/Hargrave Military Academy) and Waverly Austin (South Florida/Heat Academy, Va.).

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/3/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

The Big East was 7-0 on Wendesday night and the conference now has a 89-12 record against non-conference foes, wow! The only real drama was in the ‘City Game’ between Pittsburgh and Duquesne as the Panthers rallied from a 16-point deficit to eventually win in double OT in the final basketball game scheduled for Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Elsewhere, Connecticut, St. John’s, Louisville, South Florida and Villanova cruised to easy home wins while DePaul had to work a little harder for their victory.

Tonight, Seton Hall and Rutgers are in action on their home court against lesser opponents. In other SHU news, there is an end in sight to Keon Lawrence’s indefinite suspension which is no longer indefinite.

Read more

AFTER BRIEF SCARE, JEROME DYSON & UCONN RIP BU

by ZACH SMART

HARTFORD-The sight was alarmingly familiar, and that’s what made it all the more frightening for the Connecticut Huskies.

Jerome Dyson, the Huskies’ best player-Jim Calhoun’s description after the Huskies’ 92-64 blowout of Boston University-landed awkwardly during the opening moments of the second half.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous seeing that,” said UConn forward Gavin Edwards, who scored 12 points and ripped down nine rebounds.

Dyson stayed down for a few minutes, and it was tremendously similar to the scene that played out last February against Syracuse.

That’s when Dyson, who’s averaging over 20 points to lead the No.13-ranked Huskies, knocked knees with Syracuse’s then-forward Kristof Ongeneat.

An MRI later revealed Dyson had a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, an injury which sidelined him for the season.

“We were just hoping ‘rome would come back,” said point guard Kemba Walker of the tense few minutes when Dyson was down on the floor.

Read Rest of Article HERE!!

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/2/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

Three more wins last night for the Big East, moving the cummulative non-conference record for the conference to 82-12 (87%) on the 2009-2010 season. Last night Providence got past Northeastern on the road and Cincinnati and Notre Dame earned wins on their home court.

Busy night this evening on the Big East schedule as seven games are on tap. Connecticut, South Florida, Villanova, Louisville, St. John’s and DePaul are all large home favorites while Pittsburgh takes on city rival Duquesne at Mellon Arena.

Bad news out of DePaul and Villanova as big men they are counting on will be out of the line-up for some time. Seton Hall is getting a nice lift by a freshman forward and recruiting updates on doron Lamb and a late addition to the Rutgers recruiting class from the early period is in, too.

TUESDAY NIGHT IN THE BIG EAST:

Providence 76, Northeastern 72
-Providence burned the nets at a 56% shooting clip from the floor to escape hostile Northeastern with a win, the final PC 76, Northeastern 72 (Providence Journal).

The Friars, behind Sharaud Curry’s 13 points in the first half, took a 40-29 lead at the break and extended the lead to 72-59 with 4:47 remaining before a 13-2 run by the hosts cut the PC lead to 74-72 in the final moments. After a Marshon Brooks airball, the Friars called timeout with 15 seconds on the game clock and one second on the shot clock. Running a set play, freshman Vincent Council found Jamie ‘Big Shot’ Peterson with a lob pass that the high-flying sophomore converted to beat the shot clock and clinch the win for Providence.

The senior Curry led PC with 19 points and Peterson added 18 of his own to go with 9 rebounds. In all, PC placed five players in double figures with Bilal Dixon and Council scoring 11 and Brooks adding 10.

It has come at a key time, with conference play nearing, that Curry Has Rediscovered his Shooting Touch (Providence Journal) as his 19-point performance last night followed a 20-point outing in Saturday’s loss to Boston College. Curry hit seven of 10 shots last night and was three of three from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Friars move to 5-2 on the season and have their annual in-state tussle with Rhode Island on Saturday. Last night’s trip to Northeastern was used to gain experience for what they will see on the road this weekend. The Huskies fell to 2-3 with the loss.
——————————-

Cincinnati 94, Texas Southern 57
-Cincinnati played like the nationally ranked team they are on Tuesday night as Mick cronin’s team shot 57% fromt he floor, outrebounded Texas Southern 47-25 and placed seven players in double figures in a 94-57 rout at Fifth Third Arena.

The win uppded UC’s record to 5-1 as they head into a nine-day break before returning to action against Miami (OH) on December 10th. On Tuesday, Depth Shined for #22 UC (CNATI.com) as Rashad Bishop (14) and Dion Dixon (13) led the seven players reaching double figures. Freshman phenon Lance Stephenson was not one of the seven in double figures, scoring just seven points himself, but he led the Bearcats with 11 rebounds and 7 assists in the contest.

Still, even with the easy win, a coach needs to find something to be unhappy about. However, Mick Cronin was not upset with his team, instead Cronin was Disappointed in the Fans (CNATI.com) as 6,825 showed up to see No. 22 Cincinnati.

Former UC star Nick Van Exel had a good view of the action and received a rousing ovation from the UC fans that did show. Van Exel is a first-year assistant coach with Texas Southern and last night watched as his alma mater UC Breezed Past Texas Southern (Cincinnati Enquirer) for the win.
——————————-

Notre Dame 80, Idaho State 70
-It was a big night for Notre Dame big man Luke Harangody as the Senior Scores 2000th Career Point in Victory (Journal Gazette) over Idaho State. Reaching the milestone 22 seconds into the contest did not slow down as Harangody Sets Another Record in the Win (NWI Times) becoming the first Irish player to combine 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Harangody finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds leading the Irish to the 80-70 win.

The Irish shot 55% from the floor for the game. Ben Hansbrough added 14 in the win. But the night belonged to Harangody as the6-foot-8 forward from Schererville (IN) now stands sixth on Notre Dame’s career scoring list, as he passed former Irish star and current Indiana Pacer Troy Murphy. His 2,025 career points are just 535 less than Austin Carr’s all-time record of 2,560.

After a close first half, ND used an 18-5 run to begin the second half and put the game away. Idaho State did manage to shoot 51% on the game, indicating the Irish could still use improvements on the defensive end of the floor before Big East play starts later this month.
———————————————————————————-

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S BIG EAST SCHEDULE:

Boston @ Connecticut, 7:00 PM
-UConn Bench Needs to Show Some Life (Middletown Press)
-UConn’s Darius Smith Showing Signs of Life (Connecticut Post)
-Calhoun Hopes Bench Awakens Soon (New Haven Register)

The Huskies look to lick their wounds and rebound from the drubbing at the hands of Duke last week when they host Boston U tonight. Jim Calhoun will be looking for the bench to help out more over the course of the next few games leading up to the SEC/Big East clash with Kentucky on December 9th.
———————

Pittsburgh vs Duquesne at Mellon Arena, 7:00 PM
-Final City Game at Mellon Arena (Post-Gazette)
-Best of the City Game (Post-Gazette)
-http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/pitt/s_655744.html”>Pitt, Duquesne to Play Final City Game to Mellon (Tribune-Review)
-Saunders off the Great Start (Tribune-Review)
-Pitt Needs to Handle Turnover Problem (Tribune Review)
-Far from Strangers, Dukes and Panthers Meet Up (Tribune-Review)

A pair of 5-1 teams square off to close Mellon Arena and the Panthers take on the Dukes in their annual ‘City Game’. Pitt will need to control Damian Saunders, a former Marquette recruit, who is one of the better players in the Atlantic 10.
———————

Hampton @ South Florida, 7:00 PM

The 6-1 Bulls host 2-5 Hampton tonight. USF is off for 11 days following tonight’s game. After starting off 0-5, Hampton has won two in a row, but this is a game the Bulls should handle easily on their home court.
——————-

Drexel @ Villanova, 7:00 PM
-Drexel/Villanova Preview (CBS Sports)
-Villanova Freshman Out With Hepatitis (Philadelphia Inquirer)
-Yarou Suffering from Hepatitis B (Delaware County Times)

The Wildcats will continue the process of moving ahead now that freshman center Mouphtau Yarou has been diagnosed with Hepatitis B. The is no timetable for Yarou’s return, but the Wildcats are still a very potent club led by senior Scottie Reynolds and junior Corey Fisher in the backcourt. Local rival Drexel is up next. Earlier this year, Drexel fell to Big East foe Rutgers on a Greg Echenique buzzer-beater by the score of 58-56.
———————

Stetson @ Louisville, 7:00 PM
-Marra May Play Bigger Role for Louisville Basketball (Courier-Journal)
-Injured Knowles, Siva Wont Play vs. Stetson (Courier-Journal)

Knowles has an injured thumb and Siva a sprained wrist and neither will play tonight for the Cards. Rick Pitino is also shuffling his line-up as Rakeem Buckles will enter the starting line-up as UL looks to rebound from their weekend loss at UNLV when they return to Freedom Hall tonight.
———————-

Stony Brook @ St. John’s, 7:00 PM
-St. John’s Must Keep Focus vs Stony Brook as Date with Duke Looms (NY Daily News)

The Red Storm and their fans are very anxious to see how good this team really is. They have earned a few solid wins early, beating Siena and Temple, and they have escaped the bad early season losses that have haunted them in the past, edging St. Bonaventure and Brown. They will get a chance at a measuring stick game with Duke, but first things first, tonight they host 5-1 Stony Brook at Carnesecca Arena.
———————-

Alabama State @ DePaul, 8:30 PM
-Report: DePaul’s Koshwal to Miss 4-6 Weeks (Chicago Tribune)
-Men’s Hoops Host Alabama State (BlueDemons.com)

While tonight’s game is unlikely to, or shouldn’t, be too much of a test for the Blue Demons, their forseeable future took a hit with the news Mac Koshwal could be sidelined up to 6 weeks with a foot injury. DePaul starts conference play in three and a half weeks and not having their 6-foot-10 big man would be a big blow to a team with such a small margin of error in the Big East.
———————————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Jerry Carino has a look at Seton Hall freshman forward Ferrakohn Hall as Hall’s Hall has been a Pleasant Surprise (Hoops Haven) for Bobby Gonzalez’s Pirates, off to an undefeated start.

The 6-foot-8 forward had five points, three boards, two assists and a steal in the 93-53 romp over NJIT Monday night where he got the start for the second half to help combat a smaller line-up that was a tough match-up for senior John Garcia.

The Memphis native was a late addition for the Pirates’ 2009 recruiting class and looks to be a solid building block for the future.
——————————————————————————

There is still no decision from Oak Hill senior shooting guard Doron Lamb and it looks like one is not coming soon in regards to his future college destination. Lamb is Waiting to Decide (TheShiver.com) between Oklahoma, Kentucky, Connecticut, Arizona and Kansas and, according to his father, all five are equal right now.
———————————————————————————-

Rutgers slipped a late commitment into the mix from the early signing period as Gilvydas Biruta signed a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Scarlet Knights. The Lithuanian National Team Pefromer Signed with Rutgers (New Jersey Newsroom) and joins Austin Carroll in the 2010 recruiting class signed by Fred Hill this fall.

Biruta, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward who is a senior at St. Benedict Prep in Newark (NJ), is typical of a European big man as he is very comfortable in stepping away from the basket. His signing leaves one open scholarship currently for RU in the class of 2010.
——————————————————————————

NBE BIG EAST POWER POLL (11/30/2009)

Just like the preseason poll, the team with the most 1st place votes finishes second in the first weekly Big East Power Poll, but this time the results are reversed as West Virginia, fresh off their 76 Classic Championship last night, edges out Villanova. Syracuse surges up the poll right behind the top two and the Orange are poised to move up if anyone falters. The rest of the poll stays pretty consistent, with Marquette making the biggest jump, but apparently many are still taking a wait and see approach on the young Golden Eagles. Seton Hall had the widest range of votes, being pegged as high as fifth and as low as 14th. The Pirates have yet to really play anyone, but expect them to creep up the rankings as others ahead of them lose from time to time.

Here are the poll results (1st place votes in parenthesis):

1) West Virginia (4), 179 points.
2) Villanova (5), 177 points.
3) Syracuse (3), 174 points.
4) Connecticut, 151 points.
5) Cincinnati, 141 points.
6) Georgetown, 128 points.
7) Louisville, 118 points.
8] Marquette, 115 points.
9) Pittsburgh, 93 points.
10) Seton Hall, 78 points.
11) Notre Dame, 74 points.
12) St. John’s, 72 points.
13) South Florida, 46 points.
14) DePaul, 37 points.
15) Providence, 32 points.
16) Rutgers, 17 points.

Player of the Week: Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

Freshman of the Week: Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

Here are the poll voters:

NBE Blogger
Ray Mernagh, NBE Senior Columnist & College Basketball Editor of Pittsburgh Sports Report
Chris Dokish, Contributing editor of Pittsburgh Sports Report
Ron Bailey, Publisher of i95ballerz.com
Jeff Borzello, NBE Senior Basketball Analyst and Publisher of March Madness All Season
Raphielle Johnson, NBE contributor and CollegeHoopsNet.com writer
Alex Schwartz, President of Northstar Basketball
Ray Balter, NBE contributor
Nathan Wollack, Publisher of Blue Demons Nation
Doug Ferguson, NBE Midwest Editor and lead writer at the NBE Association Report
Alex Jesswein, NBE Contributor/Milwaukee correspondent
John Sessions, sports reporter for The Cowl.

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

AROUND THE BIG EAST: 11/28/2009

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

I hope all the readers of the NBE Basketball Report and their families had a great Thanksgiving holiday! There has been so much going on around the Big East basketball conference, we have decided to take a tour of the 16 teams in the conference and try to get everyone caught up. We will add a few observations along the way on what we have seen early on…

Cincinnati (4-1)

-The Bearcats earned impressive victories over Vanderbilt and Maryland while reaching the finals of the Maui Invitational. The came up just short in the championship game, losing in overtime to Gonzaga, 61-59.

Freshman phenom Lance Stephenson seemed to be finding his place in the college game a little better, scoring 15 in the final game. Mick Cronin turned to his frosh star in crunch time, over senior Deonta Vaughn. If they can find the right mix between the two, as they both are accustomed to having the ball in their hands, and not forget about Yancy Gates in the post, UC has shown they are going to be really tough.
Read more

GOLDEN EAGLES ROLLIN; UCONN/DUKE NEXT

By RAY MERNAGH

Marquette did it again, this time taking the dribble/attack/offensive pressure right at Michigan and coming up with a convincing 79-65 win. Lots of talk about Marquette’s inexperience but I don’t see it that way. Lazar Hayward, Jimmy Butler, Cubillan and Acker have all been through the Big East battles and taken their fair share of lumps. They’re undersized but here’s the thing about inexperience; lots of teams lost talent and have guys filling new roles, but Buzz’s crew is not some undervalued off the scrap heap pile of junk (all these guys can play).

Speaking of strange perceptions: Does anyone else see Duke ranked at 7 and UConn in the teens as being backwards? I think UConn will absolutely wear the Blue Devils out this afternoon at the Garden — that’s why they play the games though so lets watch and enjoy. But it says here UConn just has too much in the backcourt and everywhere else all things being equal.

WVU on next vs Texas A&M. GP at CBS had this dead-on piece about the Dev Ebanks situation. Wish I had written it but since I didn’t check it out.

It’s the truth….and that’s okay.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/19/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

The Big East continues to roll over early season competition as Cincinnati ran the conference’s win streak to 30 straight games to start the season. The streak will be put to the test today for sure. Five games on the schedule, starting at 2 PM in Puerto Rico where Villanova meets George Mason. The Wildcats will be short-handed as one of their starters had to leave Puerto Rico because of a viral infection, according to a report. The biggest test is likely to come for Syracuse as they meet Cal at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh and Notre Dame also face teams that are not too shabby as normal early season foes go and South Florida takes on media darling Davidson. However, the minds of those with the South Florida program could be a little distracted as a former USF beat writer has put together an indepth story alleging several NCAA violations against Stan Heath’s program. The school has recently aknowldged several secondary violations and now these new charges could mean some serious trouble.

Elsewhere in the Big East, Marquette added another signee for their early period recruiting class, dipping back into Chicago. A story on West Virginia’s latest commitment as well as a story on UConn finding some leadership from an unexpected source and an injury update on PC’s Marshon Brooks. Also, Friday night will be a challenge on the road for Seton Hall and Bobby Gonzalez is certainly wary of the match-up with Cornell.

Still no change int he status of Devin Ebanks at WVU as the sophomore is still away from the team dealing with personal issues according to coach Bob Huggins. Also, the official announcment on where Tobias Harris will play his college basketball is coming later today, but strong speculation is pointing to the SEC over several Big East schools.

Read all of these and more in today’s News & Notes links below…

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/18/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

So far so good for the Big East conference with all 29 games Big East teams have participated in going into the win column. Only the Big 12 has also yet to lose a contest in the season’s first week plus to date.

There was nearly a couple losses last night, but Georgetown and St. John’s each pulled out tight ones by scoring with 6 seconds left. UConn had another tussle, needing to rally from a nine-point second half defecit for a win. DePaul was able to grind out a season opening win while Pitt, Marquette and Louisville, who blasted Arkansas from the SEC, all had easier times in their games.

Cincinnati will try to make it an even 30-0 for the Big East tonight when they host Toledo at Fifth Third Arena.

Elsewhere, Dion Waiters followed through with his verbal commitment to Syracuse, although it seems that he was considering other options recently. Recruiting update on Doron Lamb and is Jayvaugh Pinkston’s decision to hold off on his decision related to the upcoming decision from Tobias Harris?? Also, freshmen Danny Jennings and Brandon Triche are making their marks early in the college careers.

Read all of this in today’s news and notes below…

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/17/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

The much anticipated debut of Lance Stephenson took place on Monday night and it probably did not go quite as planned, but Cincinnati was able to rally for a victory. The Big East also picked up their first win against another power conference, courtesy of the improved South Florida Bulls. Villanova continued their Big 5 dominance and Notre Dame earned their second victory to start the season. UConn won their opening NIT Season Tip-off contest, despite a sluggish 1st half. UConn is back in action tonight.

Louisville opens their season against Arkansas tonight while DePaul hopes to begin the healing process over last year by opening at home tonight against an Ivy League opponent. Pittsburgh is in action, but will again be without the services of their lone returning starter. Georgetown meets Temple in a game coached by a pair of former Ivy League coaching rivals. Marquette looks to earn a second win against a team amongst the bottom of the 1-A ranks and St. John’s travels to upstate NY to meet St. Bonaventure.

In a couple other brief notes, Providence is resting after a 3-0 weekend and looking ahead to a date in SEC country on Friday. Syracuse heads to MSG this week to meet a highly touted Cal club. Seton Hall added a signed LOI to their 2010 class.

Read about all this below in today’s News & Notes links…

Read more

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/16/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

A busy weekend of Big East hoops concluded with three more games on Sunday as Seton Hall moved to 2-0, Providence won their third game already on the young season and West Virginia opened their season with a victory. However, the news at WVU was more about who did not play for the Mountaineers than who did play.

Notre Dame and Rutgers opened their seasons on Saturday with victories and five Big East teams hit the court on Monday night. Connecticut is in action as a regional host of the NIT Tip-off tournament when they host Colgate. Villanova opens Big 5 play by hosting Penn of the Ivy League. Notre Dame is back in action hosting St. Francis (PA) and South Florida hosts Virginia of the ACC, looking for their second win on the season. Opening their season tonight is Cincinnati as the regular season debut of Lance Stephenson takes place when the Bearcats host Prairie View A&M.

In other news around the league, the Syracuse big men are not taking advantage from the charity stripe. Will that cause more pain for the Orange this season since their experience is in their frontline as opposed to the backcourt like last year? Also, recruiting news on George Marshall, Roscoe Smith, Tobias Harris and Doron Lamb from the weekend.

Lots to cover today…check it out in the News & Notes links below…

Read more

DYSON STEPS UP FOR CONNECTICUT

by ZACH SMART

Storrs, Conn.—William & Mary entered Gampel Pavilion with a slew of three-point snipers and quickly shed any fear of the No.14 Connecticut Huskies.

The Tribe, which lived and died beyond the arc all night, hit six three-pointers before the Huskies could hit one.

The Tribe was also active on the glass, capitalizing on putbacks and third chances. Both teams finished with 34 boards, though the Huskies were out-boarded 19-14 in the second half.

The Tribe trailed by just six points at halftime and pulled to within four points, 39-35, at the start of the second half.

That’s when William & Mary ran into a buzz saw in Jerome Dyson.

Read more

Next Page »