BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/18/2008)
A busy night on and off the court in the Big East on Monday. Big East teams flexed their muscles on the court with seven teams in action all winning by nine points or more and three scoring 99 points or more. A couple interesting contests on the schedule for this evening with Syracuse and St. John’s playing in games to keep an eye on. Cincinnati and Providence should have easier times on the court, although the Friars are in need of a confidence booster after their opening loss.
Off the court, Bobby Gonzalez is making some noise again as he allegedly threatens to ‘cut off’ SNY.tv from coverin the Seton Hall program. Remember, SNY.tv is the official television home of the Big East conference. On to a more subdued head coaches as Bob Huggins is using the early season to mix and match his players and schemes and there is a story on Jim Calhoun and the bulding of the championship basketball programs at UConn.
In recruiting, there is a commitment that could impact the race for Dominic Cheek, UConn has some irons in the fire for now and the spring and West Virginia receives a LOI from a promising prospect.
LAST NIGHT’S ACTION:
Connecticut 99
Hartford 56
UConn was Taking Time to Turn it On (TheDay.com) last night, leading 49-47 around the 15-minute mark of the 2nd half. Yes, your match is correct, the Huskies outscored Hartford 50-9 to close out the game in the last fourteen+ minutes.
UConn Pulls Away from Hartford for 99-56 Win (Hartford Courant) while getting 21 points each from Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker. Walker got the start as AJ Price Was Forced to Sit With an Injury (Norwich Bulletin) as he sprained his left foot and ankle in their season-opening win Friday. Price dressed for the game, but with three games ahead this weekend in the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, it made more sense to rest the injury.
Jerome Dyson added 18 points and Jeff Adrien collected a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Pittsburgh 82
Miami (OH) 53
Miami (OH) is picked as one of the MAC favorites and looked every bit of the part as they played UCLA down to the wire late last week in LA. However, last night, even with Ben Roethlisberger watching his alma mater, even Big Ben Can’t Inspire Miami (OH) at Pitt (Cleveland.com) as the Redhawks Can’t Stop Pitt’s Surge (Dayton Daily News) to start the second half.
A Panther 26-6 run after intermission turned a 5-point halftime lead into a rout as Pitt Manages a Win Over Miami (OH) (Tribune-Review). Levance Fields continues to show he is healthy as Fields Passes His Top Mark (Tribune-Review) with a career-high 12 assists. In the first two games of the season, Fields has recorded 20 assists and just one turnover.
Fields also scored 12 points as all five Pitt starters scored in double figures including team-highs from Sam Young and Jermaine Dixon of 14 points each.
Pitt opens the Legends Classic at home Friday night when they take on Akron at the Peterson Events Center.
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Villanova 107
Fordham 68
Dante Cunningham Lifts Villanova (Philadelphia Inquirer) with a career 31 points and also added 11 rebounds as Nova Overwhelms Fordham (Evening Bulletin), 107-68.
Villanova got some positive injury news as Senior Shane Clark Returns as Villanova Rolls Over Fordham (Philadelphia Daily News) just 11 days after arthroscopic knee surgery which was expected to keep him out of action for up to three weeks. Clark played 16 minutes scoring eight points.
Not all the injury news is good news for the Wildcats, however. Last night Casseim Drummond was held out of the contest due to pain in his left foot. Drummond was limited throughout last season because of a stress fracture in his right ankle. This is in addition to senior Dwayne Anderson being sidelined indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left foot.
Sophomores Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes each added 17 last night for the Wildcats and Scottie Reynolds contributed 11 points and seven assists to the win.
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Georgetown 71
Jacksonville 62
John Thompson III’s Georgetown Hoyas opened their season last night against Jacksonville and it was the much-anticipated debut of freshman Greg Monroe, and it was impressive. The Hoyas Hold Off Jacksonville (Washington Post) with Monroe scoring 14 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and blocking three shots as Monroe is a Bright Spot in Forgettable Opener (Washington Times).
Chris Wright led the Hoyas in scoring with 16 points and as Jesse Sapp and DaJuan Summers each added 13.
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Marquette 106
Chicago State 87
It has been Right to the Points (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) for Marquette early on this season under new head coach Buzz Williams. The Golden Eagles racked up 106 last night in a 106-87 win over Chicago State in the Bradley center.
Senior Wesley Mathews led the MU attack with 26 points and nine rebounds and junior Lazar Hayward added 21 points and nine rebounds as well.
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DePaul 75
Albany 64
DePaul Defeats Albany in Season Opener (Chicago Tribune) as the Blue Demons accomplish a first under Jerry Wainwright.
Recall the Record Books, DePaul is Batting 1.000 (Daily Herald) under coach Wainwright for the first time. After dropping their season opener in each of the first three seasons, the Blue Demons get off on the right foot this time.
Sophomore Dar Tucker led DePaul with 23 points and junior Will Walker added 19 in the win.
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St. John’s 86
Cornell 75
In the first round of the Preseason NIT played on the campus of Boston College, Norm Robert’s Redstorm got 24 points from senior Anthony Mason and 22 from sophomore DJ Kennedy to advance to meet BC tonight. The winner moves on to Madison Square Garden for the event’s Final Four next week.
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TONIGHT IN THE BIG EAST:
Richmond @ Syracuse, 6 PM in the CBE Classic, televised by ESPN.
Orange Aware of Spiders’ Bite (Post-Standard)
Orange Scouting Report (Post-Standard)
Dartmouth @ Providence, 7 PM
It Looks Like PC Will Have Growing Pains (Providence Journal)
St. John’s @ Boston College, 7:30 PM.
Texas Southern @ Cincinnati, 7:30 PM.
ELSEWHERE AROUND THE BIG EAST:
Here is a question, if Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez is successful in his quest to prevent SNY, the official television home of the Big East, does that mean the Pirates’ games will not be televised locally?
In the latest, and all too often, installment of Gonzo Being Gonzo (SNY.tv), the ‘excitable’ SHU head coach goes off on SNY.tv columnist, and author of the popular ZagsBlog.net, Adam Zagoria twice in the last week.
Some of the ill will seemed to begin with the recent radio interview that Zagoria did with the Seton Hall campus radio station, WSOU, which you can read the transcript of HERE at ZagsBlog.net. Reading through the transcript you really have to wonder what in it would set off any coach of a Big East team, he actually compliments Gonzalez and says they have had a good working relationship. There are questions on Seton Hall’s recruiting, but between the non-qualifiers and lack of commitments for the 2009 class as we are deep into the signing period, those questions are asked by many. Sure, SHU probably does have things they are working on that the media is unaware of, as does every school, but nothing in that interview was Zagoria fabricating the public situation that has incurred at Seton Hall, from what I could read.
The stories on Gonzalez have been told and re-told often enough, many likely exaggerated, some not…but, he definitely keeps giving more than enough ammunition to those in the media to report and once again Gonzalez is Involved in Another Controversy (NJ.com). This is not the MAAC, the Big East is big business with media scrutiny at every turn. Being just across the river from the what is essentially the media capital of the world, the spotlight will be brighter, the questions more pointed and the pressure intense. That is the way it goes in the Big East and Gonzo being Gonzo will mean Gonzo being Gone-zo at SHU if he is not winning soon. And, in this game, winning does trump all…we will see how it plays out…
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It is the early going and coaches like to experiment with different combinations and schemes to see what will work the best for their teams this season. west Virginia head coach Bob Huggins is definitely no different. Here is his assessment of his team after their win over Elon Saturday night:
“We don’t consistently rebound it, we don’t consistently pass it, we don’t consistently make our rotations on defense to guard the ball,” the WVU coach said in the Daily Mail.
Oh by the way, the final score was 92-47 in favor of the Mountaineers. However, it shows that Huggins Will Mix and Match Before the Big Games Arrive (Daily Mail) to find the right combinations in all aspects of the game for WVU.
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The Connecticut Post continues their look at the impact of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams success and how their success has led to the entire athletic department to thrive. From being known as a ‘cow’ college in Storrs to a national champion on the hardwood, hoops has given the UConn community ’Something to Embrace’.
BIG EAST RECRUITING NOTES:
There was a lot of hype around West Virginia receiving a verbal commitment from Mountain State Academy 6-foot-10 forward Deniz Kilicli. Yesterday, Kilicli Makes it Official (Register-Herald) by inking his Letter of Intent with WVU.
Many WVU fans went to see Kilicli in action as Mountain State met Oak Hill recently. Kilicli did not show the promise many had reported him to possess in that outing, registering 10 points and just two rebounds, but Bob Huggins is looking at the big picture with the multi-skilled big forward:
“Joe Alexander,” Huggins told the Register-Herald when asked of a past Huggins’ player that Kilicli reminds him of. “Joe had all the ability in the world. He just needed to learn how to play the game.”
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Here are some Connecticut recruiting updates from the Hartford Courant regarding Durand Scott; Andre Drummond; Desmar Jackson to peruse.
As for Durand Scott, he will be announcing his college decision on Wednesday and the Courant, which has speculated that Miami is the frontrunner and that he has eliminated Pittsburgh from the mix according to sources close to him (Kemba Walker?), indicates his mind might still not be made up even with the impending announcement forthcoming.
Andre Drummond, a 6-9 sophomore center from Capitol Prep in Hartford, is said to have a UConn scholarship offer. In case Scott lands elsewhere, the UConn staff has plans to take a look at Desmar Jackson, a 6’4 guard out of Warren Harding HS in Ohio. Other backcourt spring targets might include a pair at Miami-Dade, former Alabama guard Rico Pickett and point guard James Beatty.
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The Memphis Tigers Get a Basketball commitment from Xaiver Henry (Commercial-Appeal) which might not seem like Big East recruiting news, but it likely takes Memphis out of the picture in the recruitment of St. Anthony’s guard Dominic Cheek, who visited Memphis last weekend.
Cheek has already visited Villanova and is expected to check out Rutgers on an official visit this weekend. Kansas is also in the final mix to land Cheek, who will wait until the spring to sign a letter of intent. Cheek Canceled a Pitt Visit earlier because of a root canal, but Pittsburgh could still get a visit before all is said and done.
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