Teams

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

November 29, 2006

Last night in the Big East, St. John’ sgot one in the win column by beating Long Island University and Providence wore down another opponent with a big second half as they dumped Columbia.

A busy night around the league tonight with the feature match-up being in DC where Georgetown hosts undefeated Oregon. Rutgers makes the short commute to Philadelphia to face Temple in a game where both teams are in search of their first Division 1-A victory of the season. Pittsburgh hosts undefeated Robert Morris and Connecitcut welcomes Sacred Heart in for a game. Notre Dame will feast on one of the more surary-filled cupcakes on teh curcuit tonight with Winston-Salem State and Cincinnati faces a tough Oakland squad.

We have all the recaps and previews in today’s news and notes stories that can be accessed by clicking ‘Read More” below.

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Last Night’s Games:

St. John’s 64 Long Island University 46
St. John’s got out to a 20-pt lead but saw Long Island slice the margin down to 10 in the last 4 minutes before St. John’s put the game away for a Stormy Win (NY Post). St. John’s was actually outrebounded 39-29 by the smaller Blackbirds and continue to get very little from their post guys.

Last night the Redstorm starters got off to slow starts due to foul trouble and poor shooting but were picked up off the bench by Ricky Torres and Qa’rraan Calhoun as they each scored 10 points in the first half. The SJU bench scored 25 of their 33 points as they got out of the gates with a 33-19 lead at the break on their way to a Benchmark Win (Newsday).

In the second half, Anthony Mason Jr. came to life, scoring 13 of his team high 15 pts as Mason Leads SJU to Win Over LIU (Journal News).

Providence 81 Columbia 55
Flash Frosh Dwain Williams Helps PC Romp (Pawtucket Times) over Columbia last night by hitting four of five shots from beyond the arc in scoring 13 pts off the bench. Williams was a late addition to the Friar roster and a series of ailments have kept him out of action in the preseason, but he made his presence felt on both ends of the floor last night.

For the third game in a row, Providence broke open the game in the 2nd half and cruised, this time led by the backcourt trio of Williams, Sharaud Curry and Weyinmi Efejuku, who totalled 18 pts, 6 steals and 5 rebounds as Efejuku and the Friars Step Lively (Providence Journal) and run away from Columbia with their quickness.

Kevin McNamara also has a Providence Men’s Basketball Notebook (Providence Journal) from the game last night. He takes a look at the impact of the four Providence frosh this season (Williams, Ray Hall, Jamal Barney and Brian McKenzie) and looks back at the history of PC-Columbia. Brian McKenzie missed last night’s game with a touch of the flu.

Tonight’s Games:

Oregon @ Georgetown
The Oregon Ducks come across country to put teir 5-0 record on the line in their first real test of the season when they meet Georgetown at the Verizone Center. Oregon should get a lift as Malik Hairston Returns to the Court (Register-Guard) after being out over a month with a groin injury. Hairston led OU with 15 PPG last season.

The game is a contrast in style as the Hoya’s Big Mix Takes on Oregon’s Small Style (Oregonian) and the Ducks will look to reverse the pattern from last year, where they were outrebounded 37-20 while losing at home, 71-57, to Georgetown.

Oregon’s diminutive backcourt of Tajuan Porter (5′6) and Aron Brooks (6′0) will pose a stiff test to the Georgetown backcourt of Jonathan Wallace and Jesse Sapp as the Ducks have forced over 22 turnovers a game, albeit against much lesser competition. Without Tyler Crawford in the line-up, Jesse Sapp has been given the bulk of the playing time and the Hoya’s Sapp is Making the Most of His Shot (Washington Post), averaging 11 PPG, but will get a good idea of his improvement tonight. Sapp and DaJuan Summers have been a pair of New Starters Stepping Up (Washington Times) as Georgetown heads into a difficult three-game stretch with Oregon, Duke and Oral Roberts on the schedule.

Rutgers @ Temple
Something HAS to give tonight as both Rutgers and Temple look for their first wins of the season against Division 1-A opponents in Philadelphia. Neither team has shown much in the way of being able to score the basketball, so maybe the first to 50 wins, right? Greg Tufaro offers a Rutgers/Temple Scouting Report for the Courier News.

Winston-Salem State @ Notre Dame
Tonight will mark the 10th game of the season already for WSS as they travel to South Bend to meet the 4-1 Irish. WSS is in their firsrt season of 1-A competition and is operating as an Independent this season before joining the MEAC and is running on fumes while they travel for 20 days this month.

The South Bend Tribune has a story on ND senior Colin Falls as they prepare for tonight’s game and how Falls Rises to be ND’s Selfless Leader.

Sacred Heart @ Connecticut
Unbeaten, Uncertain and Untested (Hartford Courant) Connecticut hosts Sacred Heart tonight. Although they have definitely looked much better in their last four victories after slogging through their opening win over Quinnipiac, but Jim Calhoun worries that it has been too easy for his young Huskies:

“I just hope they don’t start thinking, `We can just go out [and cruise],” Calhoun said. “The biggest thing I keep seeing is immaturity. It does creep into practice and it is a concern of mine. The X’s and O’s, you keep working on them. The mental approach to everything we do … I thought we wasted 30 or 40 minutes in practice [Monday] just because we couldn’t get their attention.”

So, Jim Calhoun Wants His Team to Focus (Norwich Bulletin) and sacred Heart might not be the pushover many expect, although the Pioneers are just 2-3. UConn Men May Be Tough, But Sacred Heart Has Experience (Connecticut Post) and the UConn Men Remain Tough to Figure Out (New London Day).

Robert Morris @ Pittsburgh
The players at Pitt and Robert Morris are very familiar with each other as the schools are in close proximity to each other. However, calling this a ‘City Rivalry’ might be a stretch since the Colonials are 0-25 against the Pitt all-time. However, Pitt is Aware That This is no Ordinary RMU Team (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) as the Panthers Get Set to Host Undefeated Robert Morris (Tribune-Review). RMU is 4-0 with road wins over Maine and Marshall to their credit, but winning on the home court of the #2 team in the nation might be too tall of an order.

Oakland @ Cincinnati
As the Bearcats prepare to host Oakland, Cincinnati Gets Some Help Inside (Cincinnati Post) as Conor Barwin joins the team from the football squad. So with Barwin Back for Hoops (Cincinnati Enquirer) the Bearcats now face Oakland, who Mick Cronin considers the best team they have faced so far. Oakland has lost to Pittsburgh and Michigan State on the road and to UMass on a neutral floor in their 4-3 start.