Cincinnati News, Connecticut News, DePaul News, Pittsburgh News, Rutgers News, Seton Hall Recruiting, USF News, USF Recruiting, Villanova News, West Virginia News

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (2/16/2010)

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Connecticut comes up huge on Big Monday with a road win at Villanova. While the Huskies still have a lot of work left to do to find themselves in the NCAA Tournament, last night’s win gives them a puncher’s chance and shows they have the goods to make a run.

A couple games tonight, one with potential NCAA Tournament implications and Cincinnati and South Florida hope to hang on to their Big Dance chances when they meet at the Sun Dome. In the other contest, Rutgers looks to build some momentum following their win over Georgetown on Sunday when they travel to DePaul in a battle of the two teams at the bottom of the Big East standings.

In other conference news, two recent verbal commitments came in recently as USF and SHU each pick up a potential late signing period addition. Pitt got a nice lift from Travon Woodall in their win over WVU and it could benefit the long term chances of the Panthers. Also, Joe Mazzulla returns to his home state this week and Seton Hall might have to answer to some alleged recruiting violations, although Bobby Gonzalez sternly denies there is any truth to the claims made by Chris Washburn.

Also, it might be another month 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. The Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden is an event Big East fans must experience when they have the opportunity and here is your chance to get your tickets early before they become harder, and more expensive, to find. 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

Now, onto today’s News & Notes around the Big East…

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MONDAY NIGHT’S BIG EAST GAME:

Connecticut 84, Villanova 75

Call this one The Big Bounce Back (TheDay.com) as Connecticut rebounded from a loss that coach Jim Calhoun labeled ‘embarrasing’ by earning an upset win on the road over No. 3 Villanova Monday night, 84-75.

UConn Runs Over ‘Nova (Delco Times) behind Kemba Walker’s sterling performance, which included 29 points and 9 rebounds, along with 3 assists. The Huskies physical advantage paid off as they handily won the battle on the boards as well as being able to find their way to the foul line 44 times, making 35 in the game.

The win moves UConn to 5-8 in the conference and 15-11 as their NCAA Tournament hopes are Alive, For the Moment, Anyway (Waterbury Rep-Am), with plenty of work ahead.

After Saturday’s loss to Cincinnati on their home court, Jim Calhoun was frustrated in his return from a 23-day leave of absence that he used the dreaded “E” word. He was embarrassed. Feeling his team was in a fragile state of confidence prior to the game at ‘Nova he decided to go in another direction and use the Power of Positive Thinking (Hartford Courant) and his team responded and UConn Gains Road Upset of Third-Ranked Wildcats (New Haven Register) for their NCAA Tournament resume that still needs more added to impress the committee next month.

Villanova has no such NCAA Tournament worries after last night’s loss. At 11-2 in the Big East and 22-3 overall the Wildcats are still on target for a #1 or #2 seed in the Big Dance even after Villanova Loses to Connecticut (Philadelphia Journal) on their home floor. Scottie Reynolds led ‘Nova with 18 points. Like the Huskies, Jay Wright’s club finishes Big East play with three of five on the road, beginning Saturday at No. 21 Pittsburgh.
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TUESDAY’S BIG EAST GAMES:

Cincinnati (6-6) at South Florida (5-7), 7 PM.

-Bulls Want to ‘Rock the Dome’ (Tampa Tribune)
-USF Struggling With 3-Pt Shooting in Big East Play (St. Pete Times)
-USF’s Howard Overcomes Obstacles to Help Bulls (Tampa Tribune)
-Cincinnati’s Starting Line-up Ever-Changing (Cincinnati Enquirer)
-Focused Bearcats Hit Home Stretch (Cincinnati Enquirer)

The Bearcats look to build some momentum with a tough closing stretch following a road win at UConn by heading south to take on the Bulls in the Sun Dome. USF looks to regain some momentum following a pair of losses as both teams need a win to help their NCAA Tournament chances.
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Rutgers (3-9) at DePaul (1-11), 9 PM.

-Rutgers’ Dane Miller Could be Candidate for Freshman of the Year (Star-Ledger)
-Knights Hop Momentum Carries Over from Georgetown Win (Asbury park Press)
-Rutgers at DePaul (Chicago Tribune)
-Hinson Appreciates N’Diaye’s Game (myCentralJersey.com)

The Blue Demons and Scarlet Knights meet at Allstate Arena tonight in a meeting af teams placed 15th and 16th in the conference standings. However, RU is coming off an upset win over No. 7 Georgetown Sunday at the RAC and are feeling pretty good about themselves. On the other hand, the Tracy Webster led Blue Demons have been battling hard but coming up short with a six-game losing streak.
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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall picked up a verbal commitment recently from KIMA BF Eugene McCrory. The 6-foot-8 McCrory Verbals to Seton Hall (i95Ballerz.com) over various levels of interest from Drexel, St. Bonnaventure, Fairfield, Jacksonville and Georgetown, according to his mother, Ann Duncan.

McCrory previously attended Paul VI and played on the AAU circuit with Team Takeover. He is averaging over 17 points and 12 rebounds a game this season at KIMA. After making a visit to SHU this weekend for their home win over DePaul, McGrory liked the style of play that Bobby Gonzalez’s team played and jumped at their scholarship offer.

The Washington Post, who originally reported the story of McCrory Committing to SHU noted that Pirate assistant Scott Abudato saw McCrory put up 19 points and 14 rebounds in a Saturday win over Progressive Christian and received an invite to visit for Sunday’s game. The Post also reports that McCrory is still working at qualifying academically.

Speaking of SHU recruiting, Bobby Gonzalez says We’re Clean (NorthJersey.com) in response to claims made by former NBA player Chris Washburn that a storage bill of approximately $3,000 incurred by his ex-wife would be “taken care of” by a Seton Hall assistant if his sons committed to the Pirates.
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Also receiving a recent verbal commitment was Stan Heath and South Florida as USF Gets Commitment from 6′5 JUCO Guard (St. Pete Times) Hugh Robertson of Tallahassee Community College. Robertson, who is from Macon, Ga., averages 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for TCC, hitting 41 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Robertson was also being recruited by Nebraska, Auburn, UNLV and Central Florida, according to TCC coach Eddie Barnes.
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Pittsburgh fans are still giddy after Friday night’s triple overtime win over West Virginia While the short-term benefits included a move up six spots in the AP Poll to No. 19 in the country and a tie for third-place in the conference, with WVU, the Panthers also might have gotten a long-term benefit as redshirt freshman Travon Returns to Make His Point (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) after a prolonger slump. Woodall scored 12 points and had seven rebounds and six assists, without a turnover, in 31 minutes, helping free Ashton Gibbs (six of 13 from three-point range) to be the shooter the Panthers needed. When Pitt has struggled offensively this year it seems Gibbs is the one trying to do too much in scoring and running the team. If Woodall can provide steady minutes as the point guard it will benefit Gibbs and the entire team.
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West Virginia travels to Providence this week for a Big East conference match-up. The Mountaineers hope to end their two-game losing streak and are coming off the heart-breaking triple OT loss at rival Pitt. for one WVU player, this week’s game represents a homecoming as Joe Mazzulla’s Roller Coaster Basketball Journey Returns to Rhode Island This Week (Providence Journal).

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