Big East Notebook
December 11, 2002 12:08 PM | General
December 11, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Believe it or not, the West Virginia University men’s basketball team received 13 votes in the latest Top 25 men’s basketball poll.
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| West Virginia's Jarmon Durisseau-Collins leads the Big East conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
This coming on the heels of back-to-back wins against No. 8 Florida and UNC Greensboro that boosted the Mountaineers’ overall record to 4-1 entering Saturday afternoon’s home game against Wofford.
ESPN.com college basketball writer Andy Katz called West Virginia’s win over Florida “by far the most shocking in the country this season.”
Katz went on to write: “It’s hard to call it a bad loss for Florida since the Mountaineers followed it up with a win over UNC Greensboro for a 4-1 start!”
ESPN's Dick Vitale also listed West Virginia's win over Florida as the nation's "Shock of the Week."
Beilein, ever conscious of his team’s lack of depth and inexperience, remarked after last Saturday’s win against Greensboro, “Nobody knows our weaknesses as much as I do, and I’m well aware of them. I probably wouldn’t tell them to all of you because I don’t need that to be out in scouting reports. But we are what we are -- we’re still a young team that is trying to find themselves.”
West Virginia is young, indeed. The team’s top four scorers are either freshmen or sophomores. Six-three forward Drew Schifino leads the way with an average of 19.6 points per game, followed by 6-foot-10 forward Kevin Pittsnogle (10.8 ppg.), 6-7 forward Tyrone Sally (9.8) and 6-6 guard Joe Herber (6.8). Schifino and Sally are sophomores while Pittsnogle and Herber are freshmen.
The Mountaineers will have another stern test Saturday against a Wofford team that defeated Virginia Tech, 79-77 in Blacksburg and lost at Clemson by only seven, 79-72.
News and notes
* West Virginia’s win over No. 8-ranked Florida on Tuesday, Dec. 3, helped the Big East improve to 5-2 against nationally ranked teams so far this season. After a pair of losses by Villanova to No. 18 Marquette and Seton Hall to No. 3 Texas, the Big East has won its last five games against ranked foes.
Villanova downed No. 9 Michigan State, 81-73 on Nov. 30; Notre Dame clipped No. 13 Marquette, 92-71; West Virginia upset No. 8 Florida, 68-66 on Dec. 3; Notre Dame drilled No. 9 Maryland, 79-67 on Dec. 7, and outlasted No. 2 Texas 98-92 on Dec. 8.
Notre Dame’s three-game run has put the Irish into the Top 25 this week at No. 10 in the Associated Press media poll and No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
The Irish join Pitt (#3 in ESPN/USA Today and #4 in AP) and Connecticut (#9 in both polls) as Big East teams in the rankings this week.
* Giving Notre Dame a big lift this year is Maryland transfer Dan Miller, who ranks third on the team in scoring with an average of 17.3 points per game. The 6-8 forward was named the Big East player of the week after averaging 19 points and 7.3 rebounds in wins over Marquette, Maryland and Texas.
The Irish also got a big-time performance from center Torin Francis against Texas. The 6-10 freshman scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked eight shots against the Longhorns to earn Big East co-rookie of the week honors with Boston College freshman forward Craig Smith.
* It’s not a far flung notion that Pitt could come into the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday, Jan. 14, as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.
The Panthers are currently No. 3 in the coaches poll and have games coming up against Southeast Louisiana, Ohio State, at Rhode Island, George Mason, at Georgia, Robert Morris, Notre Dame and at Rutgers before facing the Mountaineers.
The Panthers are 5-0 after an 82-60 victory over Penn State on Thursday, Dec. 7.
Just Arizona and Duke are ranked higher than the Panthers in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
* Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun used a little reverse psychology to get his team fired up after a miserable first-half performance against Massachusetts Tuesday night. With UConn trailing 30-9 at halftime, Calhoun encouraged the fans at the Hartford Civic Center to boo his team as they left the floor.
After Calhoun’s fiery halftime speech, the Huskies made seven straight three-pointers and turned a 34-9 second-half deficit into a 59-48 victory to run its record to 6-0. UConn outscored UMass, 50-18 in the second half.
"It was a tale of two games," Calhoun said. "In the first half we were comatose."
* After losing games to St. Joseph’s and Holy Cross, Boston College has found its bearings with three straight wins over St. Bonaventure, Massachusetts and most recently, at Iowa State Tuesday night. Guard Troy Bell scored 26 points and outstanding freshman Craig Smith had all 14 of his points in the second half to lift the Eagles to their second straight win against the Cyclones. Bell scored 42 in a win against Iowa State last year.
* Things are already starting to turn ugly in Blacksburg for Virginia Tech coach Ricky Stokes. The Hokies are 4-4 with back-to-back losses to William & Mary and East Carolina. Tech also counts losses to St. Bonaventure and Wofford. The Hokies have winnable games coming up against Morgan State, Western Michigan and Towson before facing Florida State on Saturday, Jan. 4.
* Much has been made about the outstanding crop of freshmen in the college game today, but none has been more productive than Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony. The 6-8, 220-pound Anthony scored 22 points in Syracuse’s 92-65 win over UNC Greensboro Tuesday night and is averaging a team-best 25 points per game. That total also leads the Big East conference.
In addition to his eye-opening scoring figures, Anthony has also managed a double-double in points and rebounds in each of his first four games. Anthony’s streak was snapped against UNC Greensboro with just seven rebounds. He is averaging 36.6 minutes per game.
* In addition to Anthony’s league-leading scoring average, freshmen also occupy the top spots in Big East field goal percentage (Craig Smith, BC, 68.6 percent), three-point field goals made (Gerry McNamara, SYR, 3.25 pg.) and assist-to-turnover ratio (Jarmon Durisseau-Collins, WVU, 5.67 ratio).
* There are four teams still undefeated in the Big East. They are: Connecticut (6-0) and St. John’s (3-0) in the East, and Georgetown (5-0) and Pitt (4-0) in the West. Georgetown’s first tough game comes at Virginia on Saturday, Dec. 28. The Hoyas also have a meeting at No. 2-ranked Duke on Sunday, Jan. 8.
* Villanova’s rollercoaster season took a twist downward on Tuesday night when the Wildcats lost to Penn, 72-58. To its credit, Villanova has played one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the Big East this year, defeating No. 10 Michigan State, Loyola Marymount, Drexel and LaSalle, and losing to No. 19 Marquette, College of Charleston and Penn.
As a side note of interest, two West Virginia transfers rank among Loyola’s top scorers in forward Keith Kincade (9.8 ppg.) and guard Kent Dennis (7.2 ppg.).
* What is going on at Miami? The Hurricanes began the season with three straight victories over New Hampshire, Texas A&M and Savannah State before dropping consecutive games to Florida Atlantic and Florida State. Miami trailed the Seminoles 39-28 at the half and were never in it in the second half, losing by 17. Keep in mind Miami has a Wooden Award candidate in 6-10 junior forward Darius Rice.
* The Big East led all other leagues in out-of-conference victories last year with 138. The Big East is off to another fine start this season with a 59-19 record as of Tuesday, Dec. 10.
