Big East Notebook
December 23, 2002 01:50 PM | General
December 23, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- As well as West Virginia has played under John Beilein to start the 2002-03 season, the veteran coach knows storm clouds are forming in the distance.
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| Guard Drew Schifino has helped West Virginia to an impressive 7-1 start. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
West Virginia improved to 7-1 with an exciting, come-from-behind win over Tennessee. The team will have a few days to reflect on that during Christmas break before reassembling Thursday in preparation for a trip to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on Saturday night and Gardner-Webb on Sunday.
After that, the Mountaineers have one more non-conference game at St. Louis before opening Big East play against Miami at the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
"We have this record because we've played seven home games, let's be realistic here," said Beilein. "I've never been in this situation before. At the levels I've been at you're usually hoping to go home with a winning record by Christmas time. It's going to be very difficult for us, but every game is preparation for Big East play. And every Big East game is preparation for the next game. Hopefully we're going to the Garden one day and playing in that tournament."
Getting to New York will be a tremendous challenge for the Mountaineers this year.
It just so happens that West Virginia, a unanimous last-place pick in the Big East West, has to play in a West division that is much, much more difficult than the East.
The West has four wins over ranked opponents thus far this season and has combined for a record of 46-9.
With Arizona’s loss to LSU last Saturday, Pitt should move up one spot in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll to No. 2 behind No. 1 Duke. Pitt’s ranking matches its highest ranking in school history during the 1987-88 season.
West Virginia plays the Panthers twice on Jan. 14 and Feb. 12.
Two weeks ago, Notre Dame mowed through the top 10 like a well-oiled Lawn Boy and is now 10-1 after defeating Canisius, 93-75 on Sunday. Coach Mike Brey has the Irish off to their best start since the 1979 season when they began the year 12-1.
West Virginia plays the Irish twice on Jan. 29 and Feb. 18.
Syracuse completely destroyed a respectable Georgia Tech team at the Carrier Dome last Saturday to 6-1 on the season. The Orangemen have the nation’s best pair of freshmen in 6-foot-7 forward Carmelo Anthony and 6-2 guard Gary McNamara. Anthony is averaging 24.7 points per game and McNamara 14.3. Syracuse will also get the services of freshman hot shot Billy Edelin on Jan. 18.
West Virginia plays the Orangemen twice on Feb. 8 and Feb. 26.
Georgetown ran its record to 7-0 with an easy 91-66 win over Howard on Friday and also counts wins over South Carolina (67-59) and Coastal Carolina (87-60). Although we will get a cleared picture of how good the Hoyas are in ensuing games against Virginia and Duke, we do know they boast one of the nation’s biggest front lines in 6-11 Wesley Wilson, 6-9 Courtland Freeman and 6-8, 260-pound Mike Sweetney.
West Virginia plays the Hoyas twice on Jan. 12 and March 5.
Obviously, you can see the trend developing here.
For West Virginia to reach New York this year, it is going to have to do so by playing four of the Big East’s top five teams eight times this season.
West Virginia also has tough conference road games against Boston College on Jan. 19, at Villanova on Feb. 1 and at Rutgers on Feb. 15.
Any hope of getting to New York may boil down to how West Virginia plays head-to-head against Seton Hall and Rutgers, and how it does in cross divisional home games against Miami and Virginia Tech.
West Virginia’s postseason plans could be decided right there.
News and notes
* Aided by West Virginia’s pair of wins over SEC teams Florida and Tennessee, the Big East now owns a winning 4-3 mark against the SEC this year. The conference also has winning records against the Big Ten (4-1) and the Big 12 (3-1).
Overall, the Big East is 81-28 against non-conference opponents entering action this week.
* Of the seven major conferences, the Big East has losing records against just the ACC (1-4) and Conference USA (2-6). The Big East’s only win against the ACC came last Saturday when Syracuse destroyed Georgia Tech, 92-65 in the Carrier Dome.
* Pittsburgh guard Brandin Kight and Providence center Ryam Gomes shared Big East player of the week honors for Dec. 23, while Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara was named the conference’s rookie of the week.
Knight had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds in Pitt’s 69-49 win over Ohio State, and had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in the Panthers’ 87-71 win over Rhode Island.
Gomes averaged 22.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in two games against Richmond and Alabama. He had 24 points and 17 rebounds against the Spiders and had 21 points and 12 boards in an eight-point loss at Alabama.
McNamara, a 6-2 guard, scored 25 points and handed out 10 assists in Syracuse’s 92-65 win over Georgia Tech. McNamara, a natural shooting guard, is playing the point until highly regarded freshman Billy Edelin rejoins the lineup on Jan. 18.
* Notre Dame is 10-1 and off to its best start since 1978-79. The Irish have won six straight with three victories over teams that were all ranked in the Top 10. Now No. 9 in the nation, they may move further up in the polls today. On Sunday, the Irish disposed of Canisius 93-75. Matt Carroll scored 25 points and the Irish led by as many as 35 points in the second half.
* The Big East may be losing its unflattering reputation for halfcourt warfare. If you haven’t noticed, the conference currently has six teams averaging better than 80 points per game. Leading the way is 7-0 Connecticut with an average of 89 points per contest. The other five are Syracuse (86.4), Notre Dame (85.6), Georgetown (84.1), Pittsburgh (82.9) and Boston College (80.1).
Only three teams are averaging less than 70 points per game in Rutgers, Seton Hall and Virginia Tech.
Last year, just Connecticut finished the season averaging better than 80 points per game (81.1).
* Here is this week’s Big East schedule:
Monday, Dec. 23
Morris Brown at Rutgers
Friday, Dec. 27
Binghampton at Villanova
Miami at Central Florida
Manhattan at St. John’s
Saturday, Dec. 28
Central Connecticut at Connecticut
Seton Hall at DePaul
Georgetown at Virginia
George Mason at Pitt
Albany at Syracuse
Northeastern at Providence
Delaware State at Rutgers
Boston College at Kent State
West Virginia at UNLV
Sunday, Dec. 29
Gardner-Webb vs. West Virginia
