Big East Notebook
December 22, 2003 04:55 PM | General
December 22, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia junior Drew Schifino extended his streak of scoring double figures to 46 straight games against Florida on Saturday.
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| Drew Schifino recorded his 46th straight double-figure scoring game Saturday against Florida. (AP photo) |
The Pittsburgh native is tied with Seton Hall’s Andre Barrett for the longest current double-figure scoring streak among Big East players. Schifino currently ranks fourth among Big East scorers with an average of 19.2 points per game and he recently topped the 1,000-point mark for his career. Schifino now shows 1,008 career points.
Other West Virginia players ranked among Big East leaders this week include: D’or Fischer 10th in rebounding (7.1); J.D. Collins 12th in assists (4.12); Schifino 13th in steals (1.88); Fischer third in blocked shots (3.62); J.D. Collins ninth in assist-turnover ratio (+2.36); Schifino 15th in offensive rebounding (2.50) and Fischer 11th in defensive rebounding (4.88).
As for team rankings West Virginia is seventh in scoring offense (73.5), 14th in scoring defense (72.5), 13th in scoring margin (+1.0), eighth in free throw percentage (67.5), fifth in field goal percentage (47.7), 10th in field goal percentage defense (42.1), first in three-point field goal percentage (41.8), 12th in three-point field goal percentage defense (39.2), 14th in offensive rebounding (32.0), 14th in defensive rebounding (41.0), 14th in rebound margin (-9.0), fourth in blocked shots (6.12), fifth in assists (16.1), tied for eighth in steals (7.0), seventh in turnover margin (+0.75) and seventh in assist-turnover ratio (+1.12).
As of Monday, Dec. 22, Villanova’s Chris Sumpter owns the league scoring high with 39 points against Northeastern on Dec. 12. Villanova’s Allan Ray has the second highest total with 38 against the University of Redlands on Nov. 22. Notre Dame’s Torin Francis has the league’s top rebounding effort with 19 against Northern Illinois on Nov. 24 and Connecticut’s Marcus Williams handed out a league-high 13 assists against Sacred Heart on Nov. 22.
More Big East Briefs ...
Six-ten, 230-pound center Chris Taft is averaging 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in helping Pittsburgh get off to a 10-0 start. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native has also blocked a team-best 23 shots. Taft was considered one of the conference’s top newcomers, rated the 39th-best recruit in the country by Bob Gibbons.
Boston College got a late signature from California prep standout Jared Dudley, but the 6-foot-6 forward has come on strong this year by averaging 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Eagles. Dudley has started all nine games and is shooting 63.5 percent from the floor. Including Big East all-rookie forward Craig Smith last year, Eagle coach Al Skinner has found a gold mine recruiting relatively unknown California players.
Connecticut’s Charlie Villanueva has finally gotten the green light to play and is averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in UConn’s last three games against Army, Quinnipiac and Iona. The 6-foot-11 forward is considered one of the top freshmen players in the country and was the preseason Big East rookie of the year.
Rutgers has found a good one in former New York City scoring whiz Quincy Douby of Brooklyn, N.Y.. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 11.6 points per game in seven games off the bench. Douby is shooting 38.2 percent from three-point range and has helped the Scarlet Knights jump out to a solid 6-1 start.
Syracuse welcomed a trio of highly touted newcomers in Demetrious Nichols, Terrence Roberts and Louie McCroskey and so far McCroskey has been the most effective averaging 5.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in three games. Unlike some Big East teams, Syracuse doesn’t need to rely as much on freshmen because of the talented players returning from last year’s national championship team. The Orangemen improved to 5-1 with a win Saturday over Sienna.
Villanova has a pair of Top 100 recruits this year in point guard Mike Nardy and forward Will Sheriden. Nardy has started all eight games and is averaging 10.1 points and 5.4 assists per game. Sheridan, a 6-foot-9 forward, has started five of eight games and is averaging 6.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Miami has one of the Big East’s most exciting freshmen 6-foot-2 guard Guillermo Diaz from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Diaz has already been named Big East rookie of the week once and is averaging 11.2 points per game, third-best for the Hurricanes behind Darius Rice and Robert Hite. Diaz is shooting 49.4 percent and is grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game coming off the bench. Bob Gibbons rated Diaz the conference’s second-best freshman behind Connecticut’s Charlie Villanueva.
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg sees a bright future in a pair of high-flying freshmen guards in 6-foot-3 Jamon Gordon of Jacksonville, Fla., and 6-foot-2 Zabian Dowdell of Pahokee, Fla.
The two have combined to average 24.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in helping Tech to a 6-3 start. Both have started all nine games and Gordon leads the conference in steals with an average of 3.0 per game.
West Virginia has gotten production from freshmen guards Tyler Relph and Frank Young. Relph is averaging 6.6 points per game and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field including 52.2 percent from three-point range. Young has made four three-point field goals in six games.
Notre Dame’s Colin Falls has made one start this year and is averaging 6.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in six games. Falls has a single-game scoring high of 12 points so far this year.
And 6-foot-9 forward Lamont Hamilton has managed to average 5.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for St. John’s. The Brooklyn native has started three of the six games he’s played.
