Big East Notebook
January 13, 2006 03:17 PM | General
January 13, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – News and notes from around the Big East men’s basketball conference this week:
From the Ranks of the Ranked
The Big East has six teams ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls. In the latest AP rankings, Villanova is third, Connecticut fourth, Louisville 10th, Pitt 12, West Virginia 16th and Cincinnati 25th. In the Coaches Poll, Villanova is third, Connecticut fourth, Louisville 10th, Pitt 11th, West Virginia 23rd and Syracuse 24th.
Attendance Update
Four Big East schools are averaging better than 10,000 fans per game led by Louisville’s season average of 18,748. Syracuse is second averaging 18,703 fans per game while Connecticut is third with an average of 14,847. Big East newcomer Marquette is averaging 12,278 for its 10 home dates to rank fourth. West Virginia, averaging 9,678 at its 14,000-seat WVU Coliseum, should go over the 10,000 mark after Saturday’s sold-out game against Marquette.
Young Guns
 |
||
| James |
Marquette has two of the Big East’s top freshmen in 5-foot-11-inch point guard Dominic James and 6-3 guard Jerel McNeal. James is first among all Big East freshmen averaging 13.8 points per game while McNeal is third averaging 11.4 points per contest. James ranks first among all conference freshmen with a 5.8-assists average per game and McNeal is first among league freshmen in steals with an average of 2.1 per game.
League Newcomers Faring Well
Three of the Big East five newcomers have done well so far in conference play. A very young Marquette team has gotten off to a 2-1 start in league play heading into West Virginia this weekend. The Golden Eagles show wins over Connecticut and Seton Hall and a four-point loss to Cincinnati. Cincinnati is also 2-1 with conference wins over DePaul and Marquette before losing at Connecticut. The Bearcats take on Syracuse in Cincinnati Saturday night. Louisville has split its opening two league games, winning on the road at Providence before dropping a 76-67 decision to Villanova at home on Jan. 5. The Cardinals take on Pitt Sunday at home.
Double Trouble
 |
||
| Hicks |
Notre Dame center Torin Francis is the Big East active leader in career double-doubles with 28. Cincinnati forward Eric Hicks has 18 career double-double games including the only triple-double performance by any Big East player this year against Marquette, scoring 22 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking 10 shots.
Honor Roll
Cincinnati forward Eric Hicks and Marquette center Steve Novak shared Big East player of the week honors for the week of Jan. 9. Hicks posted the 10th triple-double in conference history in a win against Marquette, while Novak scored 41 in a home win against Connecticut. UConn’s Rashad Anderson leads all Big East players with four player-of-the-week citations, followed by three each from Pitt’s Carl Krauser and Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara.
League Leaders
 |
||
| Douby |
Rutgers guard Quincy Douby continues to lead all conference players with a 23.2-points-per-game scoring average. That figure ranks the junior eighth among all NCAA scorers. Pitt’s Aaron Gray is first in rebounding with an average of 10.3 boards per game, while Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara is first in assists with an average of 6.6 per game. McNamara, like Douby, ranks eighth nationally.
In addition to Douby, the Big East has two other scorers averaging better than 20 points per game in Villanova’s Randy Foye (21.3 ppg.) and West Virginia’s Kevin Pittsnogle (20.2 ppg.).
Connecticut remains the top shot-blocking team in the country averaging 9.1 blocks per game. The Huskies are second in the nation in scoring margin at plus-22.2. Villanova is second in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.5, while West Virginia is second in both 3-point field goals per game (10.6) and turnovers per game (9.4).
Key Conference Games This Weekend
A pair of one-loss teams will battle in Hartford Saturday when Connecticut plays host to Georgetown. Georgetown lost its first league game of the year at West Virginia while UConn dropped its conference opener at Marquette. West Virginia, 3-0, is looking for its first 4-0 start in Big East play Saturday afternoon playing host to surprising Marquette. Syracuse is looking to stay undefeated playing on the road at No. 25 Cincinnati, which is expecting a capacity crowd. And No. 3 Villanova steps outside of league play to face Texas in Austin. That game will be televised nationally on CBS.
Who’s Hot
PITTSBURGH won its 13th game in a row Thursday night against DePaul and is one of three remaining undefeated teams left in the country. The Panthers got 20 points and 12 rebounds from Aaron Gray against the Blue Demons. It was Gray’s Big East-leading eighth double-double of the season.
SYRACUSE secured win number 11 in a row Wednesday night at Notre Dame, downing the Irish 88-82. The Orange won for the sixth straight time in the Joyce Center behind guard Gerry McNamara’s game-high 25 points. Freshman guard Eric Devendorf added 22 for the Orange.
WEST VIRGINIA collected its ninth straight win on Wednesday night against Georgetown for its 3-0 start in Big East play since joining the league in 1995. Center Kevin Pittsnogle scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Georgetown’s tall front line.
Who’s Not
SOUTH FLORIDA dropped to 0-2 in conference play last Sunday at Syracuse and has lost four straight. The Bulls are down to eight scholarship players and have tough assignments on the horizon at Georgetown and Seton Hall coming up. Perhaps the most winnable game USF has comes up Saturday at home against 7-6 St. John’s.
NOTRE DAME is 0-3 in conference play for the first time under Coach Mike Brey after its 88-82 loss to Syracuse Wednesday night. The Irish defense has given up 100 in an overtime loss at Pitt, 73 in a road loss at DePaul, and 88 most recently to Syracuse. Notre Dame is 13th in the conference in scoring defense allowing
