Big East Notebook
January 24, 2006 04:24 PM | General
January 24, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Big East Conference has now won four of its last five games against nationally ranked teams outside of league play.
Last Saturday, Georgetown knocked off No. 1-ranked Duke 87-84 in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia tripped up No. 18 UCLA 60-56 in Pauley Pavilion. The Mountaineers also own a 92-68 victory over then No. 8-rated Oklahoma on Dec. 22, and Pitt dumped No. 24 Wisconsin 73-64 on Dec. 31.
This week a conference-record seven teams are in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, including No. 1 Connecticut. The Big East also has two other teams in the Top 10 in No. 6 Villanova and No. 9 West Virginia. Rounding out the Top 25 are No. 12 Pitt, No. 21 Georgetown, No. 22 Louisville and No. 25 Syracuse.
The Huskies are also No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches poll, followed by No. 6 Villanova, No. 10 Pitt, No. 13 West Virginia, No. 23 Louisville and No. 24 Syracuse.
Versus Top 25
The Big East has played 20 games outside of league play against nationally ranked teams, and West Virginia leads the way by playing four. The Mountaineers dropped decisions to nationally ranked Texas and Kentucky in the Guardians Classic, and beat both Oklahoma and UCLA on the road. Connecticut, Villanova, Providence and Georgetown have each faced a pair of nationally ranked teams outside of conference play so far.
Key Conference Games to Watch This Week
Wednesday
St. John’s at Connecticut
Cincinnati at Louisville
Saturday
Marquette at Pittsburgh
Cincinnati at Georgetown, ESPN2
Villanova at Notre Dame, ESPN2
Sunday
West Virginia at St. John’s
When is No. 1 not No. 1
When was the last time the nation’s No. 1-ranked basketball team wasn’t in first place in their conference standings? That’s the case in the Big East right now, where No. 1 Connecticut (4-1 in league play) is third behind 5-0 West Virginia and 5-1 Pitt.
Honor Roll
The Big East chose the Marquette duo of Steve Novak and Dominic James as its player and rookie of the week. Novak averaged 26 points per game in wins over Notre Dame and DePaul, while James averaged 20 points 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Novak was picked over Georgetown’s Brandon Bowman and West Virginia’s Mike Gansey, who helped their teams to major upset victories over No. 1-ranked Duke and No. 17-rated UCLA respectively.
League Leaders
Scoring: Quincy Douby (Rutgers), 23.3 ppg.
Rebounding: Aaron Gray (Pitt), 10.4 rpg.
Assists: Chris Quinn (Notre Dame), 6.5 apg.
Steals: Mike Gansey (WVU), 2.4
Blocks: Eric Hicks (Cincinnati), 3.6
Field Goal Percentage: Randall Hanke (Providence), 69.8
Free Throw Percentage: Gerry McNamara (Syracuse), 92.5
Of Note
Cincinnati: Freshman point guard Devan Downey led the team in scoring, this time with 21, in a 71-66 win over Rutgers to snap a season-long three-game losing streak. Forward Eric Hicks produced his 20th career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the win against the Scarlet Knights.
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Connecticut: The Huskies became the nation’s top-ranked team after Georgetown upset Duke on Saturday. Marcus Williams scored 15 points to help UConn record its second straight win over a ranked opponent on the road and improve to 16-1 on the season.
DePaul: The Blue Demons were without their top rebounder Wilson Chandler for a second-straight game losing 76-75 to Providence last Saturday. Chandler, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game, has been shelved due to a violation of team rules.
Georgetown: The Hoyas got their first signature victory of the John Thompson era with an 87-84 upset of Duke last Saturday in Washington, D.C. It was Georgetown’s first win over a No. 1-rated team since beating St. John’s, 85-69, on Feb. 27, 1985. Brandon Bowman had 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Hoyas.
Louisville: The Cardinals are going through their toughest stretch under Coach Rick Pittino, dropping to 1-4 in Big East play after falling to Connecticut at home, 71-58, on Saturday. For the third time in four games, Louisville was without guard Taquan Dean who has been nursing an ankle injury. Louisville has dropped three conference games at home for the first time since the 1983-84 season when it was a member of the Metro Conference.
Marquette: The Golden Eagles improved to 4-2 in Big East play with victories over Notre Dame and DePaul. Against the Irish on Saturday, Steve Novak hit a basket with 1.1 seconds left to lift Marquette over the Irish. A record crowd of 18,874 -- billed as the largest crowd ever to witness a college basketball game in the state of Wisconsin – showed up for the Notre Dame game.
Notre Dame: The Irish dropped to 1-4 in Big East play after falling 67-65 at Marquette last Saturday. All four of Notre Dame’s losses in conference play have come by a combined 17 points.
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Pittsburgh: Guard Carl Krauser scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Panthers to an 80-67 win over Syracuse last night on ESPN’s Big Monday. Pitt held a substantial advantage over Syracuse at the free throw line, making 23 compared to Syracuse’s 5.
Providence: The Friars earned their first conference victory last Saturday against DePaul at home. Randall Hanke scored 19 to lead five Providence double-figure scorers. Hanke is the Big East’s top field-goal shooter at 69.8 percent.
Rutgers: After a 10-3 start, Rutgers is just 2-3 in its last five games including a 71-66 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday. Quincy Douby, the Big East’s leading scorer averaging 23.2 points per game, had four under his season average against the Bearcats. Douby is averaging 24.6 points per game in Big East action.
St. John’s: St. John’s has knocked off two nationally ranked conference teams at home in Louisville and Pitt, and gets a chance to get its third win over ranked team playing at No. 1 Connecticut on Wednesday night. The Red Storm is taking a three-game Big East winning streak into Storrs. It’s the first three-game winning streak for St. John’s since February, 2001.
Seton Hall: The Pirated needed overtime to defeat South Florida, 94-89, Friday night. Seton Hall had to overcome a 12-point second-half deficit and got a career-high 28 points from guard Jamar Nutter. Seton Hall steps outside of league play to face No. 15 N.C. State in Raleigh.
South Florida: The Bulls nearly got their first Big East win last Friday, falling in overtime to Seton Hall, 94-89, after leading the Pirates by 12 in the second half. Guard James Holmes poured in 35 in the Seton Hall loss and is now fifth in the conference in scoring at 18.7 points per game. South Florida has another opportunity to get in the win column this Wednesday night against Villanova.
Syracuse: The Orange have fallen on tough times after a 13-2 start, dropping three of their last five games. On Monday night Syracuse lost 80-67 at Pitt to drop its third straight conference game. Syracuse has also lost games to Connecticut and Villanova in the past eight days.
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Villanova: Guard Allan Ray snapped out of a scoring slump by posting 22 in Villanova’s 80-65 win over Syracuse last Saturday. Randy Foye contributed 20. A crowd of 20,581 showed up to watch the Wildcats beat Syracuse at home. It was the largest crowd to ever watch a college basketball game in the state of Pennsylvania.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers now have the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games after beating UCLA, 60-56, at Pauley Pavilion last Saturday. Guard Mike Gansey scored a game-high 24 points and made a game-saving steal with 2.5 seconds left in the UCLA win. The triumph over the No. 18-rated Bruins was Coach John Beilein’s 13th win over a ranked team while at WVU. Eleven of those 13 wins have come away from the WVU Coliseum.
