Big East Report (Dec. 11)

Inside the Big East

Big East standings as of 12/11/06: (Overall records in parenthesis)

1. Pittsburgh (10-0)
2. Connecticut (8-0)
3. Notre Dame (7-1)
4. West Virginia (7-1)
5. Seton Hall (6-1)
6. South Florida (6-1)
7. Marquette (9-2)
8. Syracuse (8-2)
9. Providence (7-2)
10. Villanova (7-2)
11. Cincinnati (6-2)
12. Louisville (5-2)
13. Georgetown (6-3)
14. St. John’s (6-3)
15. DePaul (4-5)
16. Rutgers (4-5)

My Personal Power Rankings:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Connecticut
3. Georgetown
4. Syracuse
5. Notre Dame
6. Marquette
7. Louisville
8. Villanova
9. Providence
10. Seton Hall
11. West Virginia
12. DePaul
13. St. John's
14. Cincinnati
15. South Florida
16. Rutgers

This week’s games and predictions: (home team in CAPS)

Wednesday, December 13:

LOUISVILLE 78, UMass 71
Xavier 73, CINCINNATI 65
DEPAUL 75, Wake Forest 73

Saturday, December 16:

WISCONSIN 83, Pittsburgh 79
LOUISVILLE 78, Kentucky 75
RUTGERS 68, Iona 51
DePaul 71, Rhode Island 66
MARQUETTE 85, MD-Baltimore County 58
Ohio State 93, Cincinnati 68 (John R. Wooden Tradition, Indianapolis, IN)
WEST VIRGINIA 77, Savannah State 58
NOTRE DAME 95, Elon 62
SYRACUSE 76, Baylor 64
GEORGETOWN 88, Winston-Salem 50

Sunday, December 17:

CONNECTICUT 83, St. Mary's 75
SOUTH FLORIDA 86, Norfolk State 61

Quote to Note: Louisville coach Rick Pitino after a loss to Arizona on Tuesday night: "I am really happy with my guys, I see great potential in this basketball team and if we continue to grow we are going to be an outstanding basketball team. I am not happy with the loss, but I am happy with our potential."

What exactly does that mean? Someone?? Anyone???


Weekly Big East awards: (straight from the Big East website)

Big East Player of the Week:

Russell Carter, Notre Dame. “Carter posted a career-high 27 points in the Irish's 99-85 win over No. 4/5 Alabama. He was 6-of-11 from 3-point range, grabbed five rebounds and made five steals. It was Notre Dame's only game of the week. Carter, a native of Paulsboro, N.J., is averaging a team-leading 16.6 points and has reached double figures in every game this season.”

Big East Rookie of the Week:

Eugene Harvey, Seton Hall. “Harvey earns rookie honors for the second straight week. In a 69-59 come-from-behind win over Penn State, he scored a career-high 27 points on 10-18 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds and dealt four assists. Earlier in the week, he had 14 points in an 83-49 victory over Monmouth."

Big East Weekly Honor Roll:

Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame. Scored 20 pts. on 7-of-9 shooting in win over Alabama.

Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh. Averaged 17.5 pts., 11.5 rebs., and shot 53.8 percent from the floor in a 2-0 week. Had two double-doubles.

McHugh Mattis, USF. Averaged 17.3 pts., 11.3 rebs., 5.0 blocks in a 2-1 week. Had a triple-double in a win at Winston-Salem.

Demetris Nichols, Syracuse. Averaged 27.0 pts., shot 62.5 percent from the floor in a 1-1 week.

Alex Ruoff, West Virginia. Averaged 16.5 pts., 5.0 assists and shot 73.3 percent from 3-point range in a 2-0 week, which included a victory over NC State.

Best win:

Notre Dame 99, Alabama 85- Notre Dame needed this one for their NCAA hopes, and a non-conference win versus a top five team will certainly do the trick. Russell Carter and the three pointer happy Irish need to keep their hot shooting up, or they will struggle in Big East play.

Worst loss:

Drexel 81, Villanova 76- The loss of Randy Foye, as well as Allan Ray, is showing for Villanova. Curtis Sumpter is doing all he can (31 pts, 10 rebs), but Will Sheridan and Dante Cunningham need to step it up.

National games to watch: Light schedule this week with most schools administering final exams, but here are two games coming up this Saturday.

December 16-

Pittsburgh @ Wisconsin: In this matchup of heavy weights, Wisconsin’s home dominance may come into question in this game. Pitt is very balanced. Don’t let the three point win at Buffalo fool you.

Purdue @ Butler: This would be a quality win for Matt Painter and his boilermakers. Purdue has played a tough schedule thus far, but lacks a marquee win. Butler, coming off a loss to Indiana State, needs this one to get back on track.