Big East Tournament Starts on Wednesday, March 7

The men's Big East basketball tournament will kick-off on Wednesday, March 7th, with a noon game matching up the #8 vs. #9 seeds at Madison Square Garden. You can view the entire tourney schedule, plus buy tickets for the tourney at tickco.com.

Super Scottie Reynolds

In a 78-74 win over the UConn Huskies, Scottie Reynolds dropped 40 points. That's right, 40. It's a freshman single-season record for Villanova. The Wildcats all but secured themselves a berth in the tourney with this win. Although they are only 8-7 in the Big East and 20-9 overall, they have the number six strength of schedule.

Syracuse Shines

With a huge win over the Hoyas, 72-58, the Syracuse might have just played themselves into the NCAA tourney. In the process, Andy Rautins, the 6'5" guard, has been making a name for himself. After reaching double digits in scoring only four times prior to 2/3, Andy has hit double digits in six of the last seven games. Demetris Nichols led the 'Cuse in scoring against the Hoyas, putting up 22. Although he was 6 for 16 from the field, he was 2 of four from behind the arc, and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line.

Villanova Thrashes Rutgers

Given the overall records of these two teams prior to the matchup,(Villanova 19-8; Rutgers 10-17) you probably wouldn't have expected a different outcome. In the Big East, when two conference teams get together you never know though. This one did turn out with a Villanova victory by 23 points, 74-51. Nova made more inroads towards securing an at-large tourney bid, if they don't wind up as Big East Tournament champions and get the automatic bid.

Freshman Scottie Reynolds continued to excel, scoring 25 with six treys. Nova had four men in double digits (Reynolds, Nardi, Sumpter, Cunningham.) Meanwhile, for Rutgers, only Marquis Webb put up double-digits on the scoreboard (12 points.)

Nova next travels to Connecticut on Wednesday for a matchup with the Huskies, while the Scarlet Knights will be closing out their regular season schedule, as they are visited by the Irish on Saturday.

Big Win by ND

Notre Dame came back from a 17 - 6 defecit early in the first half, to beat number 16 ranked Marquette 85 - 73. It's a big win for the Irish, now at 22-6, who are looking to secure an NCAA tournament berth.

Hoyas Down Panthers

With about one minute left in the game, Pitt had the ball, and a chance to cut the lead to 2 points. It looked as if they were going to try to cut the lead to 3 points, and strategize from there. A pass in the paint was mishandled and the ball was back in the Hoyas hands. Down five, with about 38 seconds left, Pitt had no chance but to foul. And that was about all she wrote. The Hoyas became the top team in the Big East with a 61 - 53 win over Pitt today.

Georgetown and Pitt - All Tied Up

After a 13 - 5 run by the Hoyas, they're all tied up with the Panthers, at 49 - 49, with 4:51 left in the game. Jonathan Wallace is leading all scorers with 13 points in the game. He's only 3 of 5 in field goals, but a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. Pittsburgh has outscord the Hoyas 23 - 20 so far this half.

Syracuse Edges Providence

In a game that could have easily gone the other way, Syracuse edged out the Friars 71 to 67. With the game tied at 65, Demetris Nichols hit a clutch three which gave the Orangemen the lead. They did not relinquish that lead. Syracuse took another step towards being part of the NCAA tourney with this win. Although Providence played tough and had a serious chance to win this game, they remain a speculative bubble team for the tourney.

The Orangemen had a fairly balance offensive attack, with four players in double-digits on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Friars were led by Herbert Hill, one of two double-digit scorers for Providence (Sharaud Curry was the other with 14 points,) with 29 points.

Next on tap for the Orangemen is a tough matchup on Monday night against the number 12 ranked Georgetown Hoyas. The Friars are off until Wednesday when they visit South Florida.

Syracuse up by 3

Syracuse now leads the Friars by 3, 57-54. With 7:43 left in the game, Demetris Nichols leads all 'Cuse scorers with 15 points.

DePaul Thrashing the Bearcats

In the "other" noon game in the Big East today, DePaul is whooping up on Cincinnati 35-20 at the half. DePaul has used ten players so far with no single player above double digits in points. Meanwhile, the Bearcats only have two players with more than two points right now.

Providence up at the Half

With a 20-7 run, capped by an authoritave dunk by Hill, the Friars are up on the Orangemen, 38-34 at the half. Herbert Hill leads all scorers in this game with 16 points, making 8 of 10 field goals. From behind the arc, Andy Rautins is 3 of 5 and leads all Syracuse scorers with 9 points.

Syracuse at Providence in the Big East

As Syracuse matches up with Providence in the Big East today, the Orangemen are looking to make a statement for themselves, and improve their shot at making the NCAA tourney next month. Currently the Friars are coming on strong in the 1st half, down by 2, 29-27, with about 4 minutes left.

Big East Battle Set for Saturday

This Saturday, February 24th, we'll see the top two teams in the Big East go head to head with Pittsburgh visiting Georgetown for a matchup in D.C. at 2pm to be shown on CBS. Look for a defensive battle with the red-hot Hoyas leading the league in defense, while the Panthers are no slouches themselves, being second in the league defensively.

Big East's Leading Scorer

The Big East's leading scorer might not currently be a household name. If Syracuse can make the March Madness Tournament he might be though. While the 'Cuse quietly has a fairly good season (currently 19-8, 8-5 in the Big East,) forward Demetris Nichols is having a banner year. He currently leads the Big East in scoring with 18.9 points per game. In a recent 76-74 win over St. John's, Demetris put in a season-high 37 points. If the Orangemen can make the tourney, watch out for Demetris to make some noise.

Upcoming Big East Games

This Saturday, February 24th, we'll have several excellent Big East games on-tap. Here's a list of what will be going on:

Cincinnati @ DePaul 12:00 PM
Syracuse @ Providence 12:00 PM
Pittsburgh @ Georgetown 2:00 PM
Marquette @ Notre Dame 3:30 PM
Rutgers @ Villanova 4:00 PM
USF @ Seton Hall 8:00 PM

Go to bigeast.org for more info.