Big East Basketball Recap: 01/03

#3 Pittsburgh stomps #8 Georgetown

DeJuan Blair recorded his ninth double-double on the year as his 20 points and 17 rebounds moved the Pittsburgh Panthers unbeaten streak to 14-0 as they defeated the Georgetown Hoyas 70-56 on Saturday.

The Panthers, known for their defense and rebounding, executed those values in their first Big East conference victory of the year. The Panthers came into the game 13 th in the nation in terms of rebounding margin and their +26 margin, including 18 on the offensive end, will improve those numbers no doubt.

Point guard Levance Fields quarterbacked his team yet again dishing out eight assists and zero turnovers while potential All-American candidate Sam Young recorded 14 points, matching his fellow forward Tyrell Biggs.

The Pittsburgh defense held Georgetown, who came into the game as the number two team in the nation for defensive field goal percentage, to just 35.3% shooting.

The Panthers struggled a bit in the first half containing super forward DeJuan Summers. Summers went into the half connecting on his first three 3-point field goals and 16 points on 6-9 shooting. Pitt (14-0) would regroup holding him to just three second half shot attempts.

Freshman Greg Monroe finished the game with 15 points on 6-13 shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds.

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St. John’s takes advantage of #10 Irish 3-pointing woes

The St. John Red Storm proved that no team in the Big East will be able to take a night off because of the high-talent competition as they knocked off the #10 Notre Dame Irish 71-65.

St. John’s (10-4, 1-1) won their first conference game and were led by guard D.J. Kennedy who notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Forward Justin Burrell added 18 points to compliment his teammate.

For the Irish (10-3, 1-1) they got a star effort out of All-American Luke Harangody who had 28 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and four steals, but there were just 15 made field goals between his seven other teammates.

Tory Jackson had 14 points on 6-10 shooting while Kyle McAlarney pitched in 10.

#2 UConn takes out Georgetown loss against Rutgers

The UConn Huskies rebounded from their home upset of the Georgetown Hoyas as they beat up on the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers 80-49 on Saturday.

Four Connecticut starters reached double digits and leading the way was All-American Hasheem Thabeet who had 15 points and eight rebounds. Following the All-American was Jerome Dyson with 14, Jeff Adrien with 13, and Stanley Robinson with 11.

Gavin Edwards also gave a solid performance off the bench with 10 points

It was the third consecutive loss to a highly ranked team for Rutgers (9-6, 0-2), which was beaten last Sunday by No. 1 North Carolina and lost on Wednesday to No. 3 Pittsburgh.

Freshman guard Mike Rosario, who had 26 points against the Tar Heels and 22 against Pitt, hit just two of 13 shots from the field and finished with 10 points. Gregory Echenique led the Scarlet Knights with 17.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun missed the second half with an illness, but still moved into a tie with Lefty Driesell for seventh pace on the NCAA career wins list with 786.

Calhoun, who has overcome multiple bouts with cancer, has missed all or part of 20 games at UConn.

The Huskies are 16-4 in those games.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Staff Writer

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