Big East Basketball Recap: 01/17 & 01/19

#20 Louisville hands #1 Pitt first loss of season
The No. 1 Pittsburgh Panthers suffered their first loss of the season, falling to the Louisville Cardinals 69-63 on Saturday night at Freedom Hall.

No. 20 Louisville (13-3, 4-0 Big East) forced 20 Pittsburgh turnovers, a season-high for the former No. 1 team in the country come Monday. Pittsburgh (15-1, 4-1 Big East) came into Saturday’s game 10 th in the country in terms of turnovers per game at 11.5.

The Panthers shot 35% from the field for the game, but led by two at halftime, largely in part to the hot shot they got off to making six of their first eight 3-point attempts.

Sam Young finished with 14 points on 6-20 shooting, while Jermaine Dixon scored a season-high 19 points on 6-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two steals.

Three Louisville starters reached double digit scoring with Terrence Williams scoring a game-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

Earl Clark recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Samardo Samuels scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

#2 Duke handles #12 Georgetown

Behind Gerald Henderson’s 23 points on 10-15 shooting, the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils took care of business in what was an impressive non-conference win against No. 12 Georgetown 76-67 on Saturday afternoon.

Henderson, who has went over the 20 point plateau in two of his last three games, hit three 3-point field goals as well in addition to his three rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

Last year’s ACC rookie of the year Kyle Singler added a double-double, his fifth of the year, and second in as many games with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Georgetown (12-4) was led by forward DeJuan Summers who had 21 points on 7-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four steals.

Austin Freeman had 15 points and freshman Greg Monroe had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

#8 ’Cuse rebounds knocking off #13 Notre Dame

In a battle of teams that would leave the loser with a two-game losing streak, the Syracuse Orange would rebound from their most recent loss to Georgetown by keeping the Irish of Notre Dame down beating them 93-74.

All five starters for Syracuse (17-2, 5-1 Big East) reached double figures, with Arinze Onuaku leading at 19 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.

Jonny Flynn was the game’s leading assist man, dishing out nine helpers, complimenting his 17 points, Paul Harris and Rick Jackson notched double-doubles with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 points and 10 rebounds respectively, while Andy Rautins scored 10 to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

In a role reduced to coming off the bench, Eric Devendorf scored 16 points in 29 minutes.

Notre Dame (12-5, 3-3 Big East) was led yet again by Luke Harangody with 25 points and 16 rebounds. It was the ninth straight game Harangody scored 20+ points.

Kyle McAlarney lit it up from beyond the range connecting on seven of his 14 3-point attempts, finishing with 24 points.

Ryan Ayers would also add 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

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#14 Marquette overcomes Providence in second half

Guard Jerel McNeal and Forward Lazar Hayward each scored a game-high 25 points in their 91-82 victory over the Providence Friars.

Marquette (16-2, 5-0 Big East) earned their fifth straight Big East win of the year putting them atop the conference standings for the time being.

Wesley Matthews complimented his teammates by scoring 22 points of his own on 9-17 shooting. Point guard Dominic James scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished six helpers.

Providence (11-6, 3-2 Big East) shot an impressive 57% from the field, but surrendered 51 second half points to the Golden Eagles. The Friars were led by Marshon Brooks coming off the bench with 21 points on 9-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks.

Three Providence starters reached double digits with Geoff McDermott posting a double-double with 15 rebounds and 17 rebounds, Sharaud Collins totaling 11 points and three assists, and Jeff Xavier scoring 10 points.

The Friars out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 37-27, but only shot 14-23 (60.9%) from the free-throw line.

Cincinnati defeats DePaul, wins second straight conference game

The Cincinnati Bearcats won their second Big East conference game of the season, with their most recent coming Saturday afternoon over the DePaul Blue Demons 59-55.

Cincinnati (12-6, 2-3 Big East) was led by guard Deonta Vaughn who led all scorers with 18 points on 5-12 shooting to go along with four assists. All of Vaughn’s field goals were 3-pointers.

Forward Mike Williams complimented his guard with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

DePaul (8-10, 0-5 Big East) was able to keep pace throughout the game due in part to guard Will Walker who had a team-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers.

The Blue Demons got 34 of their 55 points off the bench with Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal scoring 15 points each.

Mountaineers escape South Florida

Da’Sean Butler scored a team-high 27 points on 9-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers, in a narrow 62-59 victory over the South Florida Bulls on Saturday afternoon.

Complimenting Butler was Alex Ruoff with 19 points on 5-11 shooting. Outside of Butler and Ruoff, no other Mountaineer starter would score more than five points.

South Florida (6-11, 1-4 Big East) was able to maintain pace with West Virginia much due in part to Dominique Jones who scored 35 points on 11-25 shooting, including 14 trips to the free throw line, converting on 11 of them.

Jones’s 11 field goal makes made up for more than half of the Bulls’ makes as a team.

Jesus Verdejo would score 11 points as well.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Staff Writer

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