2011 Big East Basketball: Big East Basketball Weekly Recap

Scores

Monday, January 9

Cincinnati 68, Georgetown 64

Connecticut 64, West Virginia 57

Tuesday, January 10

Notre Dame 60, South Florida 49

Providence 90, Louisville 59

Seton Hall 94, DePaul 73

Wednesday, January 1

Syracuse 79, Villanova 66

Marquette 83, St. John's 64

Rutgers 62, Pittsburgh 39

Friday, January 13

South Florida 56, Seton Hall 55

Saturday, January 14

Syracuse 78, Providence 55

Louisville 76, DePaul 59

Connecticut 67, Notre Dame 53

Marquette 62, Pittsburgh 57

Cincinnati 82, Villanova 78

West Virginia 84, Rutgers 60

Sunday, January 15

Georgetown 69, St. John's 49

It’s becoming a weird year in the Big East Conference. A season that started with what seemed to be hiccups has turned into a campaign in which big names are not finding their footing. It's the middle of January, and guess which teams are in a state of free-fall.

Louisville and Pittsburgh. Yes, the teams who have done so much in Big East basketball over the past several seasons are spiraling downward with no signs of hope.

Louisville and Pittsburgh were both on the short end of blowouts this past week, in results that would have seemed utterly unfathomable a full month ago. Louisville remained unbeaten until the last week of December when it lost to Georgetown, but ever since that moment, the Cardinals have been smacked around by the rest of the league. They won at DePaul this past week, but a few days before, they were humiliated by a not-that-great Providence side, 90-59. Yes, Louisville ate a 31-point drubbing against a team that's almost certain to finish in the lower half of a 16-team league. Ironically, Louisville coach Rick Pitino endured a beatdown in Providence on the same night that the Friars honored Pitino's 1987 Providence team, the second Providence College crew to make the Final Four. (The first one was the 1973 club captained by point guard Ernie Digregorio and coached by the late, great Dick Gavitt, the founder of the Big East Conference.) Louisville's halfcourt offense has been a trainwreck over the past two weeks, showing that point guard Peyton Siva - though being a senior - is not disciplined or prudent enough to lend cohesion to UL's sets. Louisville needs to get a higher caliber of recruit so that the Cards can create more shots off the dribble without a point guard having to do all the work.

Pittsburgh is also experiencing very hard times. The Panthers were nationally ranked at the beginning of the season, but an injury to point guard Travon Woodall has totally disrupted the Panthers in just about every facet of competition. Pittsburgh lost at Marquette on Saturday, but the true shocker of the Panthers' past week came in the middle of the week against Rutgers. Pittsburgh lost by 23, and what's really amazing about the display from coach Jamie Dixon's team is that it actually played solid defense, limiting Rutgers to a decidedly pedestrian 62 points. Yes, it's hard to fathom, but Pitt tallied only 39 points, leaving people speechless throughout the Big East. One would think that Pittsburgh could find enough scoring to piece together some wins, but the Panthers - at this point - are 0-5 in the Big East and headed for a complete postseason snub. That's right, a team that was a No. 1 seed last season could be sitting home on the third week of March... not playing in any postseason tournament whatsoever, not even the NIT.

It's amazing to realize how far the mighty have fallen in the Big East this season.

In other league news, Cincinnati is climbing up the charts while other teams are falling. Ever since that much-noted brawl against Xavier in December, Cincinnati has rallied. The Bearcats used that event as a time to refuel on a mental level. They've banded together instead of falling apart. Yes, Cincinnati's Yancy Gates should have received a very stiff penalty for his punch thrown in that brawl, but it's impressive to see the other Bearcats - the ones who weren't responsible for that ugly incident - improve their games. UC's twin wins this past week over Georgetown and Villanova have suddenly catapulted the Cats into the NCAA at-large conversation. If Cincinnati can maintain momentum from its 4-1 Big East start, coach Mick Cronin will find himself in Bracketville when Selection Sunday rolls around.