2011 Big East Basketball: Big East Basketball Weekly Recap

Scores

Monday, December 5

Detroit 69, St. John’s 63

Milwaukee 87, DePaul 76

Providence 80, Brown 49

Tuesday, December 6

Syracuse 62, Marshall 56

Marquette 79, Washington 77

Seton Hall 78, N.J.I.T. 48

Missouri 81, Villanova 71

Pittsburgh 97, Virginia Military 70

Wednesday, December 7

Louisville 90, IUPUI 60

DePaul 69, Loyola-Illinois 58

Princeton 59, Rutgers 57

Thursday, December 8

Connecticut 67, Harvard 53

Providence 64, Boston College 57

Notre Dame 87, Maine 78

West Virginia 85, Kansas State 80 (2OT)

Saturday, December 10

Syracuse 85, George Washington 50

Louisville 80, Fairleigh Dickinson 58

Xavier 76, Cincinnati 53

Marquette 79. Green Bay 61

Pittsburgh 74, Oklahoma State 68

Georgetown 62, Howard 48

Providence 72, Bryant 61

DePaul 102, Chicago State 95

Temple 78, Villanova 67

West Virginia 77, Miami 66

Notre Dame 65, Dartmouth 47

Seton Hall 68, Wake Forest 54

Sunday, December 11

South Florida 83, Florida A&M 59

It’s an overlooked truth that December basketball matters a lot in the grander scheme of college basketball. Teams need to bag quality non-conference wins at this time of year in order to build complete tournament resumes for March. Marquette and West Virginia produced high-level weeks in the early part of December, making their case for the NCAA Selection Committee if they can hold their own in Big East Conference play. Marquette fended off Washington in a frenetic game at Madison Square Garden in New York, a contest that was reminiscent of the two schools’ wild first-round NCAA Tournament game in 2010 in San Jose, California. Marquette’s two-point triumph will go a long way with the committee in March. West Virginia, for its part, won games against Kansas State and Miami, heightening its RPI rating and offering some power-conference scalps for the committee’s consideration. Bob Huggins does not have top-shelf talent, but he is – as usual – squeezing the most out of what he has.

The biggest story in the Big East unfolded on Saturday, when Cincinnati and Xavier brawled in front of a national television audience. Cincinnati’s primary low-post player, Yancy Gates, was suspended six games after throwing and landing a punch to the left eye of Xavier’s Kenny Frease. Other Bearcats received suspensions in the brawl, giving a metaphorical black eye to the program. Since Cincinnati also lost this non-conference game, it missed an opportunity to polish its resume, which already has the dubious distinction of a home-court loss to Presbyterian from late November. It’s going to be a long year for coach Mick Cronin in so many different ways.

Finally, it has to be said that Villanova and Rutgers had horrible weeks. The Wildcats lost to Missouri and Temple, increasing the likelihood that they’ll have to overachieve in the Big East season to make the tournament. Rutgers’s loss at home to Princeton is a terrible setback for a program trying to gain a foothold in the state of New Jersey.