Big East Basketball Weekly Recap - Feb. 4-9 |
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Six teams enjoy perfect and imperfect week in Big East playWith Rivalry Week set to conclude on Monday night around the landscape of college basketball, seven teams in the Big East Conference went perfect this past week, while seven other teams failed to record a victory this week. Let’s take a look at how all 16 Big East squads fared during the week of Feb.4 to Feb.9.
The Supreme Six6 teams either went 1-0 or 2-0 this week in the Big East Louisville (2-0) – The Cardinals kicked off Rivalry Week with an impressive road victory over Marquette, 71-57 on Monday. Louisville followed up one impressive win with another, defeating Big East leader Georgetown 59-51 on Saturday. Look for the Cardinals to be ranked back in the Top 25 when the rankings come out this week. UConn (2-0) – No team has been hotter than UConn, and the Huskies notched two victories this week, the first coming over rival Syracuse on Wednesday, 63-61; the second coming in a nonconference match up with Georgia Tech, 80-68 on Saturday. The Huskies have now won seven straight games. Notre Dame (2-0) – The Irish remain in 2 nd place in the Big East, just a half game back of Georgetown, thanks to a 2-0 week. With wins over Seton Hall (95-69 on Wed.) and Marquette (86-83 on Sat.), the Irish have won five straight and extended their home winning streak to 34. St. John’s (2-0) – After losing six straight and eight of nine, the Red Storm are the surprise team on this list, winning two straight this week and three straight overall. St.John’s knocked of Rutgers on Wed., 52-45 and followed up with a 64-62 win over Providence on Saturday. Cincinnati (1-0) – In their only game this week, the Bearcats were able to fend off a pesky Rutgers squad, prevailing in overtime 72-68 on Saturday. The Bearcats are winners of two of their last three. Pittsburgh (1-0) – Like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh had only one game on their slate this week, but it wasn’t without some dramatics. Ronald Ramon drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer, as the Panthers sunk West Virginia 55-54 this past Thursday. Pittsburgh has also won two of its last three.
The Sulking Sixall 6 of these teams went winless this week Marquette (0-2) – Two defeats to pretty good teams this week. The Golden Eagles lost on Big Monday at home to Louisville 71-57, and lost a tough one on the road on Saturday to Notre Dame, 86-83. Both losses come at the hands of two of the top three teams in the Big East standings. Since blistering the Irish 92-66 back on Jan.12 th, Marquette has gone 3-4. Seton Hall (0-2) – Since winning five in a row, the Pirates have dropped three straight, including going 0-for-2 this past week. The Pirates were blasted by Notre Dame this past Wednesday, 95-69 and lost a heart-breaker to Villanova in the final seconds, 72-70, on Saturday. Rutgers (0-2) – Since an impressive 2-0 week beginning Jan.23rd in which the Scarlet Knights knocked off Villanova and Pittsburgh, both ranked opponents at the time, Rutgers has reverted back to their old selves. While they lost both games this week by an average of 5.5 points, Rutgers couldn’t close the deal in either loss, falling to St. John’s on Wednesday 52-45 and Cincinnati on Saturday, 72-68 in overtime. Rutgers has dropped four straight and 10 of their last 12 games. South Florida (0-2) – Since opening Big East play with a 23-point thrashing of Rutgers, the Bulls has lost 10 consecutive games to Big East foes. No moral victories this week for South Florida either. Despite leading by 10, South Florida fell to Georgetown 63-53 on Wednesday, and was dealt their 10 th straight defeat on Saturday by DePaul, 69-61. They may be in the Sunshine State, but head coach Stan Heath hasn’t seen many sunny days this year. West Virginia (0-1) – The Mountaineers lost their only game this week, falling to Pittsburgh 55-54 on a Ronald Ramon 3-pointer as time expired. West Virginia has dropped three of their last four since winning four straight. Syracuse (0-1) – The undermanned Orange lost in their only action this week, losing a nail-biter to longtime rival UConn, 63-61. The loss to the Huskies snapped a three-game win streak by the Orange.
Even Steventhese 4 teams finished the week even at 1-1DePaul – The Blue Demons lost earlier in the week to Providence, falling to the Friars 79-65 on Tuesday, but rebounded on Saturday against South Florida, 69-61. Providence – The Friars ended a four-game slide on Tuesday with a win over DePaul 79-65, but found themselves back in the losing column on Saturday, falling to St. John’s 64-62. Providence has lost five of their last six, and three straight Big East road games. Villanova – The Wildcats entered the week in a free fall, losers of four straight after starting the season 13-3. Villanova was blown out by Big Five rival St. Joe’s on Monday, 77-55, but rallied for a much-needed win over Seton Hall on Saturday 72-70, ending the Wildcats’ five-game skid. Georgetown – The Hoyas started out the week on shaky ground, rallying from 10 points down to defeat last place South Florida, 63-53. However, in prime time on Saturday night, the Hoyas were held to just 20 second half points and lost to unranked Louisville, 59-51. The Cardinals effectively put an end to the Hoyas’ six-game winning streak.
by Frank Minniti
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