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Other Big East Action & Roster Moves

KhalidShockedTheWorld

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Mar 28, 2009
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Last night Georgetown snapped a 21 game losing streak with a 99-89 OT win over Coppin State. While an OT win over Coppin State is not normally a reason to rejoice, it snapped an embarrassing losing streak and Akok Akok had 18 points, 12 boards, 5 blocks and 2 assists and looks like he could even be a main man player for the Hoyas. A big concern, however, is that 4 starters played 42 minutes or more, which is not what you want to have to do against a team like Coppin State.

In other action, Providence nipped an experienced Rider team 66-65 at home. This is not what Ed Cooley really wanted to see, but he did escape with the W
 
Was watching Creighton - UC Riverside game and Ryan Kalkbrenner had a streak of 23 consecutive made FGs snapped tonight when he missed a 3. He should have taken only dunks and layups to extend the streak because he was 7 away from the NCAA record of 30 in a row.

Creighton looking pretty good at home.

Earlier tonight I saw St. John's trash Nebraska 70-50 in the Gavitt Games. SJU looks pretty good. They should be right behind the top 4 in the Big East and will be a tough out in NYC.
 
Earlier tonight I saw St. John's trash Nebraska 70-50 in the Gavitt Games. SJU looks pretty good. They should be right behind the top 4 in the Big East and will be a tough out in NYC.
Yeah...I saw alot of the 2nd half comeback and then blowout by the Johnies....Tim Brando got bad info on the Gavitt games records though, saying St. Johns was the only BE winner. Depaul actually smacked MINN too, on the road.....

 
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Another good job and 2nd half adjustment, this one by McDermott & the Bluejays in Maui this afternoon. After getting behind early vs. TEX Tech's relentless pressure ( created 13 TO's in the 1st).

 
OK, Louisville is not a Big East team, but they used to be, and their steady decline since they fired Ricky P has now reached a new low. They are 0-5 after starting the season with consecutive home losses to Bellarmine, Wright State and Appalachian State, and now 2 more blowout home losses by 26 to Arkansas, and 32 to Texas Tech. So they have played 5 home games and are 0-5 under Kenny Mayne. I remember how UConn fans got stressed out when there was an early home loss to Wagner under Ollie, but this dumpster fire of a basketball team makes that Wagner loss pale in comparison. In fact, Payne may feel a whole lot more heat than Ollie ever did right about now.

Blog report on Louisville, which has a stunning 90 Turnovers and 36 Assists in their 0-5 start:

Speaking of #9 Arkansas, they will be in Maui battling a Big East team tonight- #10 Creighton- in what figures to be one of the games of the week. Arkansas has looked very impressive early on and this will be a great test for Creighton and an important game for the Big East after that weak showing in the Gavitt Games.
 
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Kalkbrenner of Creighton is shooting 79% FGs for the season (obviously a stat helped by having made 23 FGs in a row), and has been a big factor in this game. Arkansas doesn't look like they can match up with him. He is remarkably skilled and is very agile. Looks like a 1st team All American to me and might be gone for the NBA after this season.
 
Ended up being an amazing game as Creighton finally beat Arkansas 90-87, securing a huge win for the Big East. Creighton looked like the more offensively skilled team and was in control most of the game, but Arkansas's athleticism kept it in the game until the very end.
 
Mixed results for Big East in Oregon. Villanova lost in OT to a very good Iowa State team, while Xavier beat future UConn opponent Florida. I have seen Xavier a few times and like Creighton they are very good. Xavier is very big and also has good guards. They get Duke next.

Meanwhile Creighton last night lost by 2 to Arizona in Maui Championship game after 7'0" 260 pound Center Oumar Ballo bullied Ryan Kalkbrenner with 30 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Meanwhile yesterday despite 14 points and 6 boards from Akok Akok, another embarrassing home loss for Georgetown as American U beat them for the first time since 1982.
 
Villanova has lost again, this time 83-71 to Portland in the PK1 Legacy loser's bracket. It's been a tough start for Villanova - they are 2-4. Jay Wright- where are you?
 
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Another disappointing Big East loss as Xavier lost to Duke 71-64. I really thought Xavier would take Duke to the wire but they couldn't.
 
Big top 10 showdown in the BE-Big 12 Battle this week.....(AP Rankings)
"( #2) Texas hosts (#7) Creighton on Thursday night in Austin. "

Nov. 29 (#6) Baylor at Marquette (win)
Nov. 30 Providence at TCU (win)
Nov. 30 Georgetown at Texas Tech(win)
Nov. 30 Kansas State at Butler (win)
Dec. 1 Oklahoma State at (#8) Connecticut(win)
Dec. 1 (#7) Creighton at (#2)Texas (win)
Dec. 1 Seton Hall at (#9) Kansas (win)
Dec. 3 Oklahoma at Villanova
Dec. 3 West Virginia at Xavier
Dec. 4 - St. John’s at (#23) Iowa State
 
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I have seen Creighton play several times and I believe they will be the team to beat in the Big East. And UConn might be the only team that has the goods to beat them. I believe Creighton and UConn will be battling for the Big East title this year and are a rung above all the other teams. The next tier will probably be Xavier and St. John's.

I will be at the UConn-Oklahoma State game Thursday night and have an extra ticket if anyone wants it.
 
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First half Marquette is giving #6 Baylor a very unpleasant taste of what it's like to play on the road in the Big East. 39-15 Marquette with just over 6 minutes to go
 
Big top 10 showdown in the BE-Big 12 Battle this week.....(AP Rankings)
Nov. 29 (#6) Baylor at Marquette (win)
Nov. 30 Providence at TCU (win)
Nov. 30 Georgetown at Texas Tech (win)
Nov. 30 Kansas State at Butler (win)
Dec. 1 Oklahoma State at (#8) Connecticut (win)
Dec. 1 (#7) Creighton at (#2) Texas (win)
Dec. 1 Seton Hall at (#9) Kansas (win)
Dec. 3 Oklahoma at Villanova
Dec. 3 West Virginia at Xavier
Dec. 4 - St. John’s at (#23) Iowa State
So far all the home teams have held serve...
 
I think there is a good chance Big East takes 2 of the remaining 3. Which would deadlock the battle at 5-5.

I am very disappointed at the noncompetitive performances of Georgetown, Providence and especially Seton Hall, which really got hosed. On the other hand, Butler's performance was a pleasant surprise as they took down a previously undefeated Kansas State team. And Marquette's win over Baylor was the best by any Big East in this competition.
 
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Nov. 29 (#6) Baylor at Marquette (win)
Nov. 30 Providence at TCU (win)
Nov. 30 Georgetown at Texas Tech (win)
Nov. 30 Kansas State at Butler (win)
Dec. 1 Oklahoma State at (#8) Connecticut(win)
Dec. 1 (#7) Creighton at (#2)Texas (win)
Dec. 1 Seton Hall at (#9) Kansas
Dec. 3 Oklahoma at Villanova (win)
Dec. 3 West Virginia at Xavier (win)
Dec. 4 - St. John’s at (#23) Iowa State (win)
The home court advantage continues...series finishes 5-5, tie
 
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I watched most of the second half of the Creighton-Nebraska game and Creighton was having defensive issues and serious shooting issues (31% FGS and 10-40 from 3). They are really not a very athletic team and Nebraska played a poised and intelligent game. Another thing I have noticed watching Creighton is they were taking a lot of bad shots, which is how you go 10-40 from 3. I have observed this in several games and the biggest culprit has been Kaluma, who was so impressive in the Big East tournament last year as a freshman. He was 0-8 and scored 2 points.
 
There is going to be a very interesting Big East game tomorrow night: Creighton at Marquette on FS1. Creighton is 6-5, has lost 5 in a row and Ryan Kalkbrenner is now out with an illness. This is not really where Creighton wants to start with league play, but they have no choice. Even before Kalkbrenner went out, Creighton had been one of the more disappointing teams in the country. They have not shot the ball well, and their defense has been poor. Greg McDermott even posted this on his Twitter:
 
Heading into the full Big East season here's the NCAA's - NET Rankings as of DEC 15th-
DEC-15-2022-NET-Rankings-BE.jpg
 
Things may and probably will change, but right now it looks like only 5 NCAA teams from the Big East, which would be a colossal disappointment. It is not UConn's obligation to carry and boost the NET rankings of these other teams, they need to step it up.

I am looking forward to the FS1 Big East doubleheader tonight- Georgetown v Xavier in Washington and then Creighton at Marquette. Should be good games.
 
First game of the FS1 Big East doubleheader goes to Xavier, a 102-89 winner at Georgetown. The game left no doubt as to who Xavier's main man player is: Souley Boum, who dropped in 28 points on the Hoyas as well as playing ball hawk defense. Boum reminds me a bit of Ben Gordon. Similar type of game, good shooter (51% 3 point shooter).

The Hoyas were competitive for stretches and have some good athletes. Their problem is they don't run consistent good offense and when their halfcourt offense breaks down, they end up hoisting bad shots. They don't have guys who are consistent shooters to begin with, so you can't have all those bad shots. Anyway, I think they will win a handful of league games, but struggle against anyone that is well coached and good, and makes them run offense in the halfcourt.
 
Halftime: Marquette 40, Creighton 31

Watched the first half of this game and Marquette looked a lot like they did against Baylor. They press you and turn you over and are lethal in getting transition points off turnovers. Creighton seemed in control early and then they had a bad 5 minute stretch of TOs and easy baskets for Marquette the other way, and a 5 point lead turned into an 11 point deficit pretty quickly. Baylor had the exact same thing happen to them. Clearly Marquette is a team which if you start getting loose with the ball against them, you are in big, big trouble.

I am thinking that tonight I saw the 2 best teams in the Big East besides UConn: Marquette and Xavier.

Creighton didn't play horribly, but they had a bad 5 minute stretch in which the game flipped on them. They look mentally fatigued and beaten up. They might be headed towards their 6th straight loss, but they have played a great schedule, have been in all the games they lost, and aren't a bad team. Once they get Kalkbrenner back they will be OK. I do believe they are still probably a top 4 Big East team and an NCAA tourney team when all is said and done. But in this game they looked TO prone, were sloppy with execution and also took some bad shots. But they did slightly outshoot and outrebound Marquette in the first half.
 
Final score Marquette 69, Creighton 58

Creighton: 6 straight losses

Marquette: Shaka Smart may be in a 2 horse race with Hurley for Big East Coach of the Year
 
Watching Marquette-Seton Hall which is quickly becoming a non competitive loss by Seton Hall. SHU cannot shoot. They are at an extremely poor 29% shooting 3s as a team. It's very hard to win with that kind of suck-ass shooting. 69-54 Marquette with 7 minutes to go- looks like The Hall is going down.
 
Apart from the 2 UConn games tonight, there is another key Big East clash with Xavier at St. John's at 9 pm on FS1. Xavier is a 2 point favorite.
 
There is a big game today- Providence which is 6-0 in Big East play at Creighton. FS1 at 2 pm. UConn needs Providence to be slowed down so that they can eventually be caught. There is also a Big game tomorrow with 6-0 Xavier hosting 6-1 Marquette. Xavier also needs to be beaten. Xavier and PC cannot be allowed to run away with the Big East regular season title.
 
Final score: Creighton 73, Providence 67

This was an excellent game. Creighton looked like they might pull away a few times but Providence wouldn't let them. Kaluma played better D on Hopkins than Karaban did in Providence and it was overall an above average performance on D by Creighton.
 
Final score: Creighton 73, Providence 67

This was an excellent game.
Except for the BE zebra's.....I thought they were bad vs. Uconn. These clowns were all over the place calling fouls, you never knew what was next each possession. And Providence has their hands all over or pushes off on both ends, but it's like these refs don't even see whats going or make things up that aren't happening...

Never a more accurate statement after the PC game, what are the BE refs afraid of Cooley ?
 
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UConn got help last night from Xavier, which blew out Seton Hall at SHU. The consequence is that UConn has a 2 game edge on SHU for 5th place in the loss column. That means UConn can lose one of its last 3 games and still clinch 5th place and the crucial 1st round bye. All that matters is being top 5 and getting the bye. Nothing else matters at this point.
 
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