Big East: What A Conference!
Jim Feist
Once again the Big East is loaded with talented teams. Marquette, Cincinnati and Louisville came aboard two years ago, among others, joining powerhouses like UConn, Syracuse and Pitt to form a 16-team Super Big East conference. A Big East representative won college basketball's national championship four years ago (UConn, 2004) and several will be knocking on the door again.
Georgetown
Georgetown uses its outstanding frontcourt to play tough defense, allowing just 57 ppg. The frontcourt is awesome with 7-2 senior Roy Hibbert and 6-8 sophomore DaJuan Summers, the top two leading scorers. 6-8 senior Patrick Ewing, Jr. is a good role player along the boards. The height up front also helps the Hoyas on offense, shooting 49% from the field, tops in the Big East. Senior Jonathan Wallace and junior Jessie Sapp run the backcourt. Defense is the key, as they started 15-5 under the total. Two weaknesses are poor free throw shooting (64%) and they've gone cold from three-point land in big games. Georgetown was 4-for-22 from long range in last week's 59-51 loss to Louisville, and 3 of 20 from beyond the arc in a loss to Pitt. They are also just 1-2 SU/ATS as a dog.
Louisville
The Cardinals had some early season struggles because of injuries, but they are healthy at the right time. 6-11 senior center David Padgett is back from injury, anchoring the frontcourt as the team captain. He gets help up front with 6-9 sophomore Earl Clark (10 ppg, 8 rpg), 6-8 soph Derrick Caracter and 6-8 senior Juan Palacios. Louisville plays great defense with that frontcourt for Rick Pitino, allowing 37% shooting. They started 15-8 under the total. 6-6 senior Terrence Williams (11 ppg, 7.8 rpg) does everything well, leading the team in scoring and assists (4.7 apg) and is second in rebounding. They have showdowns with Pitt this weekend and later Notre Dame and Georgetown before conference tournament play.
UConn
Coach Jim Calhoun has another dominant Husky frontcourt. They lead the Big East in rebounding and blocks behind 6-7 junior Jeff Adrien (14 ppg, 9 rpg) and sophomore center 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet (11 ppg, 7 rpg). Throw in 6-9 sophomore Stanley Robinson and that trio accounts for 23 rebounds per game! UConn started 6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS on the road and 4-1 ATS as a dog. That's in stark contrast to last season, when a younger Husky squad went 2-8 SU/ATS on the road and 0-8 SU/ATS as a dog. The backcourt is deep behind junior Jerome Dyson (14 ppg) and senior A.J. Price (14 ppg, 6 apg), a fine playmaker. Starting with a 68-63 win over Indiana, the Huskies went on a 5-0 run under the total. With March around the corner, it's a good time to start turning up the 'D'.
Notre Dame
The Irish are the Big East's highest-scoring team (81 ppg) behind an outstanding frontcourt of 6-8 sophomore Luke Harangody (20 ppg, 10 rpg) and 6-9 senior Rob Kurz (12 ppg, 8 rpg). It's not all about the frontcourt, though, as Notre Dame is also tops in three-point shooting (40%) and free throws. Junior guard Kyle McAlarney (15 ppg) and 6-8 G/F Ryan Ayers provide backcourt firepower, while sophomore sparkplug Tory Jackson dishes out over 6 assists per contest. Notre Dame is 8-3 over the total at home and 4-0 over on the road. They are a .500 road team, however, and need to have that offense clicking to win: Last month Georgetown's defense clobbered them, 84-65, as did Marquette, 92-66. The Irish started 1-3 SU as a dog.
Pittsburgh
The Panthers lost Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall to graduation, but have come right back this season with another powerful frontcourt behind 6-7 freshman DeJuan Blair (11 ppg, 9 rpg) and 6-6 Sam Young (17 ppg, 6.8 rpg). Their defense is also the same -- terrific, allowing 62 ppg and 40% shooting. One thing the Panthers have going for them is the return of junior guard Levance Fields, who's been out since late December. Pitt survived six week's worth of Big East games without two starters and won more games than it lost, but the Panthers want to finish stronger than the last three seasons: They are 6-4, 6-4 and 5-5 the last three years over their final 10 regular season games. Pitt is the only Big East Conference school to win 20 or more overall games and 10 or more league contests in each of the last seven seasons.
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