The Big East Tournament gets underway Tuesday, and this year the Big East Tournament (BET) matches the construction of the conference -- oversized, a bit confusing and very clearly divided.
The Big East at this point has seven teams that are definitely going to the NCAA tournament and one team that lies way out on the fringe of the bubble. This year, the BET is all about teams trying to improve or maintain their projected seeding for the Big Dance.
There is nothing more terrifying at the end of the season than to be the road opponent on Senior Day. UConn was harshly reminded of that in their 70-60 loss to Pitt, a win largely won by the Pitt seniors.
Elder statesmen Sam Young and Levance Fields were unstoppable, even though Fields entered the game as questionable with a lower back contusion.
The win likely clinched a No. 1 seed for Pitt in the NCAA Tournament. It might've also put UConn's hopes of a top slot in peril.
The question is, should Pitt even play Levance Fields? By nearly every bracket projection, Pitt is in line to receive a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. So did Blake Griffin and Oklahoma provide Pitt a precedent, an "injury protection" for Pitt if Fields does not play?
The offense was more vibrant, the swing in the score more violent, but much like Marquette's Sunday game with Louisville, the Golden Eagles just did not have enough depth to stay in the game. Marquette, without Dominic James, simply does not enough bodies to survive against the top teams. Especially teams that play physical.
Pitt, while not comfortable as the No. 1 team, clearly wants a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers shot over 60% in both halves, and just kept coming at Marquette with more bodies and scoring options.
Long ago, somewhere around the time you broke your first New Year's resolution in a flurry of Haagen-Dazz and Oreos, dangerous stopped being an adequate word to describe college basketball's pole position.
It was senior night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center for the Providence Friars. The Friars' bubble had seemingly been burst by their home loss to Notre Dame last Saturday, which left them at 16-11. Yet somehow that loss proved to be the perfect mix for the latest No. 1 upset in college basketball's skittish season as Providence shocked Pitt Tuesday.
It was the first time Providence had beaten a top-ranked team since 1976.
There were quite a few NBA scouts in attendance at the XL Center in Hartford to see what Hasheem Thabeet would do against DeJuan Blair, one of the top big men in the Big East. It was no contest. Blair was tougher, more aggressive, he shot better, he grabbed rebounds, and he literally put Thabeet on the deck.
Blair finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds, and his play put Thabeet on the bench for almost half the game with foul trouble. Thabeet only finished with 2 blocks, 4 rebounds and 5 points. That the 7-foot-3 Thabeet was dominated by a stronger, more determined 6-foot-7 Blair had to be an eye-opener for the NBA scouts.
Coming into the Pitt-UConn game, the main event was Pitt's DeJuan Blair against UConn's Hasheem Thabeet -- the rebounding machine against the blocking bully. After the game, ESPN's Jay Bilas put it this way: "If this were a fight, they would have called it early." Blair took it right at Thabeet the entire time and led Pitt to a 76-68 win in Hartford.
Hasheem Thabeet was held to only five points, four rebounds and just two blocks. Overwhelmed by Blair, Thabeet fouled out in the final minutes and was limited to only 23 minutes. Blair, on the other hand, finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds. It was Blair's second 20-20 game of the season. The Pitt frontcourt duo of Blair and Sam Young dominated UConn with a combined 47 points on 18-of-30 shooting.
The most exciting matchup of the Connecticut-Pittsburgh fracas tonight was clearly DeJuan Blair vs. Hasheem Thabeet. Both big men, combined, have pulled down 23.1 rebounds and blocked 5.2 shots per game heading into the contest. It would likely be a battle. But I don't think anyone expected to see a Royal Rumble move (albeit an accidental one) busted out, when, just three minutes into the game, Blair accidentally (I think) flipped Thabeet to the floor.
Anyone who has followed college basketball with some interest knows that when Curtis Shaw is listed as a referee for the game, there are going to be a lot of whistles and likely a technical foul. Shaw is the guy who tossed the Rice Owl mascot earlier. On this past Saturday, his crew blew 53 fouls in the Syracuse-Villanova game.
So, really, was it any surprise that there were 38 fouls called between West Virginia and Pitt, including a technical foul and two players fouling out? In a game that had little flow and had Jay Bilas exclaim, "My ears hurt from all of the whistles," Pitt beat West Virginia 70-59. That's a sweep of the season series.
NCAA Basketball pittsburgh Panthers 
The Big East Tournament gets underway Tuesday, and this year the Big East Tournament (BET) matches the construction of the conference -- oversized, a bit confusing and very clearly divided. 
There is nothing more terrifying at the end of the season than to be the road opponent on Senior Day. UConn was harshly reminded of that in their 70-60 loss to Pitt, a win largely won by the Pitt seniors.
In Pitt's win over Marquette Wednesday night, starting point guard Levance Fields went down hard with 9:30 left in the game. He suffered a bruised tailbone, but finished the game. Today, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said that Fields is questionable for Saturday's game against UConn, and that ultimately it would be a game time decision. 
The offense was more vibrant, the swing in the score more violent, but much like Marquette's Sunday game with Louisville, the Golden Eagles just did not have enough depth to stay in the game. Marquette, without Dominic James, simply does not enough bodies to survive against the top teams. Especially teams that play physical.
Long ago, somewhere around the time you broke your first New Year's resolution in a flurry of Haagen-Dazz and Oreos, dangerous stopped being an adequate word to describe college basketball's pole position.
It was senior night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center for the Providence Friars. The Friars' bubble had seemingly been burst by their home loss to Notre Dame last Saturday, which left them at 16-11. Yet somehow that loss proved to be the perfect mix for the latest No. 1 upset in college basketball's skittish season as Providence shocked Pitt Tuesday.
There were quite a few NBA scouts in attendance at the XL Center in Hartford to see what Hasheem Thabeet would do against DeJuan Blair, one of the top big men in the Big East. It was no contest. Blair was tougher, more aggressive, he shot better, he grabbed rebounds, and he literally put Thabeet on the deck.
Coming into the Pitt-UConn game, the main event was Pitt's DeJuan Blair against UConn's Hasheem Thabeet -- the rebounding machine against the blocking bully. After the game, ESPN's Jay Bilas put it this way: "If this were a fight, they would have called it early." Blair took it right at Thabeet the entire time and led Pitt to a 76-68 win in Hartford.
Anyone who has followed college basketball with some interest knows that when Curtis Shaw is listed as a referee for the game, there are going to be a lot of whistles and likely a technical foul. Shaw is the guy who tossed the Rice Owl mascot earlier. On this past Saturday, his crew blew 53 fouls in the Syracuse-Villanova game. 
