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.
Losing three games against the top three teams in the Big East, with two of the games coming on the road would not be that big a deal. Especially with your starting point guard out with an injury. It hurt Marquette's seed a bit, but they could still show that they are a top-25 team to end the season. Turns out, the Golden Eagles are in free fall.
Falling at home, on senior day in overtime to Syracuse was the clincher. The Orange are nearly as depth-challenged as the Golden Eagles, so it was not depth that cost Marquette. Simply put, Marquette does not have enough good players to challenge other teams at this point.
It was another chance for a big home win for Syracuse.
But, like most of the Orange's shots in the final minutes, it ended as another miss.
Syracuse tossed a bucket of cold water on its own comeback in the final minutes, missing six shots in the final 60 seconds as a late rally turned into an 89-86 .
The Orange have now dropped seven of their last 10, and jump shots aren't the only thing they have to worry about missing.
Up 16 with 8:12 remaining in the second half, it looked like Syracuse would coast to an easy victory in their Big East showdown with Georgetown. The Hoyas had other ideas though, as a flurry of points -- 15 in the last 2:12 of regulation -- sent it into overtime. But Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf combined for 14 of Syracuse's 15 points in the extra five minutes, and the Orange hung on for a 98-94 victory.
Flynn got off to a quiet start, and was actually held scoreless for the first 16:27 of the first half. But that was soon forgotten, as he started getting to the rim, and very frequently getting to the line; he made 15 of 16 free throws on the afternoon. Flynn scored six of his 25 points in OT, including two FTs that essentially sealed it for the Orange with four seconds left.
In case you didn't hear, the No. 1 team in college basketball won again Wednesday night, taking on a ranked conference rival, putting together a tremendous second-half performance, and walking off the floor having won by 14 points.
And no, I'm not talking about North Carolina beating Duke.
The No. 1 UConn Huskies whipped Syracuse, 63-49, but there's a fair chance you haven't heard anything about it. ESPN is all Duke-Carolina this morning, and so are most of the major sports sites. And that's a shame, because Connecticut is a team everyone should be watching.
This game was over early, with Villanova blowing Syracuse out of the water in the first 10 minutes. Villanova's defense completely disrupted the Orange, who could only make one basket in that span. By the time Syracuse started getting on track, they were down by 21. Villanova never let Syracuse get close than 10 points as the Wildcats coasted to a 102-85 win.
Dante Cunningham was unstoppable for Villanova. Not only did he match his career high in points with 31, but he forced two of Syracuse's big men to foul out failing to stop him. It also did not help that Syracuse had their entire defense shredded as Villanova shot 55 percent in the game.
Wake Forest 70, Duke 68 Two things stand out about Wake Forest from this game. First, Dino Gaudio has done a tremendous job turning the Deacons into a team that can actually play defense (Holloman noted this a while back, actually), and second, can this Wake team close? I know they actually won, so that seems like a silly question, but after seeing the Virginia Tech debacle and then seeing them play down the stretch against Duke, it wouldn't be fair not to question their throat-stomping ability
Headlining: It's obvious, right? Duke tops both polls for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 regular season and we're all depressed ecstatic! I want to say that it's hard to like this Blue Devil team, but when is it easy to like Duke? (Answer: When you're a Duke fan. Or when the Blue Devils are playing Carolina.) That being said, the 2008-09 incarnation isn't nearly as hate-able as previous teams.
Louisville's pressing defense did not force Syracuse into a lot of turnovers, not with the Orange having solid guard play to handle it. The defense, however, stayed in the face of the Syracuse guards and gave them little room to work, contesting shots and staying tight, allowing Louisville to pull away in the final couple minutes for a 67-57 win.
Neither team could even shoot 40 percent in the game, and both struggled on the perimeter. The Cards got balanced scoring from Earl Clark, Edgar Sosa and Terrance Williams. Clark, especially, came up big as he was able to take advantage of the Syracuse 2-3 zone to grab 13 rebounds and provide extra opportunities for Louisville to score. The win keeps Louisville perfect in the Big East at 6-0.
The above video appears to show UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma and Syracuse forward Nicole Michael exchanging words as they go through the post-game handshake line, followed by Michael trying to trip Auriemma when they cross paths again, and Auriemma being restrained by his players from going after Michael. A bizarre incident, to say the least.
NCAA Basketball syracuse Orange 
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. 
Losing three games against the top three teams in the Big East, with two of the games coming on the road would not be that big a deal. Especially with your starting point guard out with an injury. It hurt Marquette's seed a bit, but they could still show that they are a top-25 team to end the season. Turns out, the Golden Eagles are in free fall. 
It was another chance for a big home win for Syracuse.
Up 16 with 8:12 remaining in the second half, it looked like Syracuse would coast to an easy victory in their Big East showdown with Georgetown. The Hoyas had other ideas though, as a flurry of points -- 15 in the last 2:12 of regulation -- sent it into overtime. But Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf combined for 14 of Syracuse's 15 points in the extra five minutes, and the Orange hung on for a 98-94 victory. 
In case you didn't hear, the No. 1 team in college basketball won again Wednesday night, taking on a ranked conference rival, putting together a tremendous second-half performance, and walking off the floor having won by 14 points.
This game was over early, with Villanova blowing Syracuse out of the water in the first 10 minutes. Villanova's defense completely disrupted the Orange, who could only make one basket in that span. By the time Syracuse started getting on track, they were down by 21. Villanova never let Syracuse get close than 10 points as the Wildcats coasted to a 102-85 win.
Onion Peels is a recap of last night's action and an unofficial Bill Raftery blog. 
Ranking the rankings criticizes the critics as soon as the polls come out.
Louisville's pressing defense did not force Syracuse into a lot of turnovers, not with the Orange having solid guard play to handle it. The defense, however, stayed in the face of the Syracuse guards and gave them little room to work, contesting shots and staying tight, allowing Louisville to pull away in the final couple minutes for a 67-57 win.
