Posts tagged ‘Marquette’

It’s been a while since I filled this space. Since then, I’ve married and moved, and I’ve finally settled to the point where I can again attend to my Visions. I hope I didn’t leave you in a lurch and that you’re glad I’m back.

There’s a lot to cover, and I’m not going to do it all in one day. There are coaching changes, transfers, early-entrants and recruiting headlines to deal with over the coming weeks. We also have to do a little post-mortem for what happened at the end of March and begin to look ahead to next season.

That’s a lot to do, but I think we’re up for the challenge. Come here for the detailed analysis and opinion, and go to NBE Basketball Report for day-to-day news and notes. He’s on top of the daily doings in the Big East — and especially the recruiting scene. Between this space and his, you shouldn’t need to go to anyone else — including Andy Katz (and, of course, you should never read Seth Davis) — for some Big East love.

Today, we’re going to discuss the two coaching changes in the Big East. I’m not going to take the hackneyed stance that sees each team’s coaching search as evidence that the Big East is too brutal to attract top candidates. That’s been done, and it’s only partly true. We’ll get to that aspect of the situation, but there’s more than just that one storyline.

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NEW YORK — The hackneyed expression goes that styles make fights, and that’s also true of basketball games.

Twenty-four hours after Seton Hall and Marquette spent 40 minutes in a clinch, Notre Dame gave the Golden Eagles space, and that allowed Jerel McNeal and Maurice Acker to connect on enough haymakers to land the Golden Eagles in the semifinals with an 89-79 victory on Thursday night in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

The first half seemed to go to form for the favored Irish. Notre Dame led by six at the break, out-rebounded Marquette by three and did all that despite Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody playing just seven minutes after picking up a second foul with 10:35 left and sitting out the remainder of the half.

When a rare Tory Jackson 3-pointer put the Irish up, 44-34, with 18 minutes remaining, Notre Dame looked poised to take the rubber match of the season series and get back in the tournament semifinals for the second straight year.

But a funny — or perhaps disturbing, based on your perspective — thing happened on the way to a breezy victory: Marquette started knocking down shots. Seton Hall’s pressure permitted a lot of trips to the foul line for Marquette on Wednesday, but conceded few open looks. Notre Dame doesn’t play with the same defensive tenacity, and the Golden Eagles grew more comfortable from the perimeter with each passing swish.

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NEW YORK — When the shots won’t fall, the best-coached teams can look more like a pack of streetballers than a trained division of athletes. When two teams not known for their aesthetic styles meet at the Big East Tournament and battle for a win for 40 minutes? Let’s just say Springfield needn’t save any space in its library for a tape of this game.

Marquette defeated Seton Hall, 67-54, in the nightcap of Big East Tournament first-round action on Wednesday night at the Garden, but the game was as close as one point with less than six minutes to play — a testament to how the Pirates can conquer a lack of talent with an utter unwillingness to relent.

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You can’t go anywhere around the sporting world without hearing about the bubble. Who’s on it? Who’s safe? Who’s in trouble? It’s a bit mind-numbing, but it’s also great fodder for talk-show chatter because it can be so subjective. I try to avoid most of this talk, because I don’t want popular opinion to affect my perspective, but when the bubble lists scroll across the bottom of my television screen, they’re kind of hard to miss.

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Here’s a look at the action in the Big East this weekend. Every team is playing, with seven conference games and one big non-conference rivalry matchup.

Connecticut at Notre Dame (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Big East’s marquee game on Saturday features a pair of teams fresh off impressive openers. Like Notre Dame, Connecticut has a short turnover and the Huskies play a second road game in three days. The big question will be whether UConn’s frontcourt will be able to defend Luke Harangody and Rob Kurz. A couple of other involve Notre Dame’s ability to take care of the ball, and UConn’s guards’ ability to hit shots.These are a couple of evenly-matched teams, but with the Irish at home and so solid offensively, Mike Brey’s team should be the pick. If Connecticut does win, then my preseason third-place prediction won’t look as farfetched as it did a couple of weeks ago. Irish by 8.

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The anticipation begins to build around the middle of December. At this point, fans of college basketball teams have seen their clubs play several times and have at least some feel for the season. But they’re tired of the non-conference patsies and the interesting games occasionally sprinkled in. As Christmas comes, conference season is even closer and the anticipation grows. Finally, after the New Year’s Day bowls are done and folks are already starting to flake out on their New Year’s resolutions, the college basketball fan is rewarded with the beginning of conference play.For two of the 14 Big East fan bases who saw their favorite team open conference play this week, the opener dealt a harsh dose of reality. Villanova and Providence fans entered conference play with high hopes after solid non-conference slates, but with road openers in the Midwest, neither team found anything approaching success on Thursday night.

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I’ve been hard on Norm Roberts in this space, though many St. John’s fans don’t think I’ve been hard enough on the fourth-year coach. While the Red Storm’s offense under Roberts has always been something out of the Neolithic Era, I’d found the defense solid and the effort unquestioned.

That was the case again in St. John’s Big East opener at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse. The Orange have one of the best offenses in the Big East, but managed just more than a point per possession. Meanwhile, the Red Storm — not exactly known for their size and girth — outrebounded Syracuse and hustled all over the floor. But the Johnnies just couldn’t make enough shots to win, which ended in a 76-70 decision for the Orange.

Read more on Wednesday’s games and previews of Thursday’s action >