Posts tagged ‘South Florida’

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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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 >

A brief look at the three Big East games tonight.

St. John’s at Syracuse (7 p.m. ET, SNY): The Red Storm heads to Syracuse fresh off one of the worst shooting performances in memory. A 28 percent shooting night against Virginia Tech was perhaps less startling than that St. John’s only lost by six. The days of Larry Wright and Eugene Lawrence knocking down jumpshots seems as long gone as Thanksgiving. The defense hasn’t waned despite a couple of nights at the Holiday Festival when SJU couldn’t get shots to fall. Norm Roberts will need that defense and the re-emergence of Anthony Mason — who played well over the weekend — to keep his team in the game. Syracuse probably has too much offensive firepower to lose this game, but the 2-3 zone will allow St. John’s some open looks, so a great shooting night could mean a nailbiter. On the other hand, when’s the last time St. John’s had a great shooting night? I think Bootsy Thornton was involved.

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