Tag: big east basketball

Breaking: Marquette star Tyler Kolek to miss remaining regular season games

Marquette will be without star point guard Tyler Kolek for the final two Big East regular season games as he recovers from an oblique injury.

Things went from bad to worst for Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles here in March. Not only did Marquette get beat by Creighton over the weekend, they got word that starting point guard and 2022-23 Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek will miss the final two games of the regular season due to an oblique injury.

Kolek did not suit up against the Blue Jays in Marquette’s 89-75 loss, and it was clear how much he was missed when the Golden Eagles had seven total assists – where Kolek averages 7.6 assists on his own.

Additionally, Kolek is also averaging a career-high 15 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting an even 40% from three and 88% from the free throw line.

Smart and Marquette will hope some extra rest can get Kolek healthy enough to participate in the Big East Tournament – although keeping him rested and ready for the Big Dance is likely the more important thing so this program can avoid what happened last year when as a two seed they lost to seven seeded Michigan State in the Round of 32.

St. John’s responds to Rick Pitino’s criticism, pulls off major upset over Creighton

Rick Pitino and St. John’s pulled off an upset victory over the Creighton Blue Jays on Sunday, could it put them into the NCAA Tournament?

After St. John’s 68-62 loss to Seton Hall last weekend, coach Rick Pitino lit into his players in a postgame press conference – repeatedly citing their lack of toughness and skill limitations while indicating this season has been the least fun he has had in a while.

Since then the Red Storm have picked up a pair of victories, first a five point win on the road at Georgetown followed by a massive 14 point home victory over the No. 15 ranked Creighton Blue Jays on Sunday.

Creighton, who upset UConn earlier this week, fell to 11-6 in Big East play and 20-8 overall while St. John’s moved to 8-9 and 16-12 overall.

The Red Storm were carried by transfer guards Daniss Jenkins (27 points, six assists) and Jordan Dingle (18 points). St. John’s only turned the ball over three times as a team, while they outrebounded the Blue Jays 42-35.

The win should sneak St. John’s back into the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation, although they will likely need a strong performance in the Big East Tournament to end up in the Big Dance.

But, with regular season games left at Butler, at DePaul, and home against Georgetown, Pitino’s team could carry some momentum into Madison Square Garden – and that could lead to said run, and ultimately a return for Pitino to the NCAA Tournament.

UConn falls to Creighton, extends decade long road losing streak against ranked teams

The UConn Huskies have not won a true road game against a ranked opponent since 2014, a time period where they have won two national championships.

The UConn Huskies suffered their first loss since December on Tuesday night, falling on the road to the No. 15 Creighton Blue Jays in an 85-66 blowout.

It was Creighton’s first ever win over a No. 1 ranked team, ending UConn’s 14 game winning streak and coming just days after Purdue lost to Ohio State to clear a path for the Huskies to take over as the projected No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

However, the most startling fact about this loss for UConn is how common it is, as the Huskies have a long, long history of losing true road games against ranked opponents.

It’s been since UConn beat Memphis in 2014 that the Huskies have won a true road game against a ranked opponent – a decade long span that includes two national championship victories and multiple weeks spent as the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

With tons of home and neutral site wins over ranked teams, and obviously plenty of success in the NCAA Tournament, it’s hard to imagine this team being that inept in those tricky road environments, yet the losing streak was pushed to 21 on Tuesday after an uninspiring 3-16 performance from beyond the arc.

UConn was bound to lose at some point, and Creighton is red hot right now, but this loss highlights a key area where this program has really struggled for the last decade – and considering the success they’ve had in that decade it really stands out.

The Huskies will get a chance to break the streak on March 6 when they head to Milwaukee to take on the No. 7 ranked Golden Eagles of Marquette, with tip slated for 8:30 ET on FS1.

Game of the year? Creighton defeats Seton Hall in triple overtime

The Creighton Blue Jays defeated the Seton Hall Pirates, 97-94, in triple-overtime on Saturday in another instant classic Big East basketball game.

The Big East has a rich history of incredible conference battles. From the infamous ‘sweater game’ in 1985 between Georgetown and St. John’s, to the six overtime battle between Syracuse and UConn in 2009, this conference is never lacking in entertainment value.

That proved true yet again on Saturday when Creighton went to Seton Hall and escaped with a 97-94 victory in triple-overtime thanks to a monster performance from center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who had 28 points, nine rebounds, and seven blocked shots.

The game was close more or less from the opening tip, and when Blue Jays guard Steven Ashworth forced overtime with a lay-in to end regulation, it was clear this was a game folks would be discussing for a long time.

Creighton moves to 5-3 in the Big East and helped erase the sting of losing to UConn on the road earlier in the week. Meanwhile the Pirates see their six game winning streak snap and fall to 6-2 in league play. They had previously picked up wins over UConn, Marquette, Providence, and St. John’s, and had plenty of chances to collect another win over a ranked team.

However, Kadary Richmond, who posted a triple-double in regulation and finished with 21 points, missed quite a few shots in overtime and Seton Hall struggled to slow down Kalkbrenner on the block, resulting in the heartbreaking loss.

The Pirates will get a chance to restart their winning streak on Wednesday when they host Providence, while Creighton will host Xavier on Tuesday.

If we are lucky, more regulation games will rival this one in a Big East that is loaded with talent and physicality this year.

Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament resume improves with win over Marquette

Seton Hall picks up another massive win in Big East play as they continue to build an NCAA Tournament resume.

There are no easy victories in the Big East conference, and no team is proving that more than Seton Hall. The Pirates are 3-1 in conference play with victories over the defending champion UConn Huskies, an excellent Providence team, and now the No. 7 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles, who they defeated 78-75 on Saturday.

The Pirates had a 10-point lead with 2:25 to go but a handful of turnovers allowed Marquette to come back within one before Seton Hall was able to put it away. Al-Amir Dawes had 23 points while Kadary Richmond added 21 with five assists.

Seton Hall is now 10-5 on the year and 3-1 in the Big East, with three huge victories masking an ugly 20-point loss to Xavier – which highlights the confusing story of Shaheen Holloway’s team this season.

The Pirates came into the day ranked 79th in the NET, with a 2-2 record in Quad 1 games but only a 0-2 record in Quad 2 and 1-1 in Quad 3.

However, the losses are all incredibly respectable: USC and Iowa on neutral sites, Baylor on the road, Rutgers at home, and Xavier on the road.

It’s incredibly hard to ignore a team that has wins over UConn, Marquette, and Providence, and it’s possible the team’s win over Missouri will age well if the Tigers can find success in the SEC.

All this to say, the Pirates are building a resume that could put them on the March Madness bubble, and further demonstrates the depth of the Big East just a few weeks into the conference season.

Bryce Hopkins ACL tear devastating blow for Providence

Bryce Hopkins suffered a torn ACL on Wednesday in Providence’s 61-57 loss to Seton Hall.

The Providence Friars not only suffered a tough 61-57 loss to the Seton Hall Pirates on Wednesday evening, but they were informed the following morning that star wing Bryce Hopkins suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the 2023-24 college basketball season.

Hopkins exited the game in the second half, getting helped off the floor and heading straight to the locker room where he did not return. The worst was confirmed by the program on Thursday morning.

“We all feel for Bryce and his family in this difficult time,” Providence coach Kim English said, per a press release from the team.  “We will be with him throughout this process to help him come back stronger than ever.  We ask that all of Friartown keeps Bryce and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

The Friars are 11-3 on the year and had started receiving Top 25 buzz before Wednesday’s loss, and the junior wing was a big reason why. Under English, in his first year at Providence taking over for Ed Cooley, Hopkins averaged 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 steals in 14 games while shooting a career-high 53.3% on two-pointers.

Providence will now have to try to survive in the incredibly deep Big East without their second-leading scorer, putting more pressure on guard Devin Carter (16.2 points) and big man Josh Oduro (14.7 points) to help lead the charge.

Additionally, top freshman Garwey Dual – considered a sleeper in the 2024 NBA draft – will need to step up as well, as the 6’5 guard is only averaging 3.5 points in 21 minutes per game.

Providence heads on the road to face the Creighton Blue Jays on Saturday, January 6. The tip-off is at 3:00 PM ET.

UConn crushed by Seton Hall as Donovan Clingan suffers ankle injury

The UConn Huskies got ran out of their own gym by the Seton Hall Pirates to open up Big East conference play.

UConn was absolutely rolling heading into the Big East conference opener at home against Seton Hall on Wednesday, boasting a 10-1 record with wins over Indiana, Texas, North Carolina, and Gonzaga and only a narrow loss to Kansas.

40 minutes of gameplay later and the Huskies had their tail between their legs after suffering a 75-60 loss at the hands of an 8-4 Seton Hall squad whose only other Power-6 win came against Missouri.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, UConn saw star center Donovan Clingan exit the game in the second half with what is being described as an ankle sprain, and his status for his team’s next game on Saturday against Saint John’s remains up in the air.

The Huskies were stymied by Seton Hall’s trademark aggressive defense, turning the ball over a whopping 17 times while shooting just 37.9% from the field and 19% (4-21) from three point land.

For the Pirates, veteran guard Kadary Richmond led the charge – dropping 23 points with eight steals, six rebounds, and five assists.

It was a clear reminder to UConn, and college basketball fans, that winning in the Big East is never ever easy, and while the Huskies remain a favorite to win the national title they are by no means impervious to a bad offensive night.

The matchups are reportedly set for the Big Ten/Big East 2023 Gavitt Games

The matchups are reportedly set for the Big Ten/Big East 2023 Gavitt Games

The Gavitt Games are back again in 2023, and the Big Ten and Big East will battle it out early in the season to see which conference reigns supreme.

The Big Ten has won three of the last four challenges, as they came out on top in 2018, 2019, and 2022. The challenge was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Last year, the Big Ten won six matchups of the eight, with St. John’s and DePaul being the lone teams to win games for the Big East. Wisconsin did not have a matchup in the 2022 Gavitt Games.

Earlier today, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported the matchups for this year’s edition.

Here is a look at the 2023 matchups, with Wisconsin back in the field:

Final Four appearances by conference since 2000

ACC leads the way for most Final Four appearances this century.

Following the completion of Sunday’s Elite Eight games we will have the Final Four teams that will battle it out to be the 2023 national champions. CBS would televise all three games from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The Final Four games will be held on Saturday, Apr. 1, and Monday, Apr. 2. It should be quite a finish if the games from Thursday are any indication. As we march towards the championship game a week from Monday, we are focused on which conference has produced the most Final Four teams.

Since 2000 the ACC and Big Ten have produced 33 Final Four teams between them. However, the Big Ten has been in a title drought since Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans cut down the nets in 2000. The last time a team from the conference made it to the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament was in 2019, and it was with the Spartans. On the flip side, the ACC has won two titles since 2017. The North Carolina Tar Heels won it all in 2017 and the Virginia Cavaliers cut down the nets in 2019.

The Big 12 checks in at No. 4 and have back-to-back national champions with the Baylor Bears and Kansas Jayhawks. Neither team made it to the Sweet 16.

Here are the breakdowns for all 88 Final Four appearances by conference and when they last appeared.

Conference Appearances Last Appearance
ACC 18 2023 (Miami)
Big Ten 16 2019 (Michigan State)
Big East 14 2023 (UConn)
Big 12 12 2022 (Kansas)
SEC 11 2019 (Auburn)
Conference USA 3 2023 (Florida Atlantic)
American 2 2021 (Houston)
Colonial 2 2011 (VCU)
Horizon 2 2011 (Butler)
Missouri Valley 2 2018 (Loyola-Chicago)
West Coast 2 2021 (Gonzaga)
Mountain West 1 2023 (San Diego State)

*Editors note: Appearances updated following Sunday’s games

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=712]

[mm-video type=video id=01gw9y70eg5kvhqcq2a8 playlist_id=01gq2fszf7mxxc88k4 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gw9y70eg5kvhqcq2a8/01gw9y70eg5kvhqcq2a8-859eb29d6a76131e3db2c16f1981aa7e.jpg]

ESPN Radio’s Chris Carlin blasts St. John’s for Rick Pitino hire: ‘Where Rick Pitino operates, he lives in the grey’

Rick Pitino hiring is a dicey decision according to ESPN Radio’s Chris Carlin.

Chris Carlin is having none of it, the ESPN Radio host lighting into St. John’s for the hire of Rick Pitino as the head coach of men’s basketball.

Pitino, who successfully guided Iona to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three years with the Gaels, is a massive hire for St. John’s. He won two nationals championships, though his last one at Louisville in 2014 was vacated.

And he knows the Big East quite well, having one the conference three times with Louisville.

But Pitino, despite credentials that make him one of the best head coaches in college basketball history, comes with baggage. And Carlin would have none of it, blasting away at St. John’s decision to hire Pitino.

Carlin, the voice of Rutgers football, didn’t hold back in his thoughts on the hiring of Pitino.

“This is the only college basketball coach ever that has had to vacate a national championship and wiped four years’ worth of wins because of a scandal around his team. And he’ll be the first to tell you “Oh I was cleared of that earlier this year’,” Carlin said on ESPN Radio.

“Yet Rick Pitino continues to get opportunity after opportunity after embarrassing virtually every place he’s ever been to and having no regard for anyone else in any of this.”

From allegations of a “pay to play” scandal to an extortion attempt, Pitino certainly does have some tarnish to his accolades.

[lawrence-related id=25230]

St. John’s is banking on Pitino’s accumen and ability to recruit to help get the Red Storm back to relevance.

Under former head coach Mike Anderson, St. John’s had four winning seasons but was just 30-46 in the Big East. They didn’t make the NCAA Tournament during that stretch.

 

“Where Rick Pitino operates, he lives in the grey. He lives in the area of ‘I don’t have any direct knowledge of it.’ That is called plausible deniability,” Carlin said.

“And now we go to St. John’s who think it is 1985 and somehow think they can turn back the clock. And he says ‘I deserve it’.”

[lawrence-related id=25274]

[mm-video type=video id=01gw5qr1m3jqata8rycb playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gw5qr1m3jqata8rycb/01gw5qr1m3jqata8rycb-25290d0880d665d695510b5309fcb0d8.jpg]