Big East Tournament Day 1 Recap

Day one of the Big East Tournament is in the books. Let's take a look back how day 1 went down.

11. Cincinnati 69 14. Rutgers 68 - This game was covered in the recap posted a little earlier.
Up next: 11 Cincinnati v. 6 Louisville (ESPN 20 min after conclusion of game 3. Est 9:25 pm)


9. South Florida 58 16. DePaul 49 - Minus an early second half rally, South Florida dominated DePaul. Dominique Jones went off for 20-9-4 assists-4 steals, and Mike Mercer added 14-5. Will Walker went for 20-5 for the losing Blue Demons. Mac Koshwal had 8-10 as well. South Florida got win 20, their first 20 win season since 1990. Congrats Bulls.
Up next: 9 South Florida v. 8 Georgetown (ESPN 12 pm)


13. St John's 73 12. Connecticut 51 - In the shocker of the day, St John's dominated UConn nearly all 40 minutes en route to a huge win. Sean Evans powered the Red Storm with 19-10, while Paris Horne and Jason Browlee both had 13. In what could be Jim Calhoun's last game, Kemba Walker had 12 for UConn. The Huskies had 19 turnovers, while St John's had 10 dunks. It'll be interesting to see if St John's has enough in the tank to keep this up.
Up next: 13 St John's v. 5 Marquette (ESPN 20 min after game 1. Est: 2:25 pm)


10. Seton Hall 109 15. Providence 106 - The craziest game of the day came in this one. That score was in regulation. The teams took 146 shots and and 82 free throws. Seton Hall had a 16 point halftime lead, and lead by as much as 27 in the second half, and lead 96-72 with 5:54 left. The Friars went on a 34-13 run to close the game, and had a shot to tie as regulation ended, but Duke Mondy couldn't connect. For the Hall, Herb Pope had 27-15-5 assists, Jordan Theodore 21-6 assists, and Jeremy Hazell with 18. Providence was lead by a 38-16 effort by Jamine Peterson, 16-12 by Bilal Dixon and 15 by Marshown Brooks.
Up next: 10 Seton Hall v. 7 Notre Dame (ESPN 7 pm) 

Cincinnati 60 Connecticut 48

(Enquirer)

The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 15-9, 6-6, by sweeping the season series against the Connecticut Huskies Saturday afternoon. UConn fell to 14-11, 4-8, and look to have their backs to the wall just regarding a winning season despite Jim Calhoun's return to the bench. This was the type of game that the Bearcats haven't had on the road all year. The second half, they came out wanting to win and put UConn to shame, and for the most part, they did. I would say it was their best road performance since Xavier. It was something that Cincinnati badly needed as we head down the stretch of the season. Lance Stephenson lead UC, just like he did the first time they played, with 14-5. Ibrahima Thomas had his best game as a Bearcat, putting up a 10-11 double double. Deonta Vaughn had 10-4 assists, and Rashad Bishop had 7-7. UConn was lead by Kemba Walker's 14. Calhoun said after the game that Walker was the only player who played hard. Jerome Dyson had 13, but was 5-16 in doing so. Stanley Robinson had 10-9, with all 10 coming in the first half. Gavin Edwards threw in a solid 10-7-2 blocks-3 steals performance off the bench. Let's go back and see how this played out.

The game was in the XL Center in Hartford, a place so bad that UConn fans hate it. The game started off really slow. Rashad Bishop made the first 2, followed minutes later by a Lance Stephenson 2 that drew a Calhoun timeout 2:30 in. No one would score before Stanley Robinson scored for UConn at the 15:18 mark. Yeah, 5 minutes with 3 baskets. The next few minutes would see buckets from Stephenson, and Gates for UC, and Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson's only 3 of the game, and UC lead 9-7 at 11:51. UConn would go on a run. Kemba Walker hit a 3, and 2 free throws, and Ibrahima Thomas was stripped by Donnell Beverly, who outleted to Stanley Robinson for a dunk. UConn held the 14-9 advantage to the under 8 timeout. The teams would trade baskets at a slow, and leisurely pace when they weren't turning the ball over or taking wild jump shots. Deonta Vaughn made his only 3, and Stephenson and Steve Toyloy scored for UC, while Gavin Edwards and Robinson would score for UConn. The Huskies seemed to gather the momentum on a big play. Yancy Gates telegraphed a pass towards Bishop that Stanley Robinson picked off. Robinson drove down the floor with Bishop in front of him, before crossing him over for a dunk and a foul and an "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Robinson missed the foul shot, but UConn held a 20-14 lead. UC would go on an 8-2 run to close out the half. Ibrahima Thomas hit a 3, and Deonta Vaughn got a traditional 3 point play around a Robinson jumper, and Darnell Wilks scored his only 2 on his only shot in his only minute to tie the score at 22 with 1:35. That's the way the half would end. UC's points came from Vaughn's 6, Stephenson's 4, Thomas' 3, Gates , Toyloy, and Bishop's 2, and Cashmere Wright made a free throw. UConn was lead by Robinson's 10, Dyson's 7, Walker's 3, and Edwards' 2. UC was 9-31, 2-10 from 3, 2-7 free throws, with 19 boards 10 offensive, and 6 turnovers. UConn was 9-22, 2-7, 2-3, with 14 boards 4 offensive, and 9 turnovers. Yes, the half was very ugly.

Whatever Mick Cronin said in the locker room at halftime worked, because UC came out strong. Rashad Bishop drew a foul and made a free throw 20 seconds in for an advantage UC wouldn't give up. Lance Stephenson hit a jumper, a 3 pointer, and assisted Ibrahima Thomas for a bucket and UC lead 30-23. UConn got an Edwards free throw in that span. UConn would get free throws from Dyson to cut the lead to 5 before UC would continue to score. Deonta Vaughn missed a shot as the shot clock was winding down, but stripped the rebounder and fed Thomas for 2 more. Rashad Bishop rattled home a j, and just like that, UC was on a 12-3 run. Ending the first half on an 8-2 run and starting the next with a 12-3 run is something we haven't seen from UC in a while. UC lead 34-25 at 15:13 while shooting 5-10 on the half, while UConn was 0-7. After the break, the teams went cold. No scoring, but lots of turnovers, until Rashad Bishop got a steal from Edwards and made both free throws after drawing a foul. UConn got their first basket of the half after the under 12 timeout, when Edwards scored at 11:30 to make the score 36-27. That's right, UConn didn't make a field goal for 8:30 after going 4:40 in the first half without scoring. Great defense by UC, but horrible half court offense by UConn. UC's half court offense was terrible as well, because they could have been blowing UConn out if they ran plays, but that's neither here nor there. UC jumped right back on the Huskies with a Gates put back and Stephenson free throws after pulling home an offensive rebound, for a 13 point lead. The rebounding was great in this game. UC controlled the offensive, and defensive glass, and controlled the game. Beverly and Gates traded 1 made free throw, as the teams traded baskets by Walker, Thomas, and Edwards out of transition after the Thomas lay up. Dion Dixon, my best friend, scored his first points in 4 games by going strong to the rim. Walker hit a 3 for UConn, pulling the margin to 10 with 5:47 on the clock. Dixon would back down and hit a fade away over Stanley Robinson, and on the next possession, Steve Toyloy scored a put back, after Thomas missed a put back, after Vaughn missed a shot clock induced rushed 3. UC lead 49-35 with 3:59 left. The Toyloy rebound was UC's 17th, and final, offensive rebound of the game. Dominating effort by the bigs. Toyloy had 8 rebounds, 5 offensive. 4 of Thomas' 11 boards were offensive. After the break, Dion Dixon went strong to the rack again to give UC a 51-36 lead, which would prove to be important because UConn had a run in them. Jerome Dyson made a jumper, and UConn got a steal by Edwards from Bishop and Walker was fouled. Walker hit 1 of 2, and on UC's next possession, Stephenson would get fouled and hit 1 of 2. With 2:20 left down 13, Dyson made a lay up, drew a foul, but missed the free throw. But, he would steal the rebound from Lance and Gavin Edwards would get fouled. He hit 1 of 2. UC couldn't get the ball over half court due to UConn's pressure, and Dyson got another steal and lay up. It was 52-44 with 1:56 left and visions of St John's dancing in every UC fans, especially this one's, heads. UC finally got the ball over halfcourt, but it was because they threw it away. Dyson would draw a foul on Vaughn, but missed both free throws. If UConn made all their free throws in this stretch, who knows what would have happened, because Vaughn turned the ball over for a Dyson lay up and a 6 point game. UC finally got the ball over halfcourt at 1:15, a full minute of game time with only getting the ball over for like a second. Deonta Vaughn would hit a pair of freebies. Edwards got a lay up for UConn, making the score 54-48 with 1:07 left, and as you can see, that was the last UConn bucket. Vaughn hit 2 more free throws, got a steal from Edwards and hit Lance with an outlet pass for a Stephenson icing lay up. Ibrahima Thomas and Cashmere Wright both hit 1 of 2 at the line, and that's how we got the final.

UC shot 21-56 for 35%, 3-17 17%, and 15-25 60%. Thomas was 1-6 at the line, Cash 2-4 in disappointing efforts. UC had 41 boards, 17 offensive, and 14 turnovers. As for the Huskies, they shot 18-52 35%, 3-15 20%, and 9-18 50%. They pulled down 29 rebounds, 12 offensive, and had 15 turnovers. My prediction of less than 7 made 3s was right on the money. Neither team shot anywhere near a good percentage. Both play good to great defense, but damn are they bad to horrible on offense. Especially in the half court.

There were lots of good things to see in this game. Lance Stephenson played great. Ibrahima Thomas proved to be a force. Steve Toyloy got his hands on lots of rebounds. Rashad Bishop played well on offense and locked down Stanley Robinson in the second half. And Dion Dixon, did I mention he was my best friend, played like he had at the beginning of the year when he was playing well. As for the bad, we got nothing from Cash Wright. Deonta Vaughn has lost his jump shot, another 2-8 effort. Yancy Gates was nowhere to be seen, just 5-5. But, some of us saw that coming in their preview. The end of the game mini disaster was not fun to watch.

 The effort in the first half was so bad, both ways, that Calhoun said neither team wanted to win. Well in the second half, UC wanted to win. It's going to take an effort like that tomorrow night, as UC travels to Tampa to play the rematch against South Florida.

Bearcats rebound against Connecticut

The Bearcats got back to .500 in the Big East with a 60-48 win over UConn in Hartford. The Bearcats are now 15-9, 6-6, while UConn is 14-11, 4-8. Jim Calhoun's return to the sideline was the only thing that the Hartford crowd cheered for. The Bearcats had much more to cheer for, as they played a fantastic second half in pulling away. Lance Stephenson lead the way with 14 points, and lead the way by helping UC break a 22-22 halftime tie into a 9 point lead UC would never relinquish. Deonta Vaughn had 10 points, 4 assists, but the surprise star was Ibrahima Thomas. Ibrahima put up a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. My best friend Dion Dixon returned from the dead with 6 points, looking strong taking the ball to the rim and keeping UC ahead. The Huskies were lead by Kemba Walker's 14. Jerome Dyson had 13, and Stanley Robinson scored 10, all in the first half, to go with 9 boards. The Bearcats rebounded the ball very well, holding UConn to 1 shot most of the time, and getting a lot of offensive rebounds. UC had 41 boards on the day, 17 offensive. Steve Toyloy had 8, 5 offensive, Rashad Bishop 7, and Yancy Gates 5. This was a great win for the Bearcats, mainly because it came on the road. Let's take the rest of the weekend to enjoy this one.

Know Your Opponent: Connecticut Huskies edition

Tomorrow at high noon, the 14-9, 5-6, Cincinnati Bearcats take to the scenic streets of Storrs, Connecticut to take on the 14-10, 4-7, Connecticut Huskies. Both teams are coming off losses to Syracuse, UConn's in less dominating fashion Wednesday. This is the second meetings of the UC's this season. The Bearcats pulled off a 71-69 victory thanks to a beneficial call in the closing seconds leading to Lance Stephenson sticking in a pair of free throws for the W. Lance Stephenson exploded on UConn to the tune of 21 points. Deonta Vaughn went for 17-5-5, Ibrahima Thomas had 6-9-3 blocks, and Larry Davis had 9. The Huskies were powered by 24 from Jerome Dyson, along with 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and 20 from Stanley Robinson. UC blew a 12 point lead in the second half of that game, and Kemba Walker hit a 3 to tie the score with 9.4 seconds left.

 Just like the first meeting, Jim Calhoun is coaching the Huskies. Calhoun took a medical leave for 7 games, in which UConn went 3-4. I asked the highly esteemed UCHuskies.com what impact they thought Calhoun had coming back for Saturday, and the rest of the season.

Two things I think the Huskies have working for them Saturday, and the rest of the way, are, Calhoun's return and the emotional lift it will provide...and the "us against the world" mentality the team will have, following what I consider to be some "questionable" officiating in Syracuse. Calhoun is the motivator, Blaney is the good cop. Calhoun's return is probably a game later than ideal, but is still well timed. 7 Big East games remaining, the Huskies must go 5-2 to get back to .500 in the league. It's all hands on deck from here on out. No excuses.


 Along with UCHuskies.com, TheUConnblog.com is a great place for UConn news and views. This is a pivotal game for both teams, as you could see on both of their sites, because neither can afford to take on more losses. Let's take a look at how the teams match up this time.

Cincinnati 71 Connecticut 69

The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

The Cincinnati Bearcats got their first win over a game Connecticut Huskies squad in controversial fashion Wednesday night. Lance Stephenson drew a foul call on Gavin Edwards with .7 seconds left in a tie game and went to the stripe and won it for the Bearcats. There was some dispute that the official made the call after the buzzer, or that Edwards didn't foul Stephenson, but John Cahill said he did, and that's all that matters. The Bearcats get their first win in conference play, and their 9th of the season. It drops UConn to 9-3. 

The big story of the night for the Bearcats was Lance Stephenson. #33 scored 21 points, 1 off his career high, pulled down 4 rebounds and had 3 assists. Stephenson was the offense down the stretch and made things happen to get the win. Lance had a number of moves that left one wondering how he could be stopped. He pulled off a crossover fadeaway jumper off glass, another crossover pull up, and a drive where he went right at one of the UConn big men, missed, but got his own rebound and put it back. He pulled down a rebound and went coast to coast, drawing a foul. Lance has matured since the UAB game. Deonta Vaughn broke out of his slump with 17 points, 5 boards and 5 assists. Vaughn did most of his damage in the first half leading the Cats to a double digit lead. Deonta also made some history. He passed Field Williams and moved into second behind Lazelle Durden for second all time in 3 pointers made. Congratulations Deonta. Yancy Gates didn't do much with only 6 points and 3 boards. He did have 2 blocks. Ibrahima Thomas pulled 9 rebounds, 3 offensive, had 2 blocks and chipped in 6 points. None bigger than his dunk to give Cincinnati a 3 point lead with 17 seconds left. Larry Davis was big down the stretch when the offense sputtered, and had 9, but scored 7 straight at one point. 

For Connecticut, Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson poured in the points with 24 and 20 respectively. Dyson was everywhere when the Huskies needed him most, and Robinson made big shot after big shot. Gavin Edwards had a solid 8-7, doing most of his work at the free throw line. Kemba Walker struggled on 3-13 shooting and finished with 9. Alex Oriakhi was a monster on the boards with 9, 4 offensive. Jerome Dyson really stood out though. He had 7 rebounds, 3 offensive, 5 assists and 2 steals. 

As for the game itself, it was a game filled with lots of ebb and flow. The Bearcats would at once be dynamite offensively, and then go minutes without scoring. The Huskies would fall behind double digits, and rally. The game was as physical as one would expect Big East basketball to be. In the first half, both teams came out tight and scoring was sparse. 7 minutes in, UConn was 4-15 and UC 3-11. That would quickly change. Deonta Vaughn hit 2 3s in 29 seconds to break the UC lead to 8. Stephenson would go coast to coast for a lay up and get fouled to put the lead at 11. The Cats scored 16 points in 3 minutes. They would only score 6 more the final 8 minutes of the half. Jerome Dyson seemed to get right down the middle of the lane on every play and UConn cut into the 12 point lead. Stanley Robinson had a 3 point play on a lay up right down the middle and UConn only trailed by 1 at the half, 36-35. Dyson had 14, Robinson had 9 for UConn. For the Cats, Stephenson had 12 and Vaughn had 10. 

The second half started with Cincinnati busting right back out to a double digit lead. Steve Toyloy of all people nailed a jumper and a free throw to get things started. Deonta Vaughn hit a 3 and after 5 minutes, the Cats lead by 10. UConn cut it back to 5 after Stanley Robinson made the first of only 4 UConn 3s. Rashad Bishop only had 6, but he made a 3 to put UC back up 8, only to foul Robinson as he made a 3. The game stayed close until Larry Davis got involved. Larry hit a 3, got a lay up, and scored on a runner to put the Cats up 10. Lance Stephenson got his first bucket of the half to put UC up 12 with 9 minutes to go. UConn would make a run with Robinson's 3rd 3 pointer, and buckets by Dyson and Walker to get the lead to 5. With 4:27 left, Vaughn picked up his 4th foul on a push off. Vaughn would stay on the bench as the Cats had a couple of turnovers, capped Dyson stripping Bishop and slamming home a dunk to cut the lead to 4 with 2:27 left. Vaughn would only last a minute longer before fouling Gavin Edwards and UConn cut the lead to 3. Dion Dixon would run the point, as he did when Vaughn left the game. UC would struggle to get a good look, and the ball was deflected into the back court. The officials generously give UC 1 second to shoot, and Yancy Gates missed an open look when the Huskies doubled Stephenson. UConn would miss their shot, but Ibrahima Thomas couldn't pull down the rebound, nor could Dion Dixon, who had it taken away by Dyson. Dyson fed Robinson and the Huskies were down 1. UConn wouldn't be able to foul and the Cats broke the press leading to a Thomas dunk and the Cats were up 3 with 17 seconds left. Larry Davis started off on Kemba Walker as the point guard raced up the floor, but Davis went with Dyson and no one was around a wide open Walker who tied the score with 9.4 left. The Cats didn't call a timeout. Stephenson worked around Dyson and drew the foul mentioned up top. Despite being told to miss the second, Lance would make it and a Dyson half court shot would be off and the Bearcats would win. I take detailed game notes. 

The positives in this victory were Deonta Vaughn shaking his slump, Lance Stephenson finally getting a game winner to go after misses against Gonzaga and Xavier, Ibrahima Thomas on the glass, and the defense once again. UConn shot 37.5% and 30.8% from 3. The Cats also didn't get a shot blocked by the nation's leading shot blocking team. The first time UConn didn't block a shot since January 30, 2001. Damn. The Cats shot well with 41% and 46.7% from 3. They even made free throws 14-19 73.7%, highlighted by Lance going 7-7. 

The negatives weren't many. 16 turnovers are too many. The Cats also got in foul trouble. Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates got in it in the middle of the second half, and Vaughn at the end. The Cats also gave up 15 offensive rebounds on 40 UConn misses. 37% is too high, even against a great rebounding team. All in all, it was a great win for the Bearcats. What's your reaction Larry Davis?

The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

Know Your Opponent: Connecticut Huskies edition

The Bearcats and Huskies kick off their Big East seasons with a match up at 7 in 5/3 Arena. The Huskies beat the Bearcats last year 81-72. The Bearcats played tough last year, but couldn't quite get over the hump thanks to AJ Price. No more Thabeet, Adrien, or Price, but the Huskies still trot out Kemba Walker, Stanley Robinson and co. The Huskies are the best team the Bearcats have lined up against this year, and this should be an interesting test to see where UC stands. We also get to see where UC stands in February, because the Cats and Huskies square off twice this season. Let's hit the numbers and prediction after the jump, shall we?