Day 3 of 75 is in the books for the Big East Tournament. Why do I capitalize tournament sometimes and not others? I don’t know, stop asking annoying questions. People don’t like it. The predictions went to hell, as the top seeds had a really rough day. How rough? That’s why we do the recaps. My prediction for Georgetown-Marquette is at the bottom, as is my prediction from Monday of Notre Dame-West Virginia.
8 Georgetown 91 1 Syracuse 84 – Not only did the Hoyas pull a second half rally on the Orange, but big man Arinze Oruaku went down. Doctors have said it’s a strained knee, but who knows? The Hoyas turned the tables with a 17-2 run. The lead got to 7 with 3 minutes to go on an Austin Freeman lay up, and the Hoyas held on. They were powered by 27-6-6 assists by Chris Wright. Austin Freeman had 18, Jason Clark 17, and Greg Monroe 15-10-7 assists. The Orange were powered by 24-7 from the Big East Player of the Year Wesley Johnson. Scoop Jardine had 19, Kris Joseph 18-6, and Andy Rautins 14-10. No team has won a national title without winning a conference tournament game, but things like that are meant to be broken.
5 Marquette 80 4 Villanova 76 – Marquette finally turned the tables on Villanova, as they pulled out a close one against the Wildcats after losing a pair of close ones earlier this year. Lazar Hayward hit a huge 3 for the lead seconds after Corey Stokes tied the score for the Wildcats. There were 18 made 3s in the game, 11 for Marquette. The Golden Eagles were led by Darius Johnson-Odom’s 24-5 assists, Lazar Hayward’s 20-7, and 17 from David Cubillan. Nova was led by 22 from Stokes, and 16 from Corey Fisher.
Up next: 8 Georgetown v. 5 Marquette (ESPN 7 pm)
7 Notre Dame 50 2 Pittsburgh 45 – Slow-tre Dame put that nickname in full use, as the second half score was 18-16. The Irish luckily had a 3 point lead at the half, as you can tell. The Irish took a 5-4 lead 2:20 into the game, and never relented the lead. Pitt had the lead cut to once a couple times, and 2 late in the game. Luke Harangody travelled, but Brad Wanamaker missed a lay up. Gilbert Brown got a Panther steal, but Jermaine Dixon missed a tying jumper. Harangody got the rebound and made a pair of free throws to ice it. Harangody and Tory Jackson both had 12, but Tyrone Nash had the best statistical game with 8-6-6 assists. The assists were a career high. The Panthers were led by 16 by Brad Wanamaker and 10-5 for Dixon. Let it be known I picked Notre Dame by 5.
3 West Virginia 54 11 Cincinnati 51 – Sigh. This will be covered later.
Up next: 7 Notre Dame v. 3 West Virginia (ESPN 20 min after first game)
Predictions
Marquette 70 Georgetown 62
West Virginia 77 Notre Dame 69
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