Big East Basketball Notebook

john1981cr · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 111

By Randy Rosetta
Inspin.com/WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Cincinnati begins a week when it can lay claim to being Ohio’s best basketball program with a neighborhood brawl Wednesday night when the Bearcats entertain Xavier at the Fifth Third Arena.

UC closes the week with a battle against Ohio State at the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis.

But first on the docket is a showdown with Xavier, which has – at least momentarily – overtaken the Bearcats as the best team in Cincy. The Musketeers are the program that has been ranked this season and come in with a chip on their shoulder after a loss to fellow mid-major Creighton.

For Cincinnati to re-establish Queen City supremacy, the Bearcats’ two impressive newcomers might need to continue what they’ve been providing so far this season.

Junior college transfer John Williamson leads UC with 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds a game and is the Big East’s top-scoring newcomer. Freshman point guard Deonta Vaughn is making a push for Big East freshman of the year with 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds a game. Vaughn has averaged 20.4 points a game over the last four outings.

Jamual Warren has also begun to emerge. He notched career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (7) in the Bearcats’ come-from-behind 80-71 triumph against Temple on Saturday. In that game, Cincy shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half after struggling at just 35.1 percent in the first 20 minutes.

Xavier won last year’s Crosstown Shootout 73-71 in overtime in one of the better games in the series in recent history. The Musketeers have won seven of the last 10 games against UC.

To knock off XU, the Bearcats will need to pose some kind of threat from 3-point range. Cincinnati has shot 35 percent or higher from outside the arc in just three games this season (High Point, Wofford, Central Michigan) and has connected on only 15-of-58 (25.9 percent) from long range in the last three games.

LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals’ schedule picked up considerably last week and reaches another level starting tonight with two home games against big-name opponents. Louisville hosts Massachusetts and Rick Pitino protégé Travis Ford, the Minutemen coach, today before entertaining Kentucky on Saturday. UL racked up three wins last week in its home tournament, with veteran Juan Palacios leading the way as the tourney MVP. Palacios leads the Cards with 13.3 points and 8 rebounds a game, while sophomore forward Terrence Williams is contributing 5.3 assists a contest – fourth in the Big East and most among non-guards.

DEPAUL: The Blue Demons’ roller-coaster season continued with a 58-57 loss at UAB on Saturday, but now they get a chance to record another big win tonight when Wake Forest visits Allstate Arena in Rosemont (Wake is +7.5 on WagerWeb.com). DePaul beat the Demon Deacons 84-81 last season, with Sammy Mejia notching 24 points and 7 rebounds. Mejia has been up-and-down this season and is coming off a 3-point, 1-for-8 shooting performance against UAB. He is averaging 12.7 points and 6 rebounds a game, second in both categories to Wilson Chandler (14.4/7.1).

NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish are ranked for the first time since 2001-02 after defeating ranked opponents Maryland and Alabama last week. Prior to those wins, Notre Dame hadn’t beaten a ranked foe in seven tries. The Irish’s 99-85 win against the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide was ND’s highest-scoring output since a 101-98 win over Syracuse in February 1992. Prior to the loss, Alabama had not permitted more than 65 points in a game this season. Irish senior Russell Carter was named the Big East Player of the Week after registering 27 points on 6-of-11 3-point shooting. He also snared 5 rebounds and came up with 5 steals. He leads Notre Dame with 16.6 points a game and has scored in double digits in every game this season.

PITTSBURGH: The Panthers survived a serious threat at Buffalo last week, rallying from a 10-point second-half deficit and never leading by more than the final 70-67 margin. Pitt’s Aaron Gray booked his fourth consecutive double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds and now has a Big East-best seven this season. The Panthers are 10-0 for the fourth straight year and under Coach Jamie Dixon are 44-1 against non-conference foes, 25-0 in December. Second-ranked Pitt plays at No. 7-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday in a battle of power-conference Top-10 teams.

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