Pittsburgh’s victory over WVU locked up Cincinnati’s first Big East championship. 

In the middle of the Pitt game, it was announced that Tennessee would name Lane Kippen head coach.

Brian Kelly was a leading candidate for the Tennessee job, and it was reported that Kelly was willing to entertain offers from Tennessee.

With the coaching drama behind them, The Bearcats will now wait to see which BCS bowl they will play in.

There are two possibilities; the Orange Bowl or the Sugar Bowl. The Orange Bowl has agreed to feature the ACC champion, and the Sugar Bowl will more-than-likely feature the loser of the SEC championship game.

In terms of competition, the Bearcats could face Virginia Tech, Florida State, or Boston College in Miami, and Florida or Alabama in New Orleans

It’s a final here at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., with Marquette beating Northern Iowa 73-43 in the third round of the Chicago Invitational. The closest this one got was 0-0, because Marquette jumped out to a 32-8 lead at the start and lead 37-18 at the half.

Senior guard Jerel McNeal, a Chicago native, had 13 points for Marquette. He added two steals as the Golden Eagles forced 14 turnovers. Fellow guard Wesley Matthews continued his surprisingly strong start to the season with 17 points and seven rebounds. Forward Lazar Hayward turned in another good game for Marquette, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

Now the bad news. Marquette looked shaky in the halfcourt again, settling too often for quick 3-point shots. That worked in the first half, when the Golden Eagles shot 42.9 percent from three, but not as well in the second half when they shot 38.5 percent. We’ll have coach Buzz Williams’ comment on that as soon as possible.

Senior forward Dwight Burke managed to stay on the court for most of the game, playing 30 minutes and scoring one point while grabbing six rebounds. Other than that, walk-on Robert Frozena got in for an unprecedented five minutes tonight.

I’ll give you some postgame quotes when they become available.

I said Marquette was favored in this one, but I doubt even the Golden Eagles thought they’d have this much success early. Marquette started the game on a 32-8 run, and closed the first half of play with a 37-18 lead over Northern Iowa.

Senior guard Jerel McNeal paced the Golden Eagles with 10 points and two steals. Fellow guard Wesley Matthews is also off to a solid start with nine points and four rebounds.

Don’t expect coach Buzz Williams to be too excited in the locker room, though. Marquette’s halfcourt offense has still consisted mostly of the guards passing it around the perimeter, then settling for a 3-point shot. Marquette got away with that in the first half by shooting 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from beyond the arc in the first half – they probably can’t expect to keep that up for long.

For Northern Iowa, guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored seven points and had three assists. The Panthers shot just 33.3 percent in the half.

We’ll have more on this one after it wraps up.

Here’s a quick look at Marquette (4-0) vs. Northern Iowa (3-1) in the third round of the Chicago Invitational in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Probable Starters (season stats in parenthesis):

Marquette:
G Dominic James (10 ppg, 20 assists)
G Jerel McNeal (19.8 ppg, 5 rpg)
G Wesley Matthews (22.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
F Lazar Hayward (20.8 ppg, 10 rpg)
F Dwight Burke (2 ppg, 2.5 rpg)

Northern Iowa:
G Kerwin Dunham (2.4 ppg, 2 rpg)
G Ali Farokhmanesh (10.8 ppg, 2 rpg)
G Kwadzo Ahelegbe (6.8 ppg, 3.8 apg)
G Johnny Moran (14.8 ppg, 6 rpg)
F Adam Koch (14.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg)

Marquette will again be favored in this match-up after winning its previous two games in the Chicago Invitational over Chicago State (106-87) and Texas Southern (85-68). The Golden Eagles will face a Northern Iowa lineup that starts four guards and forward Adam Koch, who posted his second career double-double (17 points, 11 boards) against Chicago State Tuesday.

Northern Iowa also boasts 3-point-threat Johnny Moran, who has shot .750 (9-for-12) on three-pointers in his last three games.

For Marquette, forward Lazar Hayward continues to average a double-double, and forward Dwight Burke continues to disappoint. The Golden Eagles have been in foul trouble in each of their games this season, and coach Buzz Williams has put a heavy influence on changing that tonight. Don’t be surprised if Jerel McNeal, playing near his hometown of Chicago, goes off in this one.

More on this game as we go along.

Well, you figure if Wayne Chism plays all of three minutes in the second half, Georgetown might have a chance at winning. He did, and they did, leading by as many as nine midway through the second half.

But this Volunteers team is multi-dimensional, shooting a blistering 10-15 (66.7%) from behind the arc in the win.

Quotes to come as I get them…

Without Chism in the game, the Hoyas are holding their own inside—though offensive rebounds are still an issue.

But Tennessee is lighting it up from outside. The Vols are 8-13 from behind the arc, and Cameron Tatum’s third three-pointer just capped an 18-4 Tennessee run.

Tennessee 75 Georgetown 71 (3:00, 2nd half)

**Chism just re-entered the game for the first time since 17:00

I’ve been talking about how disastrous Monroe’s foul trouble can be for the Hoyas, but Tennessee is having its own problems with big man Wayne Chism.

Chism picked up his fourth foul just minutes into the second half with the Vols up 47-44 and is yet to re-enter the game.

The Hoyas, however, have not been able to capitalize on his absence. A Tennessee three-pointer just gave the Vols the lead, 67-66 with just under six minutes to play.

The Hoyas were starting to gain some separation until a disastrous possession in which the Vols grabbed four offensive rebounds, culminating in a lead-slashing three-pointer. Someone needs to step it up on the glass—I’m looking at you DaJuan.

Georgetown 65 Tennessee 63 (6:50, 2nd half)

Even when I’m trying to give him his props I’m still disrespecting Wattad. They ended up giving him that second three-pointer on the line, so that makes Wattad 3/3 from downtown after starting the season 0-6.

Well, I’m one of those guys who lets out an audible groan when Omar Wattad comes into the game.

Don’t worry Omar, I know how to admit I’m wrong.

Wattad just knocked down his second three-pointer of the game to go along with a long two where he toed the line. The most recent came after the sophomore guard yanked down a rare offensive rebound.

If he continues to contribute it will be huge for the Hoyas who, quite frankly, aren’t that deep.

Georgetown 54 Tennessee 47 (13:30 2nd half)