According to stories on scarletscuttlebutt.com and the Rhode Island student newspaper, four members of the Rutgers football team are set to transfer to URI for next season.
Among the transfers are Papajohns.com folk hero Rob Cervini who will join tight end Tom Lang, defensive back Robenson Alexis and quarterback Chris Paul-Etienne.
Rhode Island is an FCS team coached by Darren Rizzi, a former assistant coach for Greg Schiano.
A pair of WVU upperclassmen helped lead the Mountaineers past St. John’s 75-52 tonight at the Coliseum in Morgantown.
De’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff combine for 38 points (Butler 21, Ruoff 17) as Butler shot 71.4 percent from behind the arc, and Ruoff added 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
The Mountaineers improved to 4-3 in conference play thanks largely in part to much improved free throw shooting. WVU shot 91.7 percent from the line against the Red Storm, as compared to their 65.9 percent on the season.
The Red Storm scored a majority of their points in transition to their credit, and Paris Horne put up another solid effort with a team-high 16 points and 3 steals in his 40 minutes of playing time.
UConn went off against DePaul and walked away with a 71-49 victory to give the Blue Demons a 0-8 conference record.
Jeff Adrien recorded a double-double for the Huskies with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jerome Dyson shot a team-high 18 points, while A.J. Price added 12 points of his own by going 5-of-8 from the field.
DePaul was down by only 6 points at half time, but UConn outscored the Demons 30-14 in the second half.
Dar Tucker scored a game-high 20 points (18 more points than he scored against the Huskies last season), but Depaul shot a miserable 13.3 percent (2-for-15!) from behind the arc.
With #1 Duke falling to Wake Forrest tonight, #2 Conneticut is the logical choice to take over the top spot if they can beat Providence on Saturday.
I’m pretty sure that this is not the “blip” John Thompson III talked about after the loss to West Virginia. The Hoyas, who looked so mighty at the beginning of the month after their upset of UConn, now are in a free fall in the Big East standings. And with Big East co-leader Marquette coming up on Saturday, odds do not look good for January to end on a positive note.
Not too much new to say about the latest loss. It was mostly the same story as the past two games, with marginally better but still inadequate shooting. Georgetown is mired in a shooting slump, and it will not be able to compensate if it continues to play so inconsistently at the other end of the floor.
The real important story coming out of this game is the status of junior DaJuan Summers. Injured going up for an alley-oop late in the first half, Summers absence in the second half probably tilted the game in favor of the Bearcats. If Summers’s ankle continues to bother him the Hoyas are in even bigger trouble than they are now.
After the game Thompson was well aware of the gravity of his team’s situation. He acknowledged a need to “re-evaluate everything” and conceded “I don’t know if we have a specific long term solution.” The Big East is not going to wait for his team to figure it out.
I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall in the University of Louisville locker-room at halftime. Whatever U of L head coach Rick Pitino said must have worked because the Cards (16-3) went to work in the second half on the South Florida Bulls and cruised to an 80-54 win.
After leading by just one point at the end of the first half of play 33-32, the Cards opened the second half on 22-3 run. In the second half, U of L displayed the kind of offensive execution that gives the impression that the No. 7 Cards are capable of being just as effective on that end of the floor as they are defensively. Of U of L’s 31 field goals, 21 came on assists. Louisville also knocked down 11 of its 24 three point attempts.
The Cards picked it up defensively in the second half as well. After allowing USF (7-14, 2-6) to shoot better than 50% from the field in the first half, the Bulls connected on just 37% of their shots in half number two and finished with 21 turnovers for the game.
USF guard Dominique Jones scored 15 points in the first half, but finished with just 19 for the game.
Three Cardinal players (Edgar Sosa, Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels) finished in double scoring for the game, led by Sosa’s 16. Clark finished with 12 points with seven rebounds and three blocks, while Samuels had 14.
Another element that played a major factor in the Cardinals’ blowout victory was the production of the U of L bench. The Cards’ bench outscored USF’s 30-13. The win increased the Cards’ current game winning streak to eight and now makes them tied for first with Marquette at 7-0 in the Big East.
U of L will return to action on Saturday when they welcome in a very tough West Virginia team for a noon tip-off.
Villanova’s Reggie Redding scored a game-high 18 points in the Wildcats 67-57 upset over #3 Pitt tonight. Granted; 10 of Redding’s points came in the form of foul shots, but he did shoot 100% from the line. Redding also shot 4-of-6 from the field and recorded 7 rebounds.
Only DeJuan Blair of Pitt recorded more boards (8), while fellow Panther Sam Young and Villanova’s Shane Clark each brought down 7 rebounds of their own.
This is the third consecutive game Redding has scored at least 10 points.
Dante Cunningham had yet another dominating performance as he shot 60 percent from the field and finished with 15 points, helping the Wildcats earn their first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Villanova out-shot the Panthers from the field, foul line, and behind the arc to earn a hard fought 10 point victory in their final game at the Spectrum in South Philadelphia.
From the first 20 minutes of play, this one seems to have all the makings of a major upset. Though USF is down at the half, they’ve done all the little things to keep themselves within striking distance of the No. 7 team in the nation. The Bulls have out-rebounded the Cards 18-11 and have out shot the Cards from the field hitting 53%.
The Cards are having trouble maintaining their focus. Many times U of L looked ready to put some distance between themselves and the Bulls, but USF has battled back each time and either took a lead or cut it to one.
USF guard Dominque Jones leads all scorers with 15 and has grabbed three rebounds.
Cardianls’ do it all forward Terrence Williams struggled in the first half and hit just two of his nine attempts from the field. Eight of those attempts came in the first four and a half minutes of the game which Williams connected on just two of.
Coming in on a three game losing streak, this game is simply a must-win for the Hoyas. It would have been hard to believe a month ago, but Cincinnati is actually tied with the Georgetown in the Big East standings at 3-4.
If they want to begin to climb back up those standings the Hoyas will need to prove their past two shooting performances were aberrations. It’s obvious, but the fact of the matter is anyone can beat you when you shoot 33% from the field.
The onus falls on DaJuan Summers (1-of-8 against Seton Hall), Chris Wright (2-of-10), and Austin Freeman (1-of-9) to start knocking down their shots. If the Bearcats actually feel threatened by a Hoya taking a jumper it will become that much easier for Greg Monroe to be productive inside. He was one of the few bright spots against the Pirates, scoring 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, but his teammates made it too easy for the defense to key in on him.
As the last two games have shown, Georgetown cannot take any Big East opponent for granted. If the Hoyas realize that (and, you know, remember how to shoot a basketball) they should have a good chance at ending their slide tonight.
Well, here we go again. A week and a half after “NicoleMichaelsteppedonmyfootgate,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma has finally fessed up. The coach admited on his CPTV coach’s show this week that Syracuse forward Nicole Michael did intentionally try to trip him. Auriemma originally said he had stumbled himself.
Here’s an excerpt from the Hartford Courant:
“I think I stepped on somebody’s foot,” Auriemma said . “I stumbled or something.”
Meghan Culmo, a former UConn player and game analyst on CPTV’s telecasts, asked the coach about the incident on Saturday’s “Geno Auriemma Show,” taped earlier in the week.
“This is the last time we’re going to talk about this ever again,” Auriemma responded.
Said Culmo: “It clearly looks like she tripped you.”
“Yeah, she did,” Auriemma said. “But here’s the issue. I was wrong for trying to coach somebody else’s player. I was. I was walking through the line and the kid I thought was totally out of line. I made a mistake of saying ‘You should have a better attitude when you shake hands with adults.’
“That’s exactly what I said. And then they all lost their minds. And then she tried to trip me. But it’s over, it’s done. Kids do dumb stuff. I will never ever, ever … I might not even go through the line any more. It’s not worth it. Or if I do, I’m not going to say boo. I’m not going to try coach anybody else’s players.”
#3 Pittsburgh at #21 Villanova – 7pm – ESPNU
How this game is not being nationally broadcast on cable is beyond me. Unless you have ESPNU or have local network coverage, it looks like you are out of luck. I can understand ESPN broadcasting the Duke – Wake Forrest game, but ESPN2 is covering the Kansas – Nebraska game at 7:30. Completely ridiculous when you consider that neither Nebraska or Kansas is close to the top 25 in any of the major polls. But I’m rambling.
Pitt’s Sam Young has been on fire lately, coming off back-to-back 22-point performances. The Panthers put up 79 points on WVU in their last game, which is impressive when you consider that the Mountaineers are the second-best defensive team in the league behind Pitt.
Villanova is coming off a loss to UConn and a very close win over USF in which the Wildcats needed a 10-3 game-ending run to walk away with a 70-61 victory.
One interesting side-note, tonight’s game will be the last college basketball game to be played at Philadelphia’s legendary arena; the Spectrum, which is set to be torn down in less than a year. Would be nice to see such a historic game on national television; thanks a lot ESPN.
#2 UConn at DePaul – 9pm – Big East Local Network
Given the current state of the Big East, can anyone believe that UConn’s sole loss this season came against Georgetown? The Huskies responded to that loss on Dec. 29th with a seven-game win streak. UConn defeated two ranked opponents last week in Villanova and Notre Dame, ending the Irish’s 45-game home winning streak.
Meanwhile, DePaul is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, all of those losses coming against Big East opponents. The good news for the Demons; Dar Tucker ranks sixth in the Big East with 18.6 points per game. The bad news; Tucker went 1-for-8 with 2 points against the Huskies last season.
St. John’s at West Virginia – 7pm – Big East Local Network
The Mountaineers have been flirting with the top 25 all season. Despite a somewhat embarassing loss to rival Pitt in their last contest, WVU is staying competitive in the Big East with a 3-3 record, and are remaining relevant with a 14-5 overall record.
Sitting at 2-5 in conference play, it would appear that St. John’s is playing typical lackluster basketball. The Red Storm is a scrappy young team, however, who managed a 71-65 win over then #7 Notre Dame a few weeks back, so WVU would be wise not to sleep on this young team that is beginning to put the pieces together.
Injuries have forced the Mountaineers to play more young players this season, so this game may look like a pick-up game at your local gym, only more entertaining and with a higher level of talent.
USF at Louisville – 7pm – Big East Local Network
Syracuse at Providence – 7pm – Big East Local Network
Georgetown at Cincinnati – 7pm – ESPN 360
The Red Storm may have a less than impressive 2-5 record in conference play at the moment, but the young team is showing some signs of life.
Sophomore guard Paris Horne was named to the Big East honor roll this week as he averaged 23.5 points per game and shot an average of 78.3 percent from the field, and 63.6 percent from behind the arc in St. John’s last two contests. Horne also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 39.5 minutes per game in a 70-59 win against Rutgers and a 71-60 loss to Cincinnati; giving the Red Storm an 11-8 overall record.
His efforts were good enough to earn him player of the week honors from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, the third time he has received the honor from the MBWA this season.
Horne has scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games. See if he can continue his hot streak as St. John’s takes on WVU tomorrow night at 7pm.