The Big East has yet another pair of top ten teams facing off tonight as #8 Marquette will host #2 UConn at 7pm. You can catch the game on ESPN.

The Golden Eagles lack size and have difficulty defending in the paint, which does not bode well considering 7-3 center Hasheem Thabeet will stroll into Milwaukee boasting 10 rebounds and 4 blocks per game.

Look for Marquette to work the perimeter led by Jerel McNeal who is shooting 43 percent from the arc and is averaging 20 points per game. Wesley Matthews is also a deep threat as he shoots a team-high 53 percent form the field and knocks down 42 percent of his shots from three-point range.

The Huskies are ranked 21st in the nation in terms of defending the three point shot, so the Golden Eagles will have to find ways to get open looks by any means possible.

Marquette’s offense averages 80 points per game, but their defense does not rank in the top 100 nationally in all but one of the major categories - ranking 87th in opponent foul shot percentage.

As Providence proved last night, however, you can throw all the statistics out the window when it gets this late in the season.

With Pitt falling last night, the Huskies have two obsticles keeping them from regaining the coveted #1 ranking. With a game against a Notre Dame team they have already beaten pretty easily scheduled for Saturday, their biggest test of the week will come against this explosive Marquette offense.

Click here to see how these teams match up.

I saw it, but couldn’t believe it. It was senior night in Providence and I knew it wouldn’t be easy for the Panthers, but I didn’t know it would be so hard for them either.

Providence beat #1 Pitt soundly on Tuesday night, 81-73. A score that by no means constitutes a blowout, but the Friars scored first and never lost the lead. I don’t know anyone outside of Providence who saw that coming.

The Friars spread the ball out to their most consistent offensive weapons as Weyinmi Efejuku lead the way with 16 points and Sharaud Curry added 15. Jonathan Kale contributed 13 points while Geoff McDermott went 4-for-5 and finished with 11. Randall Hanke provided some much needed support off the bench with 10 points in 14 minutes of play.

It’s no secret that the Friars have a dangerous offense, but what about that horrible defense? What about it, indeed. The Friars forced Pitt to turn the ball over 18 times; which was enough to keep them one step ahead of Pitt all night.

The fact that DeJuan Blair was limited due to foul trouble didn’t hurt either, but Blair’s foul trouble was not why Providence won this game. After all, Blair still played 30 minutes and scored a game-high 17.

In fact, you can’t blame this upset on a lack of effort from any of the Panthers. Sam Young scored 16 and matched Blair’s game-high 8 rebounds. Ashton Gibbs scored 15 points by shooting 4-for-6 from the arc, and Tyrell Biggs added 10 points of his own. Not to mention, the Panthers out rebounded Providence 31-24.

So how did Providence pull off their first upset over a #1 team since 1976? The home court didn’t hurt, but it was the desperation of needing a big win to help get off the bubble that gave them a mental edge over the Panthers.

Although I’m sure Pitt wanted to finish out the regular season as the #1 team, they could not match Providence’s will to win in order to keep their dreams of March madness alive.

Living on the bubble is like living on a prayer, and the Friars deserved to have their prayers answered tonight.

The nation’s number one all-purpose running back, David Oku, has moved to Nebraska.  The Oklahoma native says the move is all about school.  He is living in Lincoln with a girlfirend’s parents. 

Oku will attend, you guessed it, East High for his final HS semester.  No word on if Sharpay Evans has yet auditioned for the high school’s musical. 

Oku is considering Syracuse, Ole Miss, Auburn and Tennessee.

Orange football coach Doug Marrone signed his biggest recruit when he kept DT Art Jones from going pro.  Several weeks after that announcement, Jones suffered a setback, tearing his pectoral muscle in the weight room.  It’s the same injury wrestler John Cena suffered last year.  He missed three months of action in recovery. 

Men’s Health has a look at the injury…

Here’s the release from SU Athletics:

Orange defensive tackle Arthur Jones sustained a torn left pectoralis muscle while lifting weights on February 23. An MRI confirmed the tear, and surgery has been scheduled for next week. Future information regarding Arthur’s recovery and activity level will be released as progress warrants.

     A 2008 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, Jones ranks sixth on the Orange record list for tackles for loss (31.5) and 13th on the career list for tackles by a defensive lineman (125). A native of Endicott, N.Y., Jones recorded 60 tackles, including 13 for a loss of yards, and had a fumble recovery, as a junior in 2008. At Notre Dame, he finished with 4.0 tackles for loss, tying his career best, and a personal-best 15 tackles, in Syracuse’s 24-23 victory. The effort earned Jones an ESPN College GameDay ‘Helmet Sticker’ and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week award.

Providence has a chance to improve their NCAA tournament resume tonight as the Friars will host #1 Pitt at 7pm.

It’s been an up and down month for Providence who have lost three strait, won two and then lost two since January 31st.

The Friars are 1-6 verse ranked opponents this season with a victory over #15 Syracuse in late January. Other than two successful outings against Cincinnati, Providence has a lack of quality wins and should be out for blood tonight.

Despite scoring only 4 points in his last game against Notre Dame (a 103-84 loss), center Randall Hanke has upped his field goal percentage to 68 percent on the season by shooting 14-of-18 in his three previous contests. With Pitt’s DeJuan Blair manning the paint for Pitt tonight however, expect Hanke to have a similar outing against the Panthers as he did against Harangody and the Irish.

Senior guard Weyinmi Efejuku is averaging 24 points over the last three games and teammate Sharaud Curry is averaging 17 over that span, but the Friars defense gives up an average of 77 points per game (328th worst in the country).

Pittsburgh should take advantage of the Friars defense’s shortcomings as they average 78 points and 15 offensive rebounds per game (5th best in the country).

Providence does have an explosive offense, but will have to get DeJuan Blair in foul trouble early to have a chance in this game.

Click here to see how these teams match up.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano announced today that Kirk Ciarrocca and Kyle Flood will take the title of co-offensive coordinators for the upcoming football season. Ciarrocca and Flood will take the place of former coordinator John McNulty who left to become the wide receivers coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Ciarrocca and Flood, currently the quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach respectively, will serve in their previous coaching roles along with offensive coordinator.

Schiano also announced that linebacker coach Bob Fraser and secondary coach Ed Pinkham will serve as co-defensive coordinators.

The University of Louisville (22-5, 13-2) moved to a first place tie in the Big East with Connecticut after defeating Georgetown 76-58.

Over the course of the Cardinals four game winning streak, the most encouraging sign has been their offensive execution. After failing to eclipse 60 in the three previous games prior to their current streak, U of L has scored an average of more than 85 since.

After taking a 10 point lead into the locker-room, the Cards survived all of the Hoyas’ comeback attempts by making timely plays at crucial times. Though U of L cooled off in the second half after making 70% of their shots in the first 20 minutes, the Cards held Georgetown ( at bay throughout the remainder of the contest. The Hoyas were able to cut the lead to eight at one point, but that was as close they would get.

The Cards finished shooting 54% for the game, including 8-for-12 from downtown for 66%. Of their 24 made baskets, 19 came off assists.

Four Cardinals scored in double figures led by Earl Clark’s game high 22 points and eight rebounds. Senior Terrence Williams finished with a near triple double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Preston Knowles and Samardo Samuels rounded out the Cards’ double figure scorers with 10 a piece.

As good as the U of L offense was in the first half, the defensive effort in the second was nearly as impressive. The Cards held Georgetown to just 31% shooting in the second half, after allowing the Hoyas to hit 57% in the first.

Chris Wright and Greg Monroe were the only Hoya’s to score in double figures which proved to be not nearly enough to throw off the Cards.

The loss pretty much ends all hopes for Georgetown’s (14-12, 5-10) NCAA Tournament hopes, unless they can find a way to win the Big East tournament in a few weeks.

Louisville will be off until Sunday, when the Cards will welcome in No. 8 Marquette.

It’s nothing radical to say, but this pretty much ends any hopes that Georgetown had for the NCAA tournament. Besides the simple mathematics of being 14-12 and 5-10 in conference, their performance today showed that the Hoyas don’t deserve a place in the dance.

After a first half where Louisville showed that they might merit a place in the Final Four, Georgetown took the opportunity in the second half to show they belong in the NIT. They had the momentum coming out of the locker room, finishing on a 7-0 run, and Louisville gave them chances in the opening minutes of the half. It took the Cardinals almost three minutes to get on the board after the break, a period during which the Hoyas went 1-for-4 and squandered three Louisville turnovers.

After shooting 70% in the first half, the Cardinals began to come back to earth. But the Hoyas managed just 31.3% shooting in the second half, including a number of missed layups and a crucial missed dunk by Chris Wright. Georgetown didn’t make a field goal in the last three minutes of the game, allowing a once respectable margin to balloon to 18.

Georgetown is a very young team, and as Rick Pitino pointed out after the game, young teams can’t win consistently in the Big East. Maybe the Hoyas have a few more wins in them, but they’ll need more than few in New York to change the committee’s mind.

At the end of the first half, No. 6  Louisville holds a 41-31 lead on the road at Georgetown after hitting 70% of their first half field goals.  The Cards also knocked down all six of their field goal attempts.

The impressive shooting percentage of the Cardinals has been attributed by excellent ball movement on the offensive end. Of the teams’ 14 made field goals, 11 have came on assists.

But as impressive as the Cards were shooting the ball, Georgetown wasn’t exactly cold as ice from the field. The Hoyas shot 55% at intermission, but have struggled against the Louisville defensive pressure. The Cards forced 9 Georgetown turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

U of L took control early in this one and led by as many as 17, but the Hoyas battled back and cut the lead to 10 after guard Jessie Sapp’s three point basket in the final second of the first half.

Forwards Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels lead the Cards with nine a piece and have held Georgetown’s freshman stud Greg Monroe to just four. Hoyas’ guard Chris Wright leads his team with seven first half points.

This is obviously a must-win for the Hoyas, and right now it doesn’t look good. Georgetown was lucky to cut the deficit to ten in the last few minutes of the half, because Louisville was ready to run away with this one.

The Cardinals simply could not be stopped for most of the first half. They shot 70% from the field, including 6-of-6 three pointers. It didn’t matter what Georgetown did, Louisville could nail any shot seemingly at will.

Louisville’s defense was just as impressive, as their suffocating full court press hassled the Hoyas all half, leading to nine turnovers.

Georgetown has forced the Cardinals to make the same number of errors, but obviously the shooting percentages make all the difference. The Hoyas hit a respectable 52.6% of their shots, but there was no way they could keep up with Louisville.

The Hoyas might take a sliver of hope into the second period, having gone on a 7-0 run to end the half. But those were some of the first signs of life from a team that for awhile looked like it was ready to surrender. If they can find the needed intensity in the locker room (and Louisville shows its shooters are human), the Hoyas just might make this one interesting.