We’ve done the Big East’s Top Five Teams of the 2000s and Five Greatest Games of the 2000s and we’ve gotten little argument yet. Now what about the moments that shaped and defined the league this past decade? Without further ado…

The Big East’s Five Major Off-Field Moments of the 2000s In chronological order…

June 25, 2003 – The ACC invites Virginia Tech and Miami to join its league, Virginia Tech accepts and five days later, Miami does too. ACC commissioner John Swofford initially wanted Miami, Syracuse and Boston College, and Virginia Tech’s administration was ready to stay in the Big East if BC would sign a paper committing to the league. Father William Leahy, BC’s president, refused. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, meanwhile, put intense pressure on the University of Virginia to include Virginia Tech. Syracuse was dumped, Virginia Tech saw no choice and N.C. State chancellor Marye Ann Fox needed four months to change her initial “no” vote on BC. In October, BC got its official ACC invite and in July 2005, the Eagles officially left the Big East too.  (more…)

Question: Do you know whether its possible to get detail on which games will be showed on SNY when it simply says “college basketball”? I’m trying to find out what the 4:30pm Saturday afternoon game is (11/14). Thanks, Jeff

Excellent question, Jeff. Especially since every time I input that schedule over on the right side, I have to go chasing this info down myself! Well, yesterday, my fabulous editor Ted built us a link to the whole season schedule. If you click right here, you’ll be taken right to it. I suggest bookmarking it. And as for that 4:30 p.m. Saturday game, it looks to be a tape delay replay of the previous night’s Centenary-Marquette tip.

There I am, suddenly 6-9, interviewing Rutgers’ Greg Echenique. Wait till you see the video footage.

As promised this morning, some hoops stories. I couldn’t possibly get them all (or even half), but here’s a decent sampling.

Morgantown, New York City, both home. Who would’ve thunk? Nova’s the preseason no. 1, there aren’t 38 star seniors, but give the Big East time. Cream always rises. (SNY.tv)

John Marinatto has a sense of humor. Or maybe Mike Tranghese does. (NJ Newsroom)

Rick Pitino was obviously the draw of the day. Sex scandals tend to do that. (NY Daily News)

Pitino talked about thoroughbreds’ blinders and he promised no more distractions. Fat chance. (Providence Journal, USA Today, AOL Fanhouse)

Maybe to deflect some of that, maybe just to be honest, Pitino figured it was as good a time as any to knock Rutgers’ facilities. (Star-Ledger)

It wasn’t so much quality of the truly good teams yesterday as it was quantity of the truly good. (Journal Inquirer)

Jay Wright thinks his team is prettier than last year’s. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Jim Calhoun’s lost 500 pounds. In two players. (Hartford Courant)

There’s a shift in Big East power. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

It’s halftime here at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, and we’ve got a good one. No. 2 Connecticut leads No. 8 Marquette 43-37 at the break, but neither team has been able to distinguish itself yet.

The Huskies went on a 16-0 run from about the nine minute mark to the two minute mark, but the Golden Eagles closed with a quick 4-0 mini-run to keep themselves in the running. A few musings:

Shooting the lights out

The Huskies are shooting a robust 55.2 percent from the field in the first half, including a 54.5 percent mark from the 3-point line (6-of-11). Marquette, on the other hand, is shooting just 33.3 percent (12-of-36) from the field.

Both teams have missed just one free throw, and to be honest I’m not quite sure how Marquette has stayed as close as it has. I’m guessing it has something to do with the Golden Eagles’ 15-4 advantage on points off of turnovers.

Injury report

Marquette senior guard  Dominic James played just four minutes before leaving the game to be attended to on the sideline with an apparent foot injury.

I have since been handed a press release that says he has a left foot injury and will not return to tonight’s game. Friends watching ESPN say the network is reporting that he “heard a pop.” Doesn’t sound good to me. Little-used guard Maurice Acker has been playing in his place and has three assists against zero turnovers.

On the rebound

The Golden Eagles are being outrebounded currently at 21-16, and that differential can’t get much bigger for Marquette to keep competing in the second half. Connecticut forward Hasheem Thabeet has eight rebounds to lead Connecticut. Lazar Hayward leads Marquette with four.

Big game tonight in Milwaukee, as No. 8 Marquette squares off against No. 2 Connecticut. Dickie-V and the ESPN crew are in town for a game that will have a huge impact on NCAA Tournament rankings (and positioning in the Big East Conference standings) for both teams.

Also on the line? Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun’s 800^th win. Here’s a quick breakdown.

Home sweet home

Marquette is unbeaten at home since a loss to Georgetown last season (17 straight games). And it’s been close to impossible to win on the road in the Big East (ahem, Pittsburgh). Except, that is, for the Huskies who are 12-0 away from home this season (8-0 in true road games).

Injury factor

Calhoun hasn’t been shy about admitting that his team misses injured guard Jerome Dyson (torn ACL). Dyson was averaging 13.2 ppg and 4.1 rpg and would have posed an interesting matchup for one of Marquette’s three starting guards.

Stopping Marquette

Something has to give tonight as Marquette boasts the top scoring offense in the Big East (80.0 ppg) and Connecticut sports the best scoring defense in the conference (60.0 ppg).

The key for Connecticut to stop the Golden Eagles will be to limit turnovers, and get back on defense. When Marquette can force steals and get out in transition they can pile up points in a hurry.

The Huskies will  also need to focus on perimeter defense, and might not want to resort to funneling guards Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James toward all-everything center Hasheem Thabeet – all three guards are talented finishers with a knack for drawing fouls.

We’ll have more from this one as we go.

See? I told you Marquette was a second-half team.

The Golden Eagles started the second half on a 32-13 run (although it could have been worse, I just lost count). Wes Matthews led Marquette with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting, Lazar Hayward scored 14 and Dominic James and Jerel McNeal dropped 13 apiece (while dishing eight and seven assists respectively).

Marquette also shot 41.2 percent from the field in the second half while holding Seton Hall to 34.6 percent shooting (9-of-26). The Pirates turned the ball over 23 times in the game, and Marquette held a 25-13 advantage in points off of turnovers.

Overall, the Golden Eagles outscored Seton Hall 43-30 and completely dominated the final 20 minutes. So there. Just like I said. Marquette wins by double-digits. Never in doubt (unless you count the first half).

Wow. That was ugly.

It’s halftime here in Milwaukee with Seton Hall leading No. 10 Marquette 37-34. This has been, without a doubt, the ugliest half of basketball I’ve seen Marquette play this season. The Golden Eagles have been able to limit Seton Hall’s leading scorer Jeremy Hazell to six points on 2-of-6 shooting, but guard Paul Gause is 4-of-5 from the field with 10 points.

Marquette’s saving grace in this half has been, surprisingly, free throws. The Golden Eagles are 7-of-7 from the line, and guard Dominic James has made both (both!) of his attempts. Wesley Matthews leads Marquette with nine points, and even forward Dwight Burke is helping with four points and five rebounds. He also hit a jumper from the elbow earlier. No joke.

Marquette has been a second half team all year, and I doubt the Golden Eagles will shoot 40 percent in the second half like they did in the first 20 minutes. The worry is that they continue to be infatuated with the 3-point shot (they were 3-of-11 in the half), but no doubt coach Buzz Williams will mention that during the intermission.

We’ll have more from Milwaukee when this one ends.

It’s about 30 minutes until game time here in Milwaukee between No. 10 Marquette (21-4, 10-2 Big East) and Seton Hall (14-10, 5-7). Marquette is coming off a win over St. John’s, breaking its first two-game losing streak of the season. Seton Hall is coming off a relatively close loss to UConn (62-54) on Saturday.

After Marquette’s win over St. John’s Saturday, coach Buzz Williams said his team was renewing its focus on defense. In fact, for a week, the Golden Eagles didn’t run a single offensive drill (according to Williams). That worked out, and you shouldn’t expect anything different tonight. Marquette will likely use solid perimeter defenders like Jerel McNeal and Dominic James to lock down Seton Hall guard Jeremy Hazell (22.8 ppg). The Golden Eagles will also have to watch out for forward Robert Mitchell (14.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg).

On the offensive end, nothing ever seems to change for Marquette. McNeal will likely carry the heaving scoring load, and is averaging 20.2 ppg. If he falters, the Golden Eagles can turn to James (11.8 ppg), Wesley Matthews (18.4 ppg) or forward Lazar Hayward (16.0 ppg). As Williams says though, the Golden Eagles will get their points somewhere.

We’ll have more from this one as we go.

It’s a final here in Chicago as Marquette beat DePaul 76-61 at Allstate Arena. I’m not going to say Marquette played well in this one (because they didn’t) but the Golden Eagles did enough to stay undefeated in Big East play and improve their record to 20-2 overall. The Blue Demons, of course, stayed fully defeated in conference and fell to 8-15.

Honestly, it felt like the second half was pro-DePaul, although the Blue Demons never got close enough to matter. Most of the scoring load was shouldered by Will Walker, who ended the game with 30 points. Dar Tuckerdidn’t play, and center Mac Koshwal was limited to 10 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

Marquette got another strong game from senior guards Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. McNeal followed up his 27-point, 11-assist game against Georgetown Saturday by dropping 26 points and grabbing four rebounds. He also dished out six assists, had five steals and four blocks.

In all seriousness, McNeal is playing like one of the better players in the country right now. There are periods of time when he simply dominates the game. The Golden Eagles managed to pull this one out besides not playing particularly well in any facet of the game, getting out-rebounded and turning the ball over 10 times.

Oh, and as I write this, Dwight Burke just had a fast break dunk with a little more than a minute left. That bumps his scoring line to two points, one rebound and three fouls. Thanks for coming out D-Burke. Oh, and the “Fire Wainwright” clap–clap–clap-clap-clap chants are raining from the rafters.

That is all.

The story of this one so far has to be the play of DePaul’s Will Walker, who had 19 first-half points as the Blue Demons managed to stay within five of Marquette at 42-37. Walker is 6-of-10 from the floor (including 4-of-4 from three) and for a period there, the kid simply couldn’t miss. Mac Koshwal has been pretty quiet with six points, three rebounds and two fouls. So…mission accomplished there.

Also, Dar Tucker hasn’t played in this one. I’m not sure why, maybe there is an obvious reason but I’m just not up enough on DePaul hoops. Updates to come I’m sure.

I’ll be honest, I thought this was going to be a laugher from the start when Marquette went up 22-7 and 27-9. Jerel McNeal led Marquette with 17 points and four rebounds while Wesley Matthews had 10 points. DePaul’s late run to catch up is a bit disconcerting for Marquette, considering the Blue Demons outplayed the Golden Eagles down the stretch in Milwaukee.

We’ll have more from this one as we go.