The 2016-17 college basketball season is not quite yet a week old, but already the new faces in the BIG EAST conference are making their presence felt as the 10 member schools have posted a combined 17-1 record through games played Tuesday night with Georgetown’s 76-75 loss to Maryland the only blot on the BIG EAST ledger.
Some of these newbies will be around for quite a while as a good amount of the new blood in the conference begins the season as freshmen or sophomores. Others, like reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Rodney Pryor of Georgetown, will have a shorter stint in the league as a number of the newcomers are juniors or, as is the case with Pryor, seniors.
So here’s a breakdown of who’s who and who did what and for who as the BIG EAST enjoys its stellar break from the season’s starting gate. A look at the new faces in all those BIG EAST places.
BUTLER
Freshman Kamar Baldwin beat Northwestern with a bucket just before the buzzer in a 70-68 win over Northwestern in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. In an 89-52 victory over Northern Colorado, Avery Woodson began his Bulldogs career in style. The senior transfer from Memphis scored eight points and grabbed four boards in just 26 minutes of play in the Butler win. Sean McDermott, a 6-6 freshman and Indiana native, also chipped in with six points and four boards.
The Bulldogs host Bucknell on Saturday.
CREIGHTON
The No. 22 Bluejays took down No. 9 Wisconsin in a Gavitt Tipoff Games matchup Tuesday night at a raucous CenturyLink Center, as Marcus Foster, the transfer from Kansas State, lit up the Badgers for 15 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. Freshman, and Omaha native, Justin Patton, all 7-0 and 230 pound of him, was also a major contributor as he logged 10 points and seven boards in the Bluejays’ 79-67 win. It was the second straight strong game for the pair of “New Jays” as Foster logged 19 points in his debut, an 89-82 victory over UMKC. Patton had a similar sterling debut as he scored 12 points, grabbed eight boards and blocked a shot in the Jays’ win.
DePAUL
There are new faces o’plenty in Chicago this season with a mix of veteran transfers and a large incoming freshman class. So in the Blue Demons’ season-opening 78-72 victory over Robert Morris, it was a combination of the two that helped lead DePaul to victory. Tre’Darius McCallum, a junior from Indian Hills CC, really filled out the stat sheet in his debut with 12 points, six assists, eight rebounds and a pair of steals while freshman guard Brandon Cyrus logged nine points while adding two steals.
DePaul is back in action Thursday night when the Demons host Rutgers in their Gavitt Tipoff Games matchup.
GEORGETOWN
Perhaps no newcomer has made a bigger first impression in the conference than the Hoyas’ Rodney Pryor. The transfer from Robert Morris, scored 32 points, including making 6-of-8 from three-point range, as the Hoyas rolled past USC-Upstate, 105-60, in their season opener. That’s the breakout performance that earned Pryor the conference’s first Player of the Week accolades. But Pryor was not alone. Freshman guard Jagan Mosely, out of powerhouse St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, notched six points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds in the win while junior transfer Jonathan Mulmore kicked in nine points with a couple of steals.
Pryor followed that performance up with a 14-point, six-rebound, two-steal outing in the Hoyas narrow one-point loss to Maryland Tuesday night in the Gavitt Games.
MARQUETTE
The Golden Eagles are off to a 2-0 start after spanking both Vanderbilt and Howard to open the season. In the Vandy game, a 95-71 MU win, freshman guard Sam Hauser dropped in 14 points by shooting 4-of-7 from three-point range and adding three steals in 19 minutes of action off the bench. That performance earned Hauser BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors. Hauser added 10 points in the 81-49 win over Howard, but he had lots of help from two other newcomers in Katin Reinhardt and Markus Howard. Reinhardt, a graduate transfer from USC, scored 14 points and Howard, a freshman guard, added 12 in the win. The three newcomers were part of a night that saw five Golden Eagles score in double figures.
Marquette is back in action Thursday night when they take on Michigan in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden at 9:30 p.m.
PROVIDENCE
On a team with six newcomers on its roster, Emmitt Holt made the best first impression. A 6-7 junior, who like DePaul’s McCallum comes via Indian Hills CC, announced his presence with authority (Ok, I stole that line from Tim Robbins in “Bull Durham”) as he poured in 22 points as he shot a blistering 8-of-12 from the field in an 80-58 win over Vermont. Holt also had three blocks in the game.
The Friars are back in action when they travel to Ohio State for a Gavitt Tipoff Games encounter Thursday night at 7 p.m.
ST. JOHN’S
There was an expectation going into this season that while the Red Storm may not quite be ready to contend for a spot at the top of the league just yet, their games would surely be far more entertaining than last year. So far, so good in that department thanks largely to the supremely talented freshman backcourt of Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds.
The Johnnies are off to a 2-0 start with wins over Bethune-Cookman and Binghamton and LoVett and Ponds were the stars in both victories. In the 100-53 season-opening win over Bethune-Cookman, LoVett erupted for 19 points while Ponds played second fiddle to LoVett by adding eight points and three assists. That second fiddle gig lasted just one game, however, as Ponds posted a double-double in his second career college game when he logged 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Johnnies’ 77-61 win over Binghamton. LoVett scored 23 points in that win which means the two combined for 44 of the Red Storm’s 77 points. Not a bad coming out party for the freshman duo.
The Johnnies make their first road trip when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Gophers in a Gavitt Tipoff Games battle Friday night at 9 p.m.
SETON HALL
The defending BIG EAST Tournament champions are also off to a 2-0 start with victories over FDU and Central Connecticut and a different newcomer had a hand in each win.
In the Pirates’ 91-70 win over FDU, Madison Jones, a senior transfer from Wake Forest, dished out 10 assists in his Hall debut while freshman Myles Powell had a breakout game in The Hall’s 82-58 victory over the Blue Devils when he scored 13 points in the win. Pirates had coach Kevin Willard is very high on this tandem so we expect to be hearing much more from them as the season progresses.
Seton Hall will be at Iowa next in a stiff contest as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Tip is Thursday night at 9 p.m.
VILLANOVA
On a team chock full of talented veterans, it might be tough for a newcomer to find playing time and contribute in a meaningful way for the defending National Champions. But Eric Paschall has managed to do just that. The 6-7 sophomore transfer from Fordham has already proved to be a reliable option for head coach Jay Wright as Paschall has provided significant contributions in the Wildcats’ two wins.
In Nova’s 88-48 win over Lafayette, Paschall gave the Wildcats seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in 20 minutes of action. But it was his performance in the Wildcats’ 79-76 win at Purdue Monday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games that may have been even more eye-opening as he came off the bench to score 11 points in just nine minutes. Pretty impressive.
Paschall’s next turn to shine will come Thursday in Charleston where the Wildcats will face Western Michigan in the Gildan Charleston Classic tournament at 11:30 a.m.
XAVIER
While none of the Musketeers’ newcomers contributed much in X’s 84-81 win over Lehigh, they did get their feet wet in a big way in Xavier’s 86-53 victory over Buffalo.
Freshman guard Quentin Goodin scored 11 points and dished out four assists while 6-8 freshman Tyrique Jones scored six points, hauled in 11 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. But a pair of new upperclassmen transfers added something to the party as well. RaShid Gaston, a senior transfer from Norfolk State, contributed nine points with seven boards while 6-6 Malcolm Bernard, a senior transfer from Florida A&M, chipped in with seven points, four boards, three assists and two steals.
The Musketeers are now off to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off where they will face Missouri Thursday at 1 p.m.