BIG EAST Notes - 12.9 Update
How About The Hoyas
Georgetown won its sixth game in a row last night with a 69-56 victory over visiting George Mason. The Hoyas, which debuted at No. 3 in the season’s first NCAA RPI unveiled on Tuesday, are 7-2 with one regular-season non-conference game remaining on their schedule. GU closes out non-league play on Sunday against Alabama (7-0) – one of 17 remaining undefeated teams in Division I. Georgetown has three of the top-five scorers in the BIG EAST with Faith Woodard (15.8 points per game), Dionna White (15.6) and Dorothy Adomako (14.9) ranking third, fourth and fifth, respectively, among all league players.
RPI Revealed
The NCAA released the first RPI of the season on Tuesday with six BIG EAST teams listed in the top 100. Georgetown led the league at No. 3, followed closely by DePaul at No. 5. Marquette (50), Providence (72), Xavier (76) and St. John’s (89) all debuted in the top 100 among Division I teams. The NCAA updates the RPI daily, and heading into another busy weekend of play, the Blue Demons (No. 4) have leapfrogged the Hoyas (No. 6), and at No. 98, Villanova makes it seven BIG EAST teams in the top 100. Notable opponent RPIs this weekend include No. 2 Notre Dame (vs. DePaul), No. 54 Northern Iowa (vs. Creighton) and No. 89 Temple (vs. Villanova).
Top 25 Matchup
No. 16/15 DePaul will face an opponent which is ranked or receiving votes for the fifth time in the last six games when the Blue Demons host No. 2/1 Notre Dame on Saturday night at 8 p.m. (ET). The two familiar foes have met over 40 times in series history, with the last two regular-season meetings being high-scoring nail-biters decided by single digits. Last season, DePaul stifled Notre Dame in the second half to rally from a 26-point deficit in South Bend but fell by just five in a 95-90 decision, while the Fighting Irish stole one in Chicago in 2014, 94-93 in overtime, despite Brittany Hrynko’s 32 points. DePaul is 11-8 all-time in home games against Notre Dame. The game will air live from McGrath-Phillips Arena on Comcast SportsNet Plus.
This Week In The BIG EAST
Monday
16/14 DePaul 94, Prairie View A&M 62
Xavier 61, RV/RV Michigan 58
Villanova 59, Lehigh 37
Tuesday
RV/RV Green Bay 78, RV/RV Marquette 63
Wednesday
Seton Hall 77, LIU Brooklyn 59
Creighton 82, Omaha 45
Columbia 66, Providence 64 (OT)
St. John’s 65, Rutgers 39
Arkansas 68, Butler 50
Thursday
Wake Forest 58, Xavier 45
Georgetown 69, George Mason 56
Saturday
Villanova vs. Temple, 1 p.m.
Creighton at Northern Iowa, 3 p.m.
Providence vs. Boston College, 4 p.m.
16/15 DePaul vs. 2/1 Notre Dame, 8 p.m.
Sunday
Indiana State at Butler, 2 p.m.
Georgetown vs. Alabama, 2 p.m.
RV/RV Marquette at Wisconsin, 2 p.m.
Xavier at Cincinnati, 2 p.m.
All times Eastern