For a league that skeptics said had taken a step backwards this season, what with the departures of premium talent to both graduation and the NBA draft, the BIG EAST more than held its own during a challenging non-conference portion to the 2018-19 season.
Seton Hall took down Kentucky in a thriller at Madison Square Garden and is coming off a quality road win at Maryland. Providence just knocked off Texas on its home court last Friday. Butler has taken down Florida and most recently rolled to an easy home win over a UC-Irvine team that had already posted road wins at both Texas A&M and St. Mary’s. Marquette dispatched of Louisville, Kansas State, Wisconsin and, most recently, then-No. 14 Buffalo. Creighton took down then-No. 16 Clemson in the Cayman Islands before giving then-No. 1 Gonzaga all it could handle in a 103-92 loss. Villanova has a victory over Florida State and very nearly knocked off No. 1 Kansas on the road when the Wildcats dropped a 74-71 decision on Dec. 15 and St. John’s has rolled through a 12-0 non-con schedule with wins over solid programs such as VCU and Georgia Tech.
But now the party really gets started as BIG EAST conference play is set to tip off this weekend with Xavier visiting DePaul Saturday at 2 p.m. ET before the marquee game of opening weekend sees St. John’s travel to Seton Hall for an 8:30 p.m. contest.
Shamorie Ponds vs. Myles Powell? Talk about a great start to the conference season.
“What I love about how Shamorie is playing this year is he is playing with such poise and confidence and I really think he’s playing the game at an NBA level,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s not forcing shots, he’s getting everyone involved, he’s playing with a pace that when he needs to attack he can attack anybody in the country. I just think right now he is by far one of the elite players in college basketball.”
Seton Hall is off to a 9-3 start and has won eight of its last nine games while Powell’s 23.1 points per game is second in the BIG EAST. Ponds will enter the game toting a 19.6 point scoring average, good for fourth in the conference, but he is tops in assists (6.0), steals (2.5) and assist/turnover ratio (3.8).
It should make for quite the spectacle Saturday night at The Rock in Newark.
“I think Shamorie and Myles are two elite-level players right now not only in the conference but in all of college basketball,” Willard said. “I think it’s going to be a real treat seeing those two players on the floor. I think you’re looking at two of the elite-level players in college basketball going up against each other Saturday night.”
The Johnnies not only come into the game unbeaten, but their 84.2 points a game is second in the league behind only Creighton (84.8 ppg.). But Red Storm head coach Chris Mullin knows his team will have its hands full trying to contain Powell.
“A great scorer who can make contested shots look easy,” Mullin said of Powell. “He really worked on his fitness and conditioning, he’s a big-time shooter and he plays well without the ball. He’s a heck of a player.”
The Pirates-Red Storm matchup could set the tone for a season in which the BIG EAST appears to be more wide open than in previous seasons.
“I think the conference is going to be as tough as ever,” Mullin said. “Maybe a little different (because) a lot of veteran players left for the NBA and graduation. But I think it’s going to be tough top to bottom. Every night is going to be very intense and you’re going to have to bring your ‘A’ game every night. I think it’s going to be very competitive every night.”
Willard thinks the league has taken a hit to its talent base for the same reasons as Mullin, but thinks it is still a conference to be reckoned with as the season goes on.
“The league definitely isn’t as strong as it was last year by any stretch of the imagination,” Willard said. “I think it’s still a top-four league. The league is still as strong, top to bottom, but I think everyone would say it’s not nearly as tough as it was last year.”
New Xavier head coach Travis Steele will see his first BIG EAST conference action as a head coach when his Musketeers travel to DePaul for Saturday’s other game at 2 p.m. The Musketeers are off to an 8-5 start after completing a rather challenging non-conference schedule.
“We obviously have a lot of new faces, new guys and new roles on our team and I think in the non-conference we tried to schedule very aggressively to prepare us for the BIG EAST which is the premier league in the entire country,” Steele said. “I think we’re getting better. I think guys like Quentin Goodin are starting to figure out how to play within their roles. He’s being asked to do a lot more this year than he did last year. So it’s been a work in progress, but we’re excited for the opportunity to go up to DePaul and start BIG EAST play.”
DePaul, which is off to an 8-3 start with all eight wins coming at home, is led by Max Strus, one of the premier shooters in the conference. Strus is averaging 19.7 points a game, third in the conference, while his 8.1 rebound average is good for second in the league and his 33 made 3-pointers places him fourth.
“He does a lot for us,” DePaul head coach Dave Leitao said. “I watch (Marquette’s) Markus (Howard) and Shamorie (Ponds) and I marvel at their offensive ability...but I think he’s right up there with the best players in this league.”
Creighton and Providence will lace them up on New Year’s Eve at 4 p.m. at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Bluejays, the top scoring outfit in the league, come armed with four double-digit scorers, led by guard Ty-Shon Alexander (17.1 ppg.) and transfer Damien Jefferson (11.4). They will be going up against a Friars team that will be without freshman stud A.J. Reeves as he continues to recover from a foot injury. But Providence will have Alpha Diallo and he just knows how to fill up a stat sheet. Diallo is sixth in the league in scoring at 17.4 points and is tops in rebounding with 8.5 boards a game. The Friars were picked third in the conference preseason poll and come into this game winners of three straight, including that road win at Texas.
So is this anyone’s conference title this season?
“I follow this league every night, always looking to see how our guys are doing,” Providence head coach Ed Cooley said. “I’m a big fan of the BIG EAST and I love watching our guys coach and watching the kids play. I watch Villanova, I watch Marquette, obviously Creighton, DePaul. Again, the league lost a lot of veteran players and when you lose that many players across the board there is going to be a dip with experience. Everyone says the league is wide open (but) who knows if the league is wide open. Those are all just opinions. The teams that have great chemistry and great team spirit and a no-nonsense, relentless approach to the game are going to give themselves a chance to win night in and night out regardless of what year it is. All these league games are tough as hell and everybody’s hands are full this year.”
Georgetown and Butler will be closing out their non-conference slate this weekend when the Hoyas host Howard Saturday at noon while the Bulldogs travel to Gainesville to take on Florida for the second time this season, Saturday at 4 p.m. Butler defeated the Gators, 61-54, in late November. Georgetown and Butler will open conference play on Jan. 2 when the Hoyas visit Hinkle Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
Marquette will see its first conference action when the Golden Eagles travel to the Big Apple to face St. John’s on New Year’s Day at 7 p.m. It should be quite the show at Carnesecca Arena that night as Marquette’s Markus Howard, the BIG EAST’s top scorer at 25 points a game, goes up against Ponds.
Villanova will be begin its conference season on Jan. 2 when the Wildcats host DePaul at Finneran Pavilion at 8:30 p.m. The Wildcats are coming off an easier-than-expected 81-58 win over former BIG EAT foe Connecticut in their last outing and will be led by a trio of double-digit scorers in Phil Booth (17.0), Eric Paschall (15.2) and Collin Gillespie (11.9).
So with such a wide open field this season, are there any surprise teams that are ready to make their mark?
“St. John’s is one,” Cooley said. “I think Marquette is one of the more underrated teams in the country. Defensively I think they’ve really improved. They’ve always been a great offensive team. I like the development of DePaul. I’ve watched them a couple of different times with what coach Leitao is doing there. Surprise? Not really. But those teams that played all those younger kids earlier in their careers, those teams are really making a big move right now and those three teams in particular have stood out to me the most in our league. Georgetown is in there as well. They’re playing all those freshmen early now. It’s going to be a fun time in our league and I’m excited to continue to see everybody continue to grow and make our league exciting once again.”