With all due respect to singer Andy Williams, March tourney time, and not Christmas in December, is the most wonderful time of the year. At least for college basketball fans.
And after seeing both the BIG EAST Tournament as well as the NCAA’s Big Dance squashed last season due to the pandemic, has there ever been a more anticipated postseason than this year? So after a 364-day.wait, the BIG EAST Tournament is once again right on your doorstep as the annual Madison Square Garden party will be back in full swing beginning with Wednesday’s tripleheader.
Sure, there may be less fans in attendance this time around and the ear-splitting roar that usually accompanies the tournament might be just a little less than usual. But hey, the tournament is finally back. Baby steps, people. And now we’re just mere hours away from No. 9 seed Marquette and No. 8 seed Georgetown getting March started off on the right foot.
So slap on that face paint and pull out that old team sweatshirt, the March equivalent of an ugly Christmas sweater, and buckle up for the most wonderful time of the year. Season’s greetings!
As we noted the BIG EAST Tournament will tip off at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday when No. 8 Georgetown will face No. 9 Marquette. (All of the games will be on FS1 until the final, which is on “Big” FOX).
The Hoyas (9-12, 7-9) come at you with four players averaging in double figures led by senior Jahvon Blair, who logs 15.9 points per outing, good for sixth in the BIG EAST. A conference Honorable Mention selection, Blair also leads the Hoyas in made three-pointers (54) and assists (81). Jamorko Pickett (12.7 points, 7.6 rebounds), Qudus Wahab 12.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg) and Chudier Bile (10.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg) will be the other Hoyas Marquette will have to contend with on Wednesday. Georgetown comes into the matchup winners of four of its last six with both losses coming to red-hot UConn.
The Golden Eagles (13-13, 8-11) and Hoyas met just once this season with Jamal Cain’s 25 points helping Marquette to a 64-60 victory back on Jan. 2. Marquette will be led by freshman phenom Dawson Garcia, who leads the Golden Eagles in scoring (13.2 ppg.) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) in a season that saw the 6-11, 235-pounder tabbed as a unanimous pick for the conference’s All-Freshman Team. Dawson, who scored 20 or more points in a game six times this season, finished in the top 15 in the conference in scoring average, rebounds, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, defensive rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game.
Marquette, which closed the regular season winning four of its last five, also boasts double-figure backcourt scorers in D.J. Carton (12.8 ppg.) and Koby McEwen (10.6 ppg.).
The winner will move on to face No. 1 Villanova on Thursday at noon in the quarterfinal opener. The Wildcats (16-5, 11-4) will be without All-BIG EAST First Team pick Collin Gillespie, who suffered a torn MCL in the Wildcats’ win over Creighton last week and is lost for the season. Also hampering Villanova’s drive for a fourth straight tournament crown is the uncertain status of sophomore guard Justin Moore, who left the regular-season finale against Providence with a sprained ankle, one Nova coach Jay Wright called “pretty severe.”
Of course the cupboard is hardly bare at Nova, not with the way All-BIG EAST First Team pick Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Honorable Mention selection Jermaine Samuels are playing. The 6-9 Robinson-Earl is averaging 15.2 points (eighth in the conference) and is second in the circuit with 8.4 rebounds while Samuels, in his senior season, is averaging 11.4 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Cats. But is this the most vulnerable Villanova team we’ve seen entering the BIG EAST Tournament? We’ll begin to find out Thursday afternoon.
The second game of Wednesday’s tripleheader pits No. 7 Xavier (13-7, 6-7) against No. 10 Butler (9-14, 8-12). The Musketeers swept the season series from the Bulldogs this year with a 68-55 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse and a 63-51 win in Cincinnati.
Like Villanova, Butler is dealing with a key injury in which senior Aaron Thompson, the Bulldogs’ quarterback on the floor with his team-high 66 assists, is done for the season with a shoulder injury. On top of that, senior forward Bryce Nze, who is averaging 10.6 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds, suffered an ankle injury in the ‘Dogs season finale and his status for the tournament remains up in the air.
On the bright side Butler can unleash freshman Chuck Harris on Xavier. The 6-2 guard is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer (12.8 ppg.) and his 44 three-pointers place him second on the team behind Jair Bolden’s 58. Harris has had five games this season in which he’s scored 20 or more points.
Xavier struggled during February as the Musketeers started the month with a pair of postponements and followed that up with a 2-5 finish. They also lost guard Nate Johnson, X’s third leading scorer and top three-point threat, for the year with a leg injury. But what Xavier does have is the potent combo of All-BIG EAST Second Team selections in senior Paul Scruggs and sophomore Zach Freemantle.
Scruggs averaged 14.2 points a game and a conference-best 5.8 assists per outing this season while Freemantle was tops on Xavier in both scoring (16.3 ppg.) and rebounding (9.0). Fremantle was the conference leader in rebounds.
The winner will advance to take on No. 2 Creighton in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Bluejays (18-7, 14-6) won five of their last seven games to close out the regular season, including a 93-73 victory over Butler last Saturday, a game which saw Marcus Zegarowski, an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree, score 32 points.
And expect Zegarowski and the Bluejays to be laser focused on making a run at their first tournament title once they hit the Big Apple later this week.
“My focus right now is to make sure all my teammates and the staff are all on the same page heading to New York,” Zegarowski said. “I’m not even worried about March Madness, I’m worried about New York. We’re always going to try and play unselfish. That’s who we are and that’s why we’re one of the best teams in the country, because we play so unselfish and we play for each other. We just have to continue to do that in the BIG EAST Tournament.”
Creighton can wear a team out with its plethora of scorers which include Denzel Mahoney (15.4 ppg.), Damien Jefferson (12.3 ppg.), Christian Bishop (11.2 ppg.) and Mitch Ballock (10.6). Ballock, by the way, is the only player in Creighton history to log more than 300 three-pointers and more than 300 assists in his career. And with 68 three-balls on the season, Ballock is usually in three-point range once he steps off the team bus.
The final game of Wednesday’s tripleheader will see No. 6 Providence (13-12, 9-10) square off with No. 11 DePaul (4-13, 2-13). The Friars come armed with the dynamic duo of Nate Watson and David Duke, who just happen to both be members of the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Duke averaged a team-best 17.2 points (third in BIG EAST) a game and his 4.8 assists per outing placed him second in the conference. The 6-10 Watson was the Friars’ second leading scorer at 16.8 points, putting him fourth in the conference, while his 6.6 rebounds was good for 10th in the BIG EAST. He also had seven games in which he scored 20 or more points.
Watson and Duke each topped 1,000 career points this season and Watson said playing Batman to Duke’s Robin makes for a good time every time they take the court together.
“It’s definitely a lot of fun playing with David and we’ve been playing so well together,” Watson said. “But it all starts in practice. We practice that pick-and-roll every day and we have great chemistry. It’s my third year being with him and we have a good relationship on and off the court. I’m just excited to play with him and try to do big things with him.”
DePaul, which knocked off Xavier in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament last year as a 10-seed before the plug was pulled on the tourney, will go as far as Charlie Moore and Javon Freeman-Liberty can take it. Moore leads the Blue Demons in scoring at 14.4 per game with Freeman-Liberty chipping in with 13.4 per night, though he has been out for the past few games with an injury.
The winner of that contest will move on to challenge No. 3 UConn in Thursday’s quarters. The Huskies (14-6, 11-6) may be the hottest team in the league at the moment, having won six of their final seven games and with sophomore stud James Bouknight back in peak form after missing eight games with elbow surgery.
So what does Head Huskie Dan Hurley think of Bouknight and his Huskies?
“James is a star,” Hurley told the Hartford Courant. “And our depth is impressive.”
In a season that saw UConn have nine games either canceled or postponed, UConn is playing its best ball at precisely the right time of year.
“To be able to consistently play games has just allowed us to improve and get comfortable and play better basketball,” Hurley told the Hartford Courant. “Just getting that consistent practice, getting that routine, has allowed us to play good ball. We dealt with a lot of stuff this year.”
The fourth game in Thursday’s quarterfinal round will see No. 4 St. John’s (16-10. 10-9) battle No. 5 Seton Hall (13-12, 10-9) at 3 p.m. The two teams just faced each other last Saturday in the regular season finale with the Johnnies pulling out an 81-71 win.
The Red Storm could rival UConn as the circuit’s hottest club as they have won 9-of-12, own the league’s top scorer in Julian Champagnie (19.9 ppg.), an All-BIG EAST First Team pick, may have the Rookie of the Year in unanimous All-Freshman Team pick Posh Alexander, who averages 11.1 points a game, is tied for fourth in the conference in assists with 4.4 and is tops in the league in steals with 2.6 a game, and could possibly boast the coach of the year in Mike Anderson.
The Johnnies were picked to finish ninth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll and surprised many by finishing fourth. Their biggest victory of the season came on Feb. 3 when they knocked off then-No.3 Villanova, 70-59.
So you can understand why Anderson can’t wait to get to the Garden and dive right into tournament play.
“We get a chance to play at our other home that we haven’t played at this year, Madison Square Garden,” Anderson said. “So it should be an exciting tournament.”
Red Storm junior guard Greg Williams, who had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win over Seton Hall, has been dreaming about another chance to play in the BIG EAST Tournament after last season’s tourney ended at halftime of the Johnnies’ quarterfinal round game with Creighton.
“I still think about that game,” Williams said. “Every time we talk about the tournament that’s all I think about. It definitely feels great to be back there and I hope (last year) doesn’t happen again because we have looked forward to this moment this whole year. I really look forward to that time again.”
While the Johnnies finished hot, the Pirates will be looking to put the brakes to a four-game losing streak that closed out their season, a slide that put the Hall squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.
But a good run through the BIG EAST Tournament could remedy the Pirates’ ills and senior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili is looking forward to enjoying his final Garden party.
“The Garden is a different feeling. Every time I step on the court at the Garden I just want to play my heart out, play the best I can,” Mamukelashvili said. “It’s win or go home so it will definitely be an intense tournament. We have really good teams in the BIG EAST so I’m really looking forward to it.”
And the one they call Mamu thinks this year’s tournament is about as wide open as ever.
“You never know what’s going to happen in the tournament,” he said. “I feel like every game is important and you have to bring your ‘A’ game because if you don’t another team will and you’re going to go home sad. I think there are a lot of teams who can win. As you see Butler stepped up and beat Nova (on Feb. 28). There are always favorites but there are also underdogs whose only chance to make the NCAA Tournament is to win the BIG EAST Tournament and they’re just coming in with a free mind. So I think it will be a really interesting tournament.”