Villanova hopes the next growth comes in the NCAA Tournament

NEW YORK – Villanova has had to deal with the ups and downs of a relatively young team all season long. Doing that in the Big East is difficult unless you have special young players, and while the Wildcats have good ones they’re not quite at that level. After a tough stretch through some of January, the Wildcats started to play better, and despite losing 74-55 to Louisville in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, they appear to be generally playing better as they hope to hear their name called for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

In mid-January, Villanova didn’t look good. A poor showing at Providence was a bad loss at the time, as Providence was struggling even more en route to a 2-7 start in Big East play. It was their third straight loss, although there was no shame in losing at Syracuse and to Pittsburgh, though the latter was within their grasp at one point. Villanova’s guards were, Wright said, playing like they were inexperienced. Turnovers were a major problem, much like they were on Thursday night when they gave the ball away 25 times, including 18 in the first half.

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John Dunne sad the season is over for St. Peter’s

John Dunne is sad that his team’s season is over. You might wonder if that would be the case for a team like his, a St. Peter’s team that went 9-21 on the season. But you can believe Dunne when he says it, much as you can believe he would like the results to be a little different.

This year was not a memorable one for the Peacocks on the bottom line, although it started with promise as they won their first three games. Friday night’s 54-47 loss to Fairfield finished a season where they were 3-15 in the MAAC in as competitive a year as the conference has seen. They were 6-6 when MAAC play began in earnest, but started 2013 with eight straight losses in January and never recovered. After the season-opening three-game winning streak, they never won consecutive games again.

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2013 Big East Tournament quarterfinal quick hitters

NEW YORK – Georgetown vs. Syracuse. The rivalry lives on in the context of the Big East just a little longer.

The semifinals are set for the 2013 Big East Tournament, and the first one that set up had many people buzzing. Georgetown and Syracuse will have one last game while both are members of the Big East, which is only fitting considering this is the last Big East Tournament as we know it. That game will be a tough act to follow, but Louisville and Notre Dame will try to do that. Considering the Cardinals and Fighting Irish produced the most thrilling game of the season to date when they went to five overtimes, we know they are capable.

Some quick hitters from Thursday’s games:

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Smith leads Louisville on a difficult day

NEW YORK – Russ Smith played one of his best games of the season with a heavy heart. The Big East Tournament is a homecoming for a lot of players, Smith included, as New York is well-represented among the conference’s players. But a phone call the Louisville guard made earlier in the day changed a lot for the young man and also hit a lot of people in Madison Square Garden. Smith learned that Jack Curran, the legendary coach of Archbishop Molloy, had died at age 82.

With Louisville in town for the conference tournament, Smith called the school, as he so often does when in town, to touch base with people there, including athletic director Mike McCleary. That was when he learned that Curran had passed, and Smith was taken aback.

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For Cincinnati, offense will be the key

NEW YORK – Cincinnati tried to play smaller and faster, which Mick Cronin felt was the way to go for this team. It worked like a charm on Wednesday, but Cronin knew it would be a tall order against Georgetown on Thursday. He was right, and while he seems to have found a way to play that works, the Bearcats will have to wait to go with it again after falling 62-43 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

Cincinnati got off to a nice start on the season in winning their first 12 games. Since losing a tough one to New Mexico at home, they haven’t put together a winning streak longer than three in a row, although they started Big East play with a win at Pittsburgh. In February they lost five of six at one point after winning five of six. They should be in the NCAA Tournament, as they have the wins without any bad losses.

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How bright is Rutgers’ future now?

NEW YORK – Not long after Mike Rice was named the head coach at Rutgers, there was reason to believe better times were ahead. Rice has lots of connections in New Jersey to, in theory, finally get some of the top talent in the talent-rich state. The thought was that Rutgers finally had the right guy running the program. But with his third season at the school now almost certainly in the books, the future seems more murky than one would have expected.

After losing to Notre Dame 69-61 in the second round of the Big East Tournament, Rutgers finishes the season 14-16. There is a slim chance a postseason tournament without the requirement of a .500 record will come calling, but chances are they have played their last basketball of the season. They went 5-13 in Big East play and finished 12^th, which is one spot below where they were picked in the preseason poll. They were 14-18 overall last season, including a 6-12 record in Big East play. They were a young team this season, but the lack of bottom line results is just part of the story.

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2013 Big East Tournament second round quick hitters

NEW YORK – The quarterfinals are up next in the Big East Tournament. In the second round, we saw Cincinnati blitz Providence early and fend off a rally, Syracuse rally from an early deficit due to a hot shooting Seton Hall team with a very strong second half, Villanova knock off a young St. John’s team and Notre Dame pull away from Rutgers and then hold them off. The four winners take on the top four seeds on Thursday.

Some quick hitters from Wednesday:

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Providence needs to keep growing to win more in New York

NEW YORK – Providence head coach Ed Cooley talked a lot about his program making progress but still having work to do. Whether or not more of that work will come this season in another game will have to wait a few days, as Providence bowed out of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday with a 61-44 loss to Cincinnati in which they didn’t play well, especially at the offensive end.

At this point, it’s a given that Providence won’t be in the NCAA Tournament. The Friars needed to make a run in New York for any chance, especially since a win on Wednesday would have given them a great opportunity for a quality win as Georgetown would be next. Instead, the Friars’ difficulties winning in New York continued as Wednesday’s loss was their fifth straight in the Big East Tournament. For that matter, their last win broke another five-game losing streak in the tournament.

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2013 Big East Tournament first round quick hitters

NEW YORK – The first round of the Big East Tournament is in the books, with two quick games on Tuesday night. One came right down to the end with overtime, the second saw the winning team pull away and in a game with much more scoring. Two full days of action are ahead, Providence and Cincinnati opening up Wednesday’s action at noon.

Some quick hitters from Tuesday night’s games:

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Iona’s journey ends with no doubt about their NCAA Tournament status

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Last year, Iona was a surprise entrant in the NCAA Tournament, reaching it as an at-large. Many prognosticators didn’t think they had the resume for it and thought any of a number of other schools had better profiles. This time around, there was quite a journey to get there, but will be no doubt about it: they are in after beating Manhattan 60-57 in the MAAC championship game on Monday night.

“I said from the beginning of the season we want to make the tournament the right way,” said junior guard Sean Armand. “We lost in the semifinals last year and got an at-large bid. I told the guys I really want to make the tournament by earning that spot.”

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