Atlantic 10 Tournament: Notes, quotes and thoughts

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Ladies first. The first championship game of the tournament was Saturday evening following the men’s semifinals at the Barclays Center. Saint Joseph’s edged Fordham 47-46 in a thriller.  About 4,400 attended, the largest for an A-10 women’s title game, but the enthusiasm and excitement generated by the respective followers made the crowd seem three times as large.

Sophomore guard Natasha Cloud paced Saint Joseph’s with 15 points, 6 rebounds earning the tournament MOP. Marah Strickland, Fordham’s graduate student forward, in her last year of eligibility, led all scorers with 16 points adding 7 rebounds.

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Louisville looks like a national title contender in Big East finale

NEW YORK – The box score tells you that Louisville is leaving New York as the champions of the last Big East Tournament as we know it by virtue of a 78-61 win over Syracuse. But the box score only tells part of the story, as is so often the case. Among the things it doesn’t tell is why this Cardinal team might not be done winning championships.

Down 45-29 just over four minutes into the second half, Louisville had to do something. Syracuse was clicking on all cylinders, continuing their offensive renaissance in New York, and the Cardinals couldn’t do anything against the zone. Who did they turn to for help? Montrezl Harrell, of course.

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Despite semifinal loss, Notre Dame feels better leaving New York than when they entered

NEW YORK – Let the debate about the value of conference tournaments rage on. You’ll find a few willing supporters of them in New York, including Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, even after his team was eliminated by Louisville 69-57 in the semifinal on Friday night. There was plenty of value for him and his team here, and it wasn’t just sentimental, although there was a little of that.

“I can’t say enough about the Big East, man,” said Brey. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet saying bye to (associate commissioner Tom Odjakjian) and John (Paquette) and some of the other people, and the Big East has kind of made me.”

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Championship matchup is one more appropriate gift

NEW YORK – The first Big East semifinal was a thriller. The second one wasn’t, but its result leads to the possibility of one in the final championship game in the Big East Tournament as we know it. What’s not a possibility, but rather, a given, is that the second one sets up a final that is only fitting for a very different reason.

With Syracuse already in the final by virtue of a 58-55 overtime win over Georgetown, Louisville then punched their ticket with a victory over Notre Dame. The Cardinals gradually pulled away from the Fighting Irish, who were able to hang around most of the night and even tied the game in the first half, for a 69-57 victory.

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Everything about this game made perfect sense

NEW YORK – There was no way it could be any different. Everything came together just right for Georgetown and Syracuse to play each other one last time as Big East members. The only way this game could go was to be a thriller; there was no other option.

It was a close game almost throughout, as Syracuse had a 12-point lead for a short period, and then overtime was a possibility – and it came. It was the first overtime game in the Big East Tournament between these two in more than 27 years. A second overtime looked like a possibility, but it wasn’t meant to be as Syracuse closed out Georgetown 58-55.

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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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Barclays to MSG: A long (and enjoyable) day’s journey

Two main venues, two great tournaments, just miles apart. A day filled with some very good basketball and interesting stories. Why not ? It is March Madness….

11:30 AM – Riding the subway to Brooklyn. The  preceding train ride from New Jersey to Penn Station was spent talking with a Cincinnati fan. The train has fans wearing gear from Pitt, Syracuse (most prominent) and of course, Cincinnati. The Bearcats, our new found basketball friend admits, have a tough assignment facing Georgetown at noon. Overall he is satisfied with the way things are going with Cincinatti but would like to see a little more inside play on offense. For now the Big East can wait. It’s onto the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Atlantic 10. It is difficult typing on a moving train.

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