Ray Floriani wraps up Marquette at MSG

The following is the latest contribution from Ray Floriani, a New Jersey-based freelance basketball reporter.
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Marquette is out and home. Next is Selection Sunday where Tom Crean & co. will learn their seed, opponent and destination. A few observations on last night’s semifinal action.

Thought a big key to Pitt-Marquette was the Panthers getting out of the gate quickly. It’s tough to spot an opponent, especially the quality of Pitt, a double digit lead early in the contest.

Marquette showed a lot of grit and determination in battling back. What looked like a potential rout was a one possession game in the final minutes. Jerel McNeal continued his fine play through the tournament with 17 points. Dominic James scored his first points with 7:39 left in the game. James did finish with eight and every point was critical during the late game run.

While James struggled to score, thought Lazar Hayward came up with a nice game. The 6-6 sophomore scored 10 points while grabbing 6 boards. Hayward was effective from the perimeter as well as in the lane.

Sam Young. What can you say ? He’s had a great week and if the Panthers win tonight, should be the tournament MVP. The Pitt forward had a game high 22 points and a huge rebound with 34 seconds to go and the game still for the taking. The 6-6 junior is a tough matchup problem because he can take opponents off the dribble and is very strong inside. He was a major difference for Pitt.

Game was 67 possessions with Pitt enjoying a 102-91 efficiency advantage. Significant numbers (read more below) were Marquette’s 47% offensive rebounding percentage and Pitt‘s 16% turnover ratio. Marquette couldn’t match that last number with 8 assists 16 turnovers and a 24% TO rate.

Poise. Pitt thrives in the bright lights of MSG. They have a number of New York area players and love competing at the ‘world’s most famous arena’. Usually teams that surrender a significant lead will succumb to the pressure of the fast charging opponent and those bright lights which suddenly feel uncomfortably hot. Not the Panthers who treat the Garden as a second home.

Quotable: Jamie Dixon , the Pitt coach…”Marquette battled back and we were fortunate to win because they out rebounded us 47-32 and had 21 offensive boards. The big difference for us was taking care of the ball (11 turnovers).”

In the opener it was vintage Georgetown over West Virginia. Roy Hibbert went scoreless a day earlier against Villanova but tonight the Hoyas went to their big man early and often. Hibbert

Hoyas did a great job keeping fresh bodies on WVU’s Joe Alexander who had 12 points but struggled through a 5 of 16 shooting night.

Great to meet several fans and run into friends in the Marquette section. Always good to touch base and talk basketball in general with ’NY Warrior’.

Final note on Tom Crean. Ran into Jeff Nix a few times this week. A good friend Nix served a number of years in the Knick organization from assistant coach to scout and front office. Late this Summer he was let go in another colossal move of stupidity by the Knick organization. Seems Nix is involved helping out with Tom Crean’s radio show. “When it happened Tom was the first to call me,” Nix recalled . “He gave me the ’olive branch’ and said I could help with his show. That allowed me to get right back into it (the game ) again.”

Just another case of Crean the intense competitor showing his sincere caring off the floor.

Read why the Knicks fired Nix.

Panthers ground Golden Eagles in Big East Semis

Marquette's bid to reach its first Big East Tournament final fell short last night with a 68-61 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers in Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh was led by the steady, productive Sam Young. Young, the best player in the BET this year, dominated the Golden Eagles on his way to 22 points and four rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Young was an impossible matchup for Marquette -- too big for Jerel McNeal, too quick for Dwight Burke.

The Panthers, who never trailed, raced out to a 16-4 lead early and held MU comfortably at bay for most of the night. The Golden Eagles closed to within three points in the game's final minute but the Panthers, who shot an impressive 49% from the field, always had an answer.

Meanwhile the MU offense struggled all night. The Golden Eagles shot a miserable 31% from the field and lost the turnover battle (16-11). MU out-rebounded the Panthers 41-30.

Marquette was led once more by Jerel McNeal with 17 points. Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward each chipped in 10 points, while Dominic James finished with eight. Dwight Burke played well off the bench again last night, grabbing a team-high ten rebounds to go along with four points.

Emotions ran high for Marquette in the second half, and lead official Tim Higgins threw gasoline on the fire (did he or didn't he try to eject Jerel McNeal -- the subject of a pair of lousy calls by the silver-haired court master). The predictably thin-skinned Higgins clearly came unglued in the midst of an emotional game and delivered an embarrassing effort on national television, which is nothing new. Rosiak details all of this in his entry linked below.

Regardless, in the end the Panthers were the better team on Friday night and Sam Young was the best player on the floor.

Next up for MU (24-9) is Selection Sunday where the Golden Eagles hope to claim a #4 seed. The Bracket Project has MU slotted as a 6.

AP recap
Box Score
Rosiak's recap
Rosiak's outstanding blog recap

Bring On Pittsburgh!

UPDATED
After the rubber match against Notre Dame yielded a Marquette Victory, MU Nation now readies themselves for a semi-final game against Pittsburgh. Game time is tonight on ESPN at 8:30 Milwaukee time.

There was a certain pep in our steps after finding out that Pitt had defeated Louisville. After all, let's face it... Louisville pretty much wiped the floor with Marquette both times. However, in our first game, Marquette thumped Pitt. In addition, Marquette has a recent record of 4-2 against Pitt and we match up fairly well. There is a decent chance that MU can end up in the Big East finals.

However, Pitt enters this game having won five of their last six games, including a stunning win at Syracuse and last night's overtime victory against Louisville. In last night's game, Sam Young contributed 21 points and 12 rebounds. Young was selected as the Big East Most Improved Player, and was also the Cracked Sidewalks choice as well. If nothing else, in their last five games, Pitt defeated two teams against whom Marquette struggled mightily.

As a blog commenter noted, that first game was Levance Fields' first game back after injury, and he was ineffectual. Since that point, he has worked his way back into the full rotation. As the starting PG, Fields does a great job protecting the ball, which will make it harder to force as many turnovers. Furthermore, the Pitt fan base travels well, and will certainly comprise the majority of cheering fans tonight. There is a lot going well for Pitt right now, and they will also have the motivational edge of exacting revenge for the last game. Do not expect that tonight's game will have the same blowout result as the game at the Bradley Center!

What led to our victory against Pitt? Looking at the Pittsburgh Numbers Recap, we can see that Marquette had an edge in every single one of the four factors. Marquette also dominated on defense, holding Pitt to an efficiency far worse than normal. Marquette shot extremely well, forced Pitt into far more turnovers than normal, and turned the game into one at MU's tempo. Not that it had anything to do with the victory, but this was also the game that Trevor Mbakwe was first cleared to play.

For tonight's game, not much is different than the first Game Preview for Pittsburgh. Pitt remains a team with a stronger offense than defense, highlighted by their ferocity on the offensive glass and stinginess with turnovers.

Here are the Top Five Numbers to Know about Pittsburgh.

• 118.2 - The Offensive Efficiency that Pitt averages on Offense
• That's #12 in the country, at 1.18 points / possession
• 242 - Pitt's national rank at pace
• Pitt plays one of the slowest paces in D1, and they have to.
  
• Their defense is correlated with pace, meaning that the slower the tempo the better their defense
• 67 - Pitt's national rank at defense
• Despite a good showing against Louisville, don't believe the hype about the Pittsburgh defense!
• Only once in the last ten games has their defense been better than average (below 100), although it was last night
  
• Pitt wins games on the offensive end of the court
• 9 - Pitt's national rank at Offensive Rebounding Percentage
• Pitt grabs almost 40% of all potential offensive rebounds. That's obviously pretty good.
• 18.7% - Pitt's turnover rate on offense
• That's #37 in the country
  
• When we played them last, Pitt was harassed into a turnover rate of 23%

The formula for Marquette to beat Pitt is simple. Force turnovers, push the pace, and keep them off the offensive glass. Even with the return of Fields, Marquette matches up well in all of those areas, so expect a much tighter game than last time but a Marquette victory.

edit: Added information about Levance Fields

Ray Floriani reports from Day One of the BET

NEW YORK CITY - After almost twelve hours of basketball we found out the higher seeds ‘held serve’ for the first time this century. You have to go to 1997 to find the last time there wasn’t at least one upset in the Big East Tournament’s opening round.

General stat notes…

Best offensive efficiency of the day - Villanova 116
Poorest offensive efficiency - Seton Hall 77
Slowest paced contest - PC- West Virginia a 64 possession game.
Fastest pace - ‘Nova-Syracuse 71 possessions

The keys to Marquette’s victory over Seton Hall per Tom Crean were rebounding and Jerel McNeal. Marquette owned the boards 56-37. The edge was 25-13 off the offensive glass, In fact Marquette had 25 offensive boards while the Hall had 24 defensive rebounds. Marquette‘s ORB percentage was an obscene 51%. Marquette’s board prowess played no small part in fouling out three Seton Hall frontcourt players.

Last season McNeal was on the sidelines with an injury. Against the Hall he had a 21 point, 9 rebound, 4 assist night. Just a sterling all-around effort. His 9 boards were more than any Seton Hall player.

Crean didn’t mention it but Marquette took great care of the ball (15% TO rate) against a team that likes to pressure. Thought the Marquette mentor made a great move early second half. Guards did most of the scoring for the Golden Eagles the first 20 minutes so Crean called Lazar Hayward’s number down low the initial two possessions after intermission. Gets the big man involved and gives the Hall something else to worry about on D.

Tough question. Bobby Gonzalez was asked about his thoughts regarding Commissioner Mike Tranghese saying , on Tuesday, that the Big East would investigate his behavior this past Sunday. Gonzalez said, “no comment. I’m just here to talk about the fine effort these kids had tonight and we have conducted ourselves with class all year.” Whatever. Let’s just say Gonzalez was a model citizen on the bench tonight.

Marquette and Notre Dame have met 110 times but never in New York. They will have that initial get together in the Big East quarterfinals.

Among those in the house was former Cincinnati and NBA great Oscar Robertson. Want to guess how much the Big O could command in today’s NBA market ?

**Ray Floriani is a New Jersey-based freelance basketball reporter.

Round 3: Marquette takes on Seton Hall in MSG

UPDATED
The sixth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles will take on the 11th seeded Seton Hall Pirates in the opening round of the 2008 Big East Championship on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm CST on ESPN.

Marquette beat the Hall twice during the regular season. At the Bradley Center in January, MU outlasted the Pirates in an ugly, low-scoring affair, 61-56. Home cooking was no better for the Pirates as MU raced out to a 30-10 lead and never looked back, coming away with an 89-64 win.

Seton Hall arrives at MSG in a world of hurt. The Pirates have lost three in a row and eight of ten, including a gut-wrenching loss to rival Rutgers to close the regular season. The RU loss threw SHU head coach Bobby Gonzalez for a loop, leading to a series of embarrassing remarks during and after that game.

Perhaps Marquette can take advantage of the death spiral that is building around the Pirates' season. The Golden Eagles (22-8, 11-7) finished the conference season with back-to-back losses, and will look to recapture the momentum that carried the team to a five-game win streak through much of February.

The most interesting matchup pits Dominic James against SHU's resident thug, senior guard Jamar Nutter. It was Nutter who delivered a harsh intentional foul on James back in January, a collision that injured the Marquette point guard's wrist hindering his play for weeks. Nutter continued the rough play with a forearm shiver to James' chops during the Hall's embarrassing home loss to MU, earning an ejection from the game. Will Nutter go for the three-peat?

For a quick reminder on how MU won the first two meetings, look inside the numbers:

• Seton Hall numbers recap, Game 1 where MU won despite one of its worse offensive performances of the season.
• Seton Hall numbers recap, Game 2 where MU delivered a devastating offensive performance highlighted by Yeoman's work on the offensive glass.

Key Numbers to Watch

• Seton Hall protects the ball exceptionally well, turning it over just 16.7% of the time -- good for 9th in the country. Meanwhile, MU forces opponents to cough the ball up nearly 25% of the time. If MU wins the turnover battle, the path to victory will be clearer.
• The Pirates are a middle of the road offensive team, only generating an eFG% of 48% - - 228 teams are more efficient than the Hall.
• Defense continues to be a problem for the Pirates who allow opponents a horrendous 51.6% eFG percentage (248th in the nation). Moreover the Hall cedes the glass with little fight - the Pirates are 314th in the nation in preventing offensive rebounds.

The net: If MU turns the Hall over and attacks the offensive glass, expect good things for the Golden Eagles. If not, we could be in for a nail biter against a lesser opponent.

Media Links

• Marquette game notes
• Big East Basketball Report preview
• Asbury Park Press
• Chicago Tribune preview (hello DePaul fans!)
• Star-Ledger preview focuses on Eugene Harvey
• Rosiak on the Nutter/James drama
  
• The Buffalo News profiles the maturing Lazar Hayward
• BIG EAST CAST delivers an outsanding podcast preview of the BET
  

Big East announces 16-team tournament

The Big East announced today that beginning in 2009, the Big East Tournament will be expanded to include all 16 teams. Currently the league's top 12 teams punch a ticket to MSG.

Here's the news release.

Big East Tournament expanding?

• 12 teams or 16 teams.
• four days or five days.
• selling 38,000 more tickets.
• upselling corporate sponsorships.
• convincing MSG that four more games from the Big East is good for business.

Per Andy Katz' blog today, the Big East is considering moving to a full 16-team conference tournament at MSG next spring. The guys at MUScoop picked up on this one - talk about it here.

Quick thoughts on the BET final

Courtesy of Ray Floriani of Hoopsville.net and Basketball Times:

The Big East final reminded us of the old coaching cliche’, the late Al McGuire (if he didn’t coin) used many an occasion, ‘you can’t teach height’. Simply, 7’2 Roy Hibbert of Georgetown was too much. All season the media (yours truly included) and other observers wondered when Hibbert would, or could, get aggressive inside. The criticism was the lack of touches or take-charge stance in setting up down low. A look at Geogetown’s stats show Hibbert averaged just over 13 ppg. He took 15% of the Hoya shots. Jeff Green, a wise option, led the club entering tournament play with 24% of the Hoya FGA.

Against ND Hibbert had 6 points on 3 of 4 shooting. 'Should be a better presence on the blocks', was the assessment of Hibbert, forgetting the Irish packed the 2-3 zone and John Thompson III is not one to force things on offense.

Hibbert scored 18 points, pulled down 11 boards and dominated Pitt’s Aaron Gray ( 3 pts 5 rebounds) who didn’t get a field goal until just under eleven minutes were left. It was classic inside -out. Hibbert established down low. When Pitt was making a challenge and had the deficit to 13 with 12 to play, Jon Wallace buried two treys. Game, set, match. Classic inside-out.
Over those last dozen minutes Pitt managed three field goals. Classic Hoya defense. In fact it was a classic night for Georgetown who earned their first Big East Tournament title since 1989. They did it the same was as days of old, a dominant big man and outstanding defense.

GU 65 eff 114
Pitt 42 eff 74
(57 possession game)

Ray, thanks very much!

Big East Tournament Pool..."THE BALLS"

Congratulations to "The Balls" for winning this year's Cracked Sidewalks Big East Tournament Pool.

He correctly picked every game in the tournament and won on the tiebreaker by selecting 122 total points for the final.

Here are your top ten

1) The Balls
2) Tamiz
3) mghoya
4) MUDPT
5) Schererdog
6) Kruckster
7) LocoKP
8) Dan'l B
9) Murph
10) NY Warrior (our very own from Cracked Sidewalks)


All of you can check your final standings by clicking on the link below the Big East Flag.

Thank you to the 426 that signed up this year. Let's all home for a all Big East Final Four in the NCAA Tournament.

See you all next year.

Regards

Cracked Sidewalks Staff

Quick notes for tonight's Big East final

Courtesy of Ray Floriani of Hoopsville.net and Basketball Times.

Quick notes heading into the finals. Three keys to the game

• Gray must stay out of foul trouble. Jamie Dixon did a great job, sitting Aaron Gray down with two first half fouls and leaving him in after the third nine minutes into the second half. It was a gamble but Gray's a veteran and Dixon trusted his judgement. I do not feel Roy Hibbet can necessarily get Gray in foul trouble, but Jeff Green with Patrick Ewing Jr can.
• Georgetown must locate shooters. Colin Falls and Russell Carter got great looks last night. For Pitt Antonio Graves is not bashful and can knock down the trey. Panthers also have a few other players (Mike Cook, Levance Fields to name a few) not afraid of launching from three so the Hoya defense has to be cognizant of the perimeter.
• Rebounding. Pitt was out rebounded 44-32 by Louisville. That was related to Gray's foul trouble. It wasn't the only reason, though. Levon Kendall for instance at 6'10 had 6 boards, one less than the 5'10 Fields. Georgetown pounds the glass, Pitt needs a team effort.
  

The efficiency totals from last night:

GU: 84 efff 131
ND: 82 eff 128


PITT 65 eff 105
UL 59 eff 95

Eff based on points per possession with possessions based on: FGA + (FT * .475) - OR + TO

Back tomorrow with a wrap up.

Marquette chicks know hoops

This is great....Ray Floriani, a freelance basketball writer who often reports for Basketball Times and on Hoopville.net, penned a quick review of the opening night of the Big East. As you'll see, Ray gives fans 'pop quizes' on their basketball knowledge. Let's just say MU passed with flying colors while others failed miserably:

Marquette cheerleaders and dance teams know their school's history. Several recent DePaul grads I spoke with had no idea who George Mikan was. When I asked sophomore Biana Pallotto who Al McGuire was, the Marquette cheerleader replied, "He was a legend. His name is on our court and he put Marquette basketball on the map." That reply was "top shelf" as the late McGuire would say.

Ray will be at MSG tonight covering the Big East semis....look for coverage on Hoopville.net.

Try, try again

Apologies for the less-than-timely update on last night's loss.....back to back late nights with work sandwiched in between can get in the way of blogging (sadly).

Anyway, Pitt finally broke through and topped Marquette this season with a 89-79 win in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. With the loss, MU falls to 24-9 on the season and now looks to Selection Sunday. According to the Bracket Project figures, MU could be slotted as a dreaded 5 seed. Gimme a 6, please, gimme a 6!

Back to the game. Aaron Gray dominated the lane last night ending up with 22 points and 10 boards (six on the offensive end). Honestly it felt like he scored 40 points last night-- MU had no answer for the assertive Pitt center.

Pitt's efficient offense extended beyond Gray's big night -- I'd love to see the shot chart for the Panthers. I'd guess that in the first half, 70%-80% of the Panthers points came from inside the lane (or at least from within 12 feet of the basket). Things didn't seem to change much in the second half as the Panthers displayed new-found aggressiveness in attacking the basket with just about every player on the floor. For the game, Pitt shot nearly 50% from the field -- and seemed to do just about anything they wanted to do offensively.

Despite the Panthers' effectiveness on offense, MU was able to stay within striking distance for most of the night. With the Panthers overplaying every James drive, MU's offensive rhythm was choppy at best but Dan Fitzgerald's hot hand, Lazar Hayward's soft touch, and Ousmane Barro's ability to finish kept the Golden Eagles in the mix for most of the night.

Everything was labored on offense for MU. With only one player who can drive and dish, Pitt overplayed James in the lane realizing that for any kick-out ,MU had no player who could take advantage of an opening and create a scoring opportunity off the dribble. Pitt was able to rotate and recover defensively on any James move to the basket. Save a few nice layups by Barro on DJ passes or a handful of curls from Hayward, Matthews and Fitz the Golden Eagles were unable to get the Panthers' defense on its heels. In short, MU missed McNeal a ton tonight on both ends of the floor.

MU was led by the sublime play of Dan Fitzgerald who had 20 points and four rebounds. Fitz is positively dialed in from deep, hitting 50% of his attempts from downtown (4-8). With McNeal sidelined, Fitz has clearly stepped up his game. Impressive.

James recovered from Wednesday night's lousy shooting performance to score 16 points on 5-for-12 from the floor, including 2-8 from deep. Still, in two Big East Tournament games, DJ was a disappointing 2-17 from three-point territory.

A few other Big East Tournament observations:

• Pitt fans travel VERY WELL to MSG -- nice job by their fan base. I was proud of the MU contingent last night though -- the atmosphere at MSG was fantastic despite the long wait for the opening tip. While that WVU/Louisville game was an instant classic - it needed to end so that we could get to the main event.
• Pitt fans....handled themselves well last night. In general, most Big East fan bases are respectful and smart. With one notable exception which I'll get to.
  
• Cubillan is a nice player -- but he's not a PG. Still, MU has lacked an effective combo guard in past seasons......Cuby is a keeper.
• Lazar Hayward's improvement since I last saw him in-person back in January is remarkable. The kid must be a very hard worker in practice.
• First Novak, now Fitzgerald. If you were a big man with a terrific outside shot -- why go anywhere else?
• James. Look, he's in a shooting slump but I think that his shot selection in the pair of games out here was pretty good. Absent McNeal, the game is much more difficult for DJ -- nobody else on the team can get to the rim off the dribble. He played another good floor game last night, particularly when he was able to find an open man in the lane.
• Notre Dame fans are a$$holes. At least the three turds in my section. The classy Cuse fans in our section took so much abuse from a couple of Domer hoops 'diehards' -- what a joke. Act like you've been there before. Good luck to the 'Cuse next weekend.
• Wesley Matthews is darn near a defensive liability. Heck, he is when the offensive player can put the ball on the floor -- something that surprised me here at MSG.
  
• The Ville/WVU game was awesome.
• MU Alumni Office and Blue and Gold Fund -- nice job this week!
• MU fans -- we need more of you out here in NYC for this event. Keep it in mind for next year.
• As noted in one of the comments below, folks in the crowd generally like Marquette. I noticed this last year too -- the atmosphere at MSG is positive. And its a great place to see a game.
  

much more to come.......

MEDIA UPDATE

• Here's a good thread on the loss and what it might mean. Good job by MUScoop.
  
• Rosiak's recap -- focused on Aaron Gray's big night.
• Chicago Sun Times.
• Associated Press.
• box score.
• PittBlather's recap. (thanks for the outlink/kudos, Chas)
  
• PittBlather's open thread from the game.
• Newsday.
• Pittsbugh Tribune-Review.
• Ken Pomeroy on the performance of fatigued teams.

Back in the New York Groove

UPDATED
Marquette takes center stage at the World's Most Famous Arena on Wednesday when they take on the St. John's Red Storm to cap the opening night of the 2007 Big East Tournament.

Tipoff is scheduled for roughly 8pm CST on ESPN. The Bracket Project currently lists MU as a solid six seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Adding a road win in the BET (yes, for RPI purposes this is a road game) could help MU ratchet up a notch.

Marquette (23-8, 10-6), fresh off an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Panthers, is looking for its first conference tournament victory since the 2001-2002 season. Norm Roberts' Red Storm (16-14, 7-9) enter the tournament as the 11th seed after convincingly defeating Providence to end the regular season. Last year, the Johnnies failed to reach the Big East Tournament.

Both teams enter the game depleted by injury. Lamont Hamilton, SJU's leading scorer and rebounder, is out for the entire Big East Tournament after suffering a knee injury during the PC win. Marquette will likely hit the floor without the Big East's defensive player of the year, Jerel McNeal. While MU has not made an official announcement about McNeal's availability, head coach Tom Crean was not 'overly optimistic' about his sophomore guard's availability.

So, with each team missing vital cog who will step up? Maybe we'll see two freshmen emerge once again. With McNeal unable to suit up on Saturday night, freshman David Cubillan responded with a collegiate high 20 points, which included a host of key 3-pointers and a perfect night at the charity stripe. While Cubillan lacks McNeal's ability to attack the rim, he played to his strengths by controlling the tempo of the game and successfully managing MU's offense down the stretch.

For the Johnnies, perhaps 6'8" freshman Qa'rraan Calhoun will deliver once more. Calhoun will log more minutes for SJU after scoring 21 points off the bench on Saturday. He averaged six points and four rebounds during the regular season. The New York Daily News is reporting that Aaron Spears will start in Hamilton's place.

While McNeal's absence in a conference road game sets an ominous tone, the loss of Hamilton could hamstring the Johnnies even more. The Red Storm averaged a paltry 62 points per game this year, second-worst in the Big East. To make matters worse, SJU played to a rebound deficit for most of the season, and played to a negative turnover margin.

Anthony Mason Jr. figures to be SJU's first option on Wednesday. The 6'7" sophomore averaged 12ppg and 6 rpg this season. In MU's win over SJU last season, Mason delivered a double-double (14 pts, 11 boards). Junior guard Avery Patterson is the only other Johnnie averaging double figures (10 ppg).

Still, this is a conference road game for Marquette -- a nationally-televised, primetime road game. Let's get this one.

Time to FIRE UP MARQUETTE! I for one can't wait to cheer MU on in-person (finally).

MEDIA UPDATES

• The Associated Press previews the MU/SJU game.
• Rosiak's blog.
• Marquette University BET schedule.
• MUScoop's information header for the game.
• The AP previews the entire BET.
• NY Daily News previews the tournament and notes that a rematch with Pitt "could be the best game of the tournament" -- well, lets get the SJU game first.
• Rosiak's JS preview built around McNeal's honor.
• John Keegan of the Marquette Tribune on MU's return to NYC.
• Steve Yanda of the Marquette Trib on the loss of McNeal.
  

Hey, Ace.........get us back in the New York groove.

Jerel McNeal injury update

It appears that MU will mostly likely make their way to MSG tomorrow without Jerel McNeal in the lineup. McNeal inured his thumb in practice last week.

"It's too early to tell," Marquette coach Tom Crean said Monday morning. "I'm not overly optimistic."

Newsday on the Hamilton and McNeal injuries.

Lamont Hamilton is out for the BET

Lamont Hamilton, SJU's leading scorer and rebounder, will miss the upcoming Big East Tournament with a left knee injury. What a huge loss for the Johnnies......the first-team All Big East performer would have been a tough matchup for Marquette.

Here's the news.

No word on Jerel McNeal's availability as of yet.

Marquette Big East Tourney Information

Hopefully MU fans will travel well to NYC this week for the BET in MSG (I love acronyms). To use a radio tactic, 'keep it here for up to date information on Marquette events in New York City this week'. We'll do our best.

Anyway, here's info from Marquette on where/when to be in NYC this week:

NOTE: The official Marquette bar for the Big East Tournament is Connolly’s. Alumni and Marquette fans should stop by before and after all the games. Connolly’s is located at 121 West 45th Street (between 6th and Broadway). (btw, there are several 'Connolly's' in Manhattan -- so be specific if you are cabbing it)

TUESDAY

• Marquette happy hour at Connolly's from 6-9pm

WEDNESDAY

• Kick-off Celebration at Connolly’s.
• Appetizers and cash bar are available from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
• email kimberly.kluge@marquette.edu for reservations.

THURSDAY

• "Big East Tournament Alumni and Fan Extravaganza” at Madison Square Garden (MSG). This will be held in the Theater Lobby of MSG from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The cost is $20/person and offers unlimited access to the Extravaganza area during the games. You must have a game ticket in order to purchase a ticket to the Extravaganza. Marquette staff will sell the Extravaganza tickets at MSG. Non-stop buffet, coffee, dessert, and a cash bar are offered.

It is a great way for alumni and fans to connect. Marquette will have a booth set up where fans can get beads, poms, etc. Call or email kimberly.kluge@marquette.edu to register.

SJU update: Lamont Hamilton injures left knee

Jerel McNeal now has company on the injury list.

Lamont Hamilton, a pre-season pick for first team all-Big East from St John's, was injured in the Red Storm's victory over Providence yesterday. A 6'10", 240 pound senior, Hamilton leads SJU in both scoring and rebounding.

According to news reports today, Hamilton will have an MRI on his left knee today and will see his team's orthopedist tomorrow. His status for the MU game is uncertain ---a decision on his availability could be made at the Wednesday shootaround. A 6'10", 240 pound senior, Hamilton leads SJU in both scoring and rebounding.

• New York Daily News update.
• New York Times update.
• New York Post update.
  

MU: 5.74% chance of winning Big East Title

KGSB Panther at the Panther Lair message board has calculated the odds of each team's chances of winning the Big East title using methodology popularized in basketball circles by statistician extraordinaire Ken Pomeroy.

Using the "log5 methodology" to determine odds of advancing in the Big East tournament, MU has an 87.3% chance of getting to a round two rematch with the Panthers, a 32.28% chance of winning that game, a 15.5% chance at reaching the finals, and a 5.74% chance of winning it all.

Despite being seeded behind #5 Syracuse, MU appears to have a significant statistical edge in its first round game. The Orange are projected to have only a 54.2% chance of surviving UConn. #9 Villanova (66.1%) and #7 WVU (62.5%) are given a better chance of getting to round 2 than Syracuse.

Georgetown is favored to win the championship, with a 34.2% chance, followed by #3 seed Pittsburgh with a 20.0% chance.

St. Johns has a 0.01% chance of winning the championship.

Georgetown, Pitt, Notre Dame and Louisville have a 100% probability of surviving to round 2, completely understandable given that they face no first round opposition.

Visit Pomeroy's blog to see the WCC (Gonzaga favored with a 63.6% chance) , Colonial (42.5% shot for Old Dominion) and MidCon (Oral Roberts with a 47.7%).

Big East Official Bracket is out.

The 2007 Big East Tournament printable bracket is now available at http://www.bigeast.org/.

Two interesting observations:

First, the way the bracket has been set would seem to favor MU's chances at reaching the final game--MU has an excellent 5-2 record against teams in its own half of the bracket:
1-0 vs. WVU
2-0 vs. Pitt
1-1 vs. UL
1-1 vs. Providence
0-0 vs. St. Johns.

Luckily, MU doesn't have to play in the other side--where the team sports an aggregate record of just 2-4:
0-1 vs. DePaul
0-1 vs. Syracuse
0-1 vs. Notre Dame
0-1 vs. Georgetown
1-0 vs. UConn
1-0 vs. Villanova

The other interesting coincidence: the three mirror teams--Pitt, UL and Providence--all fall in MU's half of the bracket. To reach the finals, MU will first face a team that it didn't face at all, then possibly two more teams for the third time this season each.

Had WVU and MU been in reversed seeds, then MU would have been on a path that would have entailed three straight games against its mirror opponents.

UPDATE: MU's record against Georgetown was added to the other side of the bracket.

Bring on the Johnnies. MU vs St. John's Wednesday

St. John's is destroying Providence right now in the Garden and will earn the 11th seed. This is effectively a home game for St. John's on Wednesday night. The two teams have not met this year. MU leads the all-time series 7-5.

St. John's finished the regular season at 16-14, including home wins over DePaul, Syracuse and Notre Dame (teams MU went 0-3 against).