Down The Stretch

by Doug Potter

A fairly frustrating season thus far in the Big East as far as all analysts are concerned is less than a month from coming to a close. A season of ups and downs were expected, but not to this magnitude. I mean come on, who could predict that in mid-February that Notre Dame and Georgetown would be a combined 7-14 in the conference? Even after their hot start, we all knew the Hoyas would slip at least somewhat, but not to the tune of losing eight of their last eleven! There have been disappointing teams (Georgetown and Notre Dame) as well as the surprising teams (Providence and Cincinnati) but anything can happen in the 16-team Big East Tournament, which is now only 26 days away.

As of right now, I feel confident in saying that the best team right now is UConn. They have arguably the best defensive presence in Hasheem Thabeet (4+Blocks PG) and a pure man-child in Jeff Adrien, who is averaging a double-double (14.1 PPG and 10.1 RPG). They haven’t lost since December and are one of three teams with only one loss (Oklahoma and Utah State). UConn’s only loss? You guessed it, the 13-9 Georgetown Hoyas. Twelve wins in a row for the Huskies and after a trip to Seton Hall this Saturday they will face their toughest match as they will host 20-2 Pitt on Monday.

Sticking with the surprising theme, here are some stats that I found very surprising to say the least about the rugged Big East this season:

When we talk about MIP in the Big East this year, Dante Cunningham has to come to mind, but take a look at the strides Seton Hall guard Jeremy Hazell has made since last year. The Sophomore has increased this year in Minutes, Rebounds, Steals, FG%, FT% and 3P%, but most importantly his 23.1 PPG has him second in the Big East and ninth in the nation in scoring.

I’m sorry I can’t resist talking the struggles of Notre Dame and Georgetown, but get this: since January 14th, these two teams, who many people (including myself) picked to finish in the top 5 in the conference, have combined to lose 12 of their last 13 conference games! The only win was Georgetown’s February 3rd win over a lowly Rutgers team who is a pitiful 1-10 in conference.

Free Throw Shooting?: I talked at length about how important free-throw shooting would be this season. I claimed that this would be the key to success and that teams who failed to shoot well from the charity stripe would struggle this year. Not so much. The top 5 teams in FT% (Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Rutgers) are respectively 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 15th in the Big East standings. I’m sure you’re thinking “Yeah, but the two best teams in UConn and Pitt shoot well from the stripe. Nope. UConn is 7th and Pitt is 12th.

I leave you with one final number: Five. After all the talk about the Big East possibly getting nine, maybe even ten teams in the Big Dance, the number of teams in the Top 25 polls will most likely be just five next week after #22 Syracuse continues its free-fall with a loss yesterday. The Big East has beaten up on each other so much that they’re all starting to become closer and closer to the mediocre level. A large amount of the teams in the conference still have considerable work to do down the stretch if they wish to be dancing come March.