Big East Tourney underway

Day one of the 2012 Big East Tournament is complete. So what did we learn?

DePaul coach Oliver Purnell certainly agrees with that assessment. “I thought Jeremy Lamb was awfully good in the game from start to finish,” said the coach. “He really kept us at bay in the first half.”

But it wasn’t just all about Lamb. The Huskies got a huge game out of freshman guard Justin Boatwright (19 points, 7 assists) and respectable performances from Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi.

The two biggest keys for Connecticut is getting consistent scoring from Drummond and Oriakhi and hitting its free throws. The Huskies went 11-for-24 from the line. That can’t happen against West Virginia on Wednesday. Drummond and Oriakhi need to put pressure on the Mountaineers front court and the Huskies have to be better from the line.

“He’s a good player, real skilled,” said Pitt forward Nasir Robinson. “I wanted to make him shoot tough shots.”

Harkless did hit some tough shots and he was incredibly efficient in doing so. The Red Storm’s prized freshman shot 10-for-16 from the field.

With non-conference wins over St. Joseph’s, VCU and Dayton and conference wins over Georgetown and UConn, one more win could be it for Seton Hall.

Pirates coach Ralph Willard thinks his team has done enough.

“Our total body of work is pretty darned good and I think we have two of the better seniors in the country,” said the coach.

Losing at home to Rutgers and on the road against DePaul the last two games of the regular season certainly didn’t help the Pirates. But Willard still thinks his team is NCAA-worthy.

“The last two games before this game we played a tough rival,” he said. “And then the other night at DePaul they player real well and we just struggled. The overall body of work, I think, is pretty good.”

No.9 UConn vs. No.8 West Virginia, Noon
No.5 Georgetown vs. No. 13 Pitt, 2:30
No.10 Seton Hall vs. No. 7 Louisville, 7:00
No. 14 Villanova vs. No. 6 South Florida, 9:30