Games #173 & 174. A couple of interesting first round games for your Tuesday pleasure live from Madison Square Garden.
12 pm. UConn vs. DePaul: Hard to believe that a team that spent much of the season in the top ten can fall all the way to ninth in their conference tournament, but they have. The Big East is that deep. UConn is going to have a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than they are in the Big East Tourney. The issue that has been plaguing the Huskies is that they cannot beat a sloughing defense. Kemba Walker struggles when he doesn’t have the space to penetrate, and on the nights when UConn doesn’t have one of their role players become a secondary scorer, defenses are able to pack in their defense and force the UConn point guard into tough shots. DePaul will be without their best player, freshman Cleveland Melvin, who also happens to be a former UConn commit, so UConn should be able to roll through this first round matchup.
9 pm. Marquette vs. Providence: Marquette is the only team in the Big East still on the bubble, putting them in an interesting situation. As of today, they are probably on the right side of the bubble, albeit barely. A loss to Providence in the first round would probably push them onto the wrong side. In all actuality, if the Golden Eagles want to feel safe, they probably need to win two games in the Big East Tournament. It also needs to be noted that Providence has the Big East’s best scorer in Marshon Brooks. Brooks, however, is a one man show. When he gets it going, he can put up some sensational numbers, like the 43 he had against Georgetown and the 52 he had against Notre Dame. But when his teammates struggle, defenses can collapse on Brooks.