The Big East Weekend Wrap will cover news and notes from the weekend’s games.

After a long week of preseason tournaments, which often featured days of consecutive games for a team, the Big East has just two undefeated teams remaining: Villanova and Seton Hall. The conference at a whole has continued to play competitively and currently stands at 48-12, ranking 4th in Kenpom’s conference rankings. Below is a list of four key takeaways from the past week of Big East action.

JayVaughn Pinkston Came Up With the Defensive Play of the Year in CBB (USA Today Images)

• Villanova finally showed up to play. After their first three games, some had already begun to question whether Villanova truly deserved their preseason #12 ranking. The team as a whole struggled mightily with its outside shooting – something they relied upon heavily last season – and up until last week, held unconvincing wins over Lehigh and Bucknell that weren’t decided until the closing minutes. Yet when the national spotlight was on, the Wildcats came through. The team handily defeated #14 VCU with quick, effective ball movement and a penchant for taking care of the ball. Then, following their statement win was a gripping victory over #19 Michigan, in which the Wildcats escaped after several lead changes in the last few minutes. Finally, they capped off the week with a 31 point rout over Delaware. Junior center Daniel Ochefu should be the frontrunner for Most Improved Player in the Big East. The 6’11 center has shown a newly developed array of post moves that have added a frontcourt dimension unseen in previous Villanova teams. In a league without much talent disparity, Villanova has established themselves as the top dog, head and shoulders above the rest. They will be playing with a target on their backs all season as every opponent will be seeking a resume building victory when they step onto the floor to face the Wildcats.

• Butler and Georgetown emerged with Top 25 wins. Unfortunately, the two ended up playing each other in the third place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, which Butler ultimately won by six. But prior to that, both teams made their mark by knocking off ranked teams in the first round and battling through the second. Butler, a team without high expectations this season, absolutely manhandled #5 UNC. They shot poorly (30.6%), but managed to grab 29 offensive rebounds. Yes, you read that right. The Bulldogs had more offensive rebounds than Carolina did defensive boards. Add that to the team’s 28 defensive rebounds, and the final rebounding margin was a whopping 17. Butler’s key this season has been rebounding and forcing turnovers, both of which have served to offset the dreadful shooting efficiency of Kellen Dunham in recent games. The 6’6 junior has shot just 5-of-22 from deep in the last three games and its a slump he’ll have to break out of as the team’s leading scorer if Butler wants to compete in the Big East. But nonetheless, the team is playing vintage Butler basketball: tenacious defense with a deliberate, slow tempo on offense. Meanwhile, Georgetown came close to knocking off #2 Wisconsin after defeating Florida, but ultimately fell short. Joshua Smith has been picking up fouls at an alarming rate, which has put a heavy burden on D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera to carry the team offensively. L.J. Peak and Jabril Trawick have helped in the backcourt, though neither has proven to be a consistent scorer yet.
• Marquette is playing with a renewed sense of urgency. I’ll admit, I wrote off the Golden Eagles too quickly following their disheartening loss to Nebraska-Omaha. Coach Steve Wojciechowski has done something to inspire his team since then, as the Golden Eagles have suddenly been playing pressure defense and trapping all over the court. This in turn has forced a large number of transition baskets off turnovers, fueling the Golden Eagles’ offense. The team is seriously lacking in size (just one player over 6’6), but Wojo has constructed a zone defense with athletic wings that close out quickly and clog up the passing lanes. Matt Carlino, the 6’2 senior transfer who exhausted his eligibility at BYU, finally decided to show his face, scoring 38 points against Georgia Tech in a two point win. Over the next few days, Marquette put up a respectable fight against Michigan State and then proceeded to defeat Tennessee on Sunday, with redshirt freshman Duane Wilson carrying the way. As many of Marquette’s opponents will do this season, Tennessee controlled the boards and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, but the 9-of-17, 30 point effort from Wilson held off every comeback attempt the Vols made. This pair of wins might not draw the national spotlight, but they help to establish Marquette as a team that cannot be taken lightly. Marquette, along with DePaul, may not be in a bottom tier of their own after all.
• DePaul beat Stanford; hello Myke Henry. Don’t look now, but maybe DePaul is starting to put some things together. The Blue Demons put up 87 points en route to a 15 point victory over Stanford, a team that received enough AP poll votes to rank them 27th last week. Billy Garrett‘s scoring contributions have been spotty amidst inconsistent shooting figures, but Myke Henry, a 6’6 transfer from Illinois, has come out of nowhere to fill that void. Henry willed his team to victory against Stanford, attacking the rim and generating offense when the team needed it down the stretch. After contributing 24 points and 10 rebounds against Lehigh, he scored 29 and pulled in six rebounds against Stanford, all the while adding three blocks and three steals. On the defensive end, the Blue Demons won by forcing a whopping 21 turnovers, with Stanford’s star guard Chasson Randle coughing up seven of his own. Their interior defense leaves a lot to be desitred (Stanford shot 60.5% from two), but the talent is starting to emerge, and the improvement of 6’11 sophomore Tommy Hamilton IV will help on that front. A competitive DePaul squad would mean a level of parity among teams that no other conference could match.

Justin Kundrat (175 Posts)

Villanova grad, patiently waiting another 10 years for season tickets. Follow Justin on twitter @JustinKundrat or email him at justin.kundrat@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2014 at 2:45 pm by Justin Kundrat and is filed under big east, microsites. Tagged: big east, d'vauntes smith-rivera, duane wilson, feature, marquette, villanova. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.