TicketsAnd they're off.
Not shockingly, the first day of the Big East tournament resembled nearly every night of the regular season: overtimes, buzzer-beaters, upsets.
Most notably, USF overcoming a 16-point deficit to send Villanova spiraling even deeper into the abyss that has become their season. Make it five losses in a row for the Wildcats who missed the front end of two one-and-ones that would have made the lead two possessions. That came after they made their first 20 free throws of the game. Wow.
Mick Cronin and UC were likely pulling for the Wildcats because beating Nova would have brought more respect than a victory against USF. Plus, Cronin talked about the most difficult thing to do in this tournament is beat a team you are "supposed" to beat.
In the big picture, it won't mean much for UC. They've done a great job this season of beating the team's they were supposed to, whether home or away.
The Bearcats were 7-0 this year against the teams seeded 11 or lower in the tournament. Four of those came by double digits.
Let's eat...
--- In the first matchup against USF, Sean Kilpatrick had one of those nights Kilpatrick tends to have. He poured in 18 points on 4 of 5 shooting from behind the arc.
Matching up with USF's size will be the key for UC tonight. In the first game, they were ineffective on the offensive boards, only grabbing six of 28 possible rebounds -- well below the season average.
"They played us tough (at Fifth Third), but it is hard to remember back that far," Cronin said.
--- Prior to the win against Villanova, USF had lost five of its previous six games -- four of those were by double figures.
--- Augustus Gilchrist has turned into the beast USF expected him to be all season. Over the past five games, the 6-foot-10 center is averaging 20.2 points and 5.2 rebounds.
--- Shaun Noriega led the Bulls with 22 points last night and made 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range. In his last seven games, he's draining 44 percent of his triples. UC needs to keep close tabs on Noriega all night.
--- Bill Koch caught up with Stan Heath last night and the USF coach gave him some lovely quotes about playing Cincinnati.
--- Tommy G and Dan Hoard with a report from New York City in the afternoon of the Bearcats arrival. If DH looks like he lost a few pounds, it's because he got off at the wrong subway stop and put in a little extra exercise time.
--- Ken Pomeroy's log5 of the Big East tournament gives UC a 5.8% chance of winning the tournament and 14.5 percent chance of making it to the final.
--- Rush the Court's BE tournament diary with some great details from the opening day including the ruthless nature of Providence fans.
--- Mike DeCourcy doesn't think any Big East team will reach the Final 4. I'd make a strong argument for Notre Dame.
--- There will be about a million of these lists in the next week, but that doesn't mean it's not still nice being on one for UC. Jon Rothstein of CBSsports.com lists them as one of five sleepers to watch in the NCAA tournament.
--- Jim Boeheim thinks the double-bye system needs to go.
--- Today's schedule:
Wednesday, March 9 - Second Round (ESPN/ESPN 3D)
Noon: No. 8 Georgetown (21-9) vs. No. 9 Connecticut
2 p.m.: No. 5 St. John's (20-10) vs. No. 13 Rutgers
7 p.m.: No. 7 Cincinnati (24-7) vs. No. 15 USF
9 p.m.: No. 6 West Virginia (20-10) vs. No. 11 Marquette
--- My predictions from Day 1 were a mixed bag. I went 2-2, hitting on UConn and Marquette, but missing on Seton Hall and Villanova.
Day 2, I predict will not go much better. Yes, I'm predicting bad predictions. My feeling is the more you know the less you know in this conference. I probably know too much for my own good.
Winners:
UConn: I think this is the game where Kemba goes off. Without Chris Wright, Georgetown won't have any answer.
St. John's: Continue to love how hard Mike Rice has his team playing, but St. John's first game in the Garden for the tournament they run into a buzzsaw
Marquette: West Virginia has been on a nice roll lately, but Marquette feels it has much more to play for right now and they spring the minor upset.
--- On to some randomness...
--- Please, please, please tell me the KC Royals mascot Sluggerrr shows up in court in full costume.
--- ESPN the Magazine is publishing a "Fiction Issue." Insert your own ESPN-related joke here.
--- Speaking of fiction, The Onion with yet another great story.
--- In case you didn't get that reference.