The Big East sent 8 teams to the NCAA Tournament this year and all but one – UConn – have advanced to the second round. Here’s a quick look at how the Big East teams did in Round 1.
- #2 Georgetown def uMBC 66-47
- #3 Louisville def Bosie State 79-61
- #4 Connecticut lost to San Diego 70-69 (OT)
- #4 Pittsburgh def Oral Roberts 82-63
- #5 Notre Dame def George Mason 68-50
- #6 Marquette def Kentucky 74-66
- #7 West Virginia def Arizona 76-65
- #12 Villanova def Clemson 75-69
7-1 in the first round is pretty impressive – especially since UConn lost by just 1 after their star player got hurt in the first half. Most of these games weren’t even close. Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville, and Pitt were in control from start to finish of their games.
It will be tough for all 7 Big East teams to advance tot he Sweet 16, but here’s a quick look at who each team faces.
- #2 Georgetown vs. #10 Davidson – Georgetown took care of business in the first round and should do the same with Davidson who got into the second round by upsetting Gonzaga.
- #3 Louisville vs. #6 Oklahoma – Oklahoma looked much better on the offensive end than they have in a while during their first half against St. Joe’s, but they let St. Joe’s come roaring back and almost gave up the game. Louisville is better athletically and will shoot better than Hawks did. Louisville is a great tournament team because of their full court press and their effective zone. Oklahoma doesn’t have the shooters to take advantage of Louisville’s zone.
- #4 Pitt vs. #5 Michigan State – Pitt looked very sharp in the first round coming off of the Big East Tournament Championship. Pitt is a lot of people’s dark horse title winner and they should be able to take care of Michigan State.
- #5 Notre Dame vs #4 Washington State – WSU played some stellar defense on Thursday night in holding Winthrop to 11 points in the second half of their first round game. The Irish played fairly well from start to finish against George Mason, but will need to be much more consistent than they were in the second half when they turned the ball over too many times.
- #7 West Virginia vs #2 Duke – As I type this up, Duke is up 5 on the Mountaineers at the half, but West Virginia was down more and is playing pretty good basketball right now. They certainly have a chance to advance but will need to start hitting some 3’s.
- #12 Villanova vs. #13 Sienna – This is going to be a very fun game to watch. Both teams have a couple of great guards and this will be a fast paced, high octane game. ‘Nova can’t take another first half off as they have done against Clemson, Georgetown, and Syracuse in their last 3 games.
