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Connecticut Tips Big East Tourney Vs DePaul
It was just about a year ago that the Connecticut Huskies began their improbable run towards the Big East Tournament Championship. Five wins in five days netted UConn the title, and from there Jim Calhoun's team went on to the National Championship.
The Huskies will try to start a repeat run Tuesday, and the deja vu dominoes have fallen into place. Just like last March, UConn is seeded ninth, and the Huskies will once again open play against 16th-seed DePaul, their opponents in the conference tourney opener a year ago.
It's the 30th straight year for the Big East to make its tournament home at Madison Square Garden, and ESPN2 will have the opening tip between the Huskies and Blue Demons at noon (ET).
Continuing the deja vu theme, UConn enters the tourney on the downturn with nine losses in its last 13 games. Connecticut was ranked 11th in the country on Jan. 18 when a defeat to Cincinnati started the slide. The Huskies were 12th in the nation before dropping four of their last five regular season contests entering the Big East tournament last season.
One of the four wins since mid-January did come against these Blue Demons, an 80-54 spanking in Storrs on Feb. 15. A 13½-point favorite in the contest, Connecticut got double-double performances from Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier to nail down a sixth straight win over DePaul, and third consecutive cover in the series.
Last year's tournament meeting saw UConn explode for a 97-71 triumph as 14½-point chalk. Five of the seven meetings since DePaul joined the Big East in 2005 have stayed 'under' the total. This year's winner will face No. 8 seed West Virginia on Wednesday.
Roughly 30 minutes after DePaul and UConn are finished (approximately 2:00 p.m. ET), ESPN2 will broadcast the battle between Pittsburgh and St. John's who are seeded 13th and 12th respectively.
Few teams have been as disappointing this year as Jamie Dixon's Panthers. Preseason rankings had Pitt No. 10/11, and everything looked fine when the campaign began with an 11-1 record. Everything then started to fall apart just before Christmas, however, when the Panthers dropped a 59-54 decision to Wagner who was a 13-point underdog in Pittsburgh. That loss was followed by seven straight setbacks to begin Big East play.
Pitt's regular season concluded with six losses in seven outings, the lone victory coming just this past week against St. John's. The Panthers (-10½) posted an 89-69 win at home, their sixth over the Red Storm in the last seven meetings. Pittsburgh is also 6-1 against the spread in that span.
The tournament continues Tuesday night when 15th-seed Providence faces 10th-seed Seton Hall (7:00 p.m. ET) and 14th-seed Villanova meets 11th-seed Rutgers (9:00 p.m. ET). Both games will be carried on ESPN3.
Valpo Hosts Detroit In Horizon League Championship
Any thoughts that the Butler Bulldogs might have had about making it to the NCAA Finals a third consecutive season officially ended Saturday night. Ryan Broekhoff and the Valparaiso Crusaders sent the Bulldogs home from the Horizon League Tournament with an emphatic 65-46 pasting, and will now host the Detroit Titans in Tuesday's championship game (9:00 p.m. ET) that will be broadcast on ESPN.
Valpo earned host rights to the tournament by virtue of its regular season crown, and Saturday's victory gave the Crusaders a 3-game season sweep of Butler. The teams opened their conference slate at Butler on Dec. 3, a 77-71 overtime win for Valparaiso as a 5½-point dog. The Crusaders then topped the Bulldogs 71-59 at home on Feb. 24, once again as the underdog, before the semifinal victory two days ago when they were receiving 1½ points from the oddsmakers.
Detroit enters the HL Finals in good form with nine wins in its last 10 games. The Titans easily covered their quarterfinals matchup with Youngstown State as 5½-point chalk (93-76) before dropping Cleveland State 63-58 in Saturday's semifinal as 1-point underdogs.
Valparaiso won and covered the two regular season meetings with Detroit. The Crusaders were 4½-point underdogs in Motown on Jan. 6 and came home with a 73-71 victory at the buzzer, then followed that up with a 78-73 home win on Feb. 2 as 2½-point favorites. Valparaiso has won the last five clashes with the Titans, going 4-0-1 ATS in those tilts.
It was just about a year ago that the Connecticut Huskies began their improbable run towards the Big East Tournament Championship. Five wins in five days netted UConn the title, and from there Jim Calhoun's team went on to the National Championship.
The Huskies will try to start a repeat run Tuesday, and the deja vu dominoes have fallen into place. Just like last March, UConn is seeded ninth, and the Huskies will once again open play against 16th-seed DePaul, their opponents in the conference tourney opener a year ago.
It's the 30th straight year for the Big East to make its tournament home at Madison Square Garden, and ESPN2 will have the opening tip between the Huskies and Blue Demons at noon (ET).
Continuing the deja vu theme, UConn enters the tourney on the downturn with nine losses in its last 13 games. Connecticut was ranked 11th in the country on Jan. 18 when a defeat to Cincinnati started the slide. The Huskies were 12th in the nation before dropping four of their last five regular season contests entering the Big East tournament last season.
One of the four wins since mid-January did come against these Blue Demons, an 80-54 spanking in Storrs on Feb. 15. A 13½-point favorite in the contest, Connecticut got double-double performances from Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier to nail down a sixth straight win over DePaul, and third consecutive cover in the series.
Last year's tournament meeting saw UConn explode for a 97-71 triumph as 14½-point chalk. Five of the seven meetings since DePaul joined the Big East in 2005 have stayed 'under' the total. This year's winner will face No. 8 seed West Virginia on Wednesday.
Roughly 30 minutes after DePaul and UConn are finished (approximately 2:00 p.m. ET), ESPN2 will broadcast the battle between Pittsburgh and St. John's who are seeded 13th and 12th respectively.
Few teams have been as disappointing this year as Jamie Dixon's Panthers. Preseason rankings had Pitt No. 10/11, and everything looked fine when the campaign began with an 11-1 record. Everything then started to fall apart just before Christmas, however, when the Panthers dropped a 59-54 decision to Wagner who was a 13-point underdog in Pittsburgh. That loss was followed by seven straight setbacks to begin Big East play.
Pitt's regular season concluded with six losses in seven outings, the lone victory coming just this past week against St. John's. The Panthers (-10½) posted an 89-69 win at home, their sixth over the Red Storm in the last seven meetings. Pittsburgh is also 6-1 against the spread in that span.
The tournament continues Tuesday night when 15th-seed Providence faces 10th-seed Seton Hall (7:00 p.m. ET) and 14th-seed Villanova meets 11th-seed Rutgers (9:00 p.m. ET). Both games will be carried on ESPN3.
Valpo Hosts Detroit In Horizon League Championship
Any thoughts that the Butler Bulldogs might have had about making it to the NCAA Finals a third consecutive season officially ended Saturday night. Ryan Broekhoff and the Valparaiso Crusaders sent the Bulldogs home from the Horizon League Tournament with an emphatic 65-46 pasting, and will now host the Detroit Titans in Tuesday's championship game (9:00 p.m. ET) that will be broadcast on ESPN.
Valpo earned host rights to the tournament by virtue of its regular season crown, and Saturday's victory gave the Crusaders a 3-game season sweep of Butler. The teams opened their conference slate at Butler on Dec. 3, a 77-71 overtime win for Valparaiso as a 5½-point dog. The Crusaders then topped the Bulldogs 71-59 at home on Feb. 24, once again as the underdog, before the semifinal victory two days ago when they were receiving 1½ points from the oddsmakers.
Detroit enters the HL Finals in good form with nine wins in its last 10 games. The Titans easily covered their quarterfinals matchup with Youngstown State as 5½-point chalk (93-76) before dropping Cleveland State 63-58 in Saturday's semifinal as 1-point underdogs.
Valparaiso won and covered the two regular season meetings with Detroit. The Crusaders were 4½-point underdogs in Motown on Jan. 6 and came home with a 73-71 victory at the buzzer, then followed that up with a 78-73 home win on Feb. 2 as 2½-point favorites. Valparaiso has won the last five clashes with the Titans, going 4-0-1 ATS in those tilts.
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