NEW YORK — March will never quite be the same around New York City without The Allman Brothers Band doing their three-week ‘Peakin at the Beacon’ stint, but at least we still have the Big East Tournament.
Sure, it’s not your father’s Big East Tournament with Syracuse, UConn and Louisville, but it’s still a great event that should draw big crowds this week.
Here are five key questions heading into the tournament, which begins Wednesday night.
1. Can anyone beat Villanova?
The top-seeded Wildcats (29-2, 16-2 Big East) have won 12 straight, haven’t lost since a Jan. 19 beatdown at Georgetown and are coming off a 105-68 destruction of St. John’s on Saturday in which they committed three turnovers, none in the second half.
The Wildcats were stunned by Seton Hall in the quarterfinals a year ago and could face a rematch with the Pirates in Thursday’s quarters if Seton Hall can get past Marquette on Wednesday night. Villanova could also get St. John’s in the semis if the Johnnies can take care of Kris Dunn and Providence on St. John’s homecourt.
“Everybody would probably agree that Villanova’s probably the favorite to win the tournament, but at the same time nothing’s a given,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “You gotta play every game, you gotta play every possession like it’s your last, and I definitely think there will be surprises in tournament play.”
Still, the smart money says take Villanova to cut down the nets on Saturday night. This team is incredibly balanced offensively, has a strong interior defensive presence in 6-11 Daniel Ochefu and should be motivated to maintain its No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
“They’re one of those teams, a little bit like Wisconsin where you can’t tie one or two guys down,” legendary Big East broadcaster Billy Raftery told me Tuesday. “They have so many people who contribute. They don’t rely on a guy to get 20 points.”
2. Can the Johnnies make a run on their homecourt?
In order to win their first Big East Tournament title since 2000, Steve Lavin’s crew would likely need to beat No. 4 Providence, No. 1 Villanova and either No. 2 Georgetown or No. 3 Butler in the span of three days.
Can that happen? Sure.
Will it? It’s asking a lot from a senior-laden but not very deep team that has dealt with injuries to Chris Obekpa, D’Angelo Harrison and Jamal Branch in recent weeks.
“We’re definitely excited,” Harrison said. “Getting everybody healthy has been the main focus for the last few days. Thursday is a big game for us. It’s going to be something new that we’re just going to add and do what we’ve done since we’ve been here.”
The X-factor for St. John’s should be senior Sir’Dominic Pointer, who somehow was left off the All-Big East First team, but was named the league’s Most Improved Player and Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
St. John’s went 7-3 at MSG this year, with all three losses coming at the hands of Top 10 teams (Gonzaga, Villanova and Duke).
“I definitely think the Johnnies have an advantage, that’s their homecourt,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said on FoxSports1.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi told me St. John’s is “comfortably” in the NCAA Tournament even if they lose on Thursday, but a run here could certainly help their seeding.
3. What’s at stake for Seton Hall here?
After peaking at No. 19 in the AP rankings, the Pirates are freefallin’ more than Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and enter the Big East Tournament having lost 8-of-9.
Sophomore guard Jaren Sina transferred amid reports of a divided locker room, and junior Sterling Gibbs served a two-game suspension for hitting Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono in the head.
Still, the Pirates have the projected Big East Rookie of the Year in Angel Delgado, Preseason Rookie of the Year Isaiah Whitehead and a slew of New York City players who should be motivated to play well at the Garden.
If the Pirates can beat Marquette to get to the quarters, they could help themselves to an NIT bid, where they could possibly salvage their season by making some noise. (Still, the losses by conference champs Iona and St. Francis hurt Seton Hall because now those teams are headed to the NIT by rule, taking up two more spots in the 32-team event.)
“I think [our] guys are excited, most of our young guys are New York guys so they’re excited to get to the Garden,” Willard said.
4. Will Kris Dunn put on a show for Providence?
At 6-3 and 205 pounds, Providence point guard Kris Dunn is the most NBA-ready of any player in the Big East. The sophomore is currently projected as the No. 24 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
Despite battling injuries this season, Dunn helped the Friars to a 21-10 overall record and an 11-7 Big East mark. He is the first player in league history to lead the league in steals and assists in Big East play in the same season. He also went for a triple-double this season.
Still, St. John’s is 2-0 against Providence this season and Dunn will need to play well on Thursday to avoid losing for a third time this season.
“Kris does a really good job taking care of his body,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “He’s as strong and as healthy as he’s ever been. I think he’s in a good space emotionally coming off of those injuries….I know he’s excited to play down in New York, he’s excited to help us advance.”
5. Who do I miss from the Old Big East?
Great question.
It’s just not the same around the Garden without Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (who wouldn’t be there this year anyway because of Syracuse’s self-imposed postseason ban), Louisville’s Rick Pitino and other coaches who have moved on to greener pastures.
That stuff is priceless, you can’t make that stuff up, and none of the current Big East coaches are anywhere near as quotable. Sorry, guys.
There was also the time Pitino went off on then-Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez after Gonzo called out Kevin Willard.
Man, I miss those guys.
And I miss The Allman Brothers, too, but you gotta keep on keepin’ on.
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11
FIRST ROUND
7 p.m. — No. 9 Marquette vs. No. 8 Seton Hall
9:30 p.m. – No. 10 Creighton vs. No. 7 DePaul
THURSDAY, MARCH 12
QUARTERFINALS
Noon — W/o No. 9 Marquette/No. 8 Seton Hall vs. No. 1 Villanova
2:30 p.m. — No. 5. St. John’s vs. No. 4 Providence
7 p.m. — W/o No. 10 Creighton/No. 7 DePaul vs. No. 2 Georgetown
9:30 p.m. — No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 3 Butler
FRIDAY, MARCH 13
SEMIFINALS
7 p.m. — 1st semifinal
9:30 p.m. — 2nd semifinal
SATURDAY, MARCH 14
FINAL
8 p.m. — Championship Game
