Tasser: St. John’s climbing power rankings

As the end of the regular season nears, the Big East looks to be in a better and better position… As the end of the regular season nears, the Big East looks to be in a better and better position to send 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament. Eleven. Eleven out of 16 teams. You just can’t beat that. Right now, eight teams — Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, St. John’s, Syracuse, Georgetown, Villanova and Connecticut — look like they have spots locked up and West Virginia is all but there. The two teams that remain on the bubble, albeit barely — Cincinnati and Marquette — can easily lock up spots over their respective last four games. The big question is: Will the conference’s teams be fresh enough after the grind that is the Big East’s schedule to make a run in the NCAA Tournament?

Last week saw some exciting action. The conference’s top two teams, Pitt and Notre Dame, were upset by St. John’s and West Virginia, respectively. However, due to the ever-raging battle to climb the standings ladder, they remain at the top. Notre Dame barely escaped another loss, this one to Providence by a 93-92 score. In that game, the Friars’ Marshon Brooks scored a Big East-record 52 points, including 35 in the second half. Brooks’ 52 points tied for the most points scored this season nationally and was the third most scored in a loss in the last 15 seasons. Brooks shot 20-28 from the floor (71.4 percent) and 6-10 (60 percent) from beyond the arc in his epic performance.

Elsewhere, Cincinnati upset No. 11 Georgetown, but the Hoyas lost more than just the game. Forward and second-leading scorer Chris Wright broke his left hand and is out indefinitely. He already underwent surgery, and the Hoyas are optimistic that he will return to play by NCAA Tournament time — but that’s anything but certain. The win over a top-15 team helps Cincinnati’s tournament bid tremendously.

Games this week include Syracuse at Georgetown and St. John’s at Villanova on Saturday, Pitt at Louisville and Connecticut at Cincinnati on Sunday, Villanova at Notre Dame on Monday and Pitt at South Florida and UConn at WVU on Wednesday.

Power Rankings

1. Pittsburgh — St. John’s ruined the return of Ashton Gibbs, stealing the game from Pitt in the final seconds for a one-point victory. Gibbs poured in a career-high 26 points and was 6-9 from 3-point range. The Panthers still sit alone at the top of the conference standings.

2. Notre Dame — The Irish missed their chance to make up ground on Pitt in the standings when they were trounced by West Virginia, 72-58. The loss snapped the Irish’s seven-game win streak, a streak that I inaccurately predicted would run the rest of the regular season and reach 12 games.

3. St. John’s — The Red Storm is making huge strides in my power rankings thanks to some great play against tough teams. Dwight Hardy’s reverse layup with 1.2 seconds left stunned top-5 Pitt and moved St. John’s into the Top 25. After murdering DePaul, the Red Storm took a five-game win streak into their last three games against Villanova, Seton Hall and USF.

4. Louisville — The Cards have played well over their past two games, destroying UConn and then holding Rutgers to 37 points. They held UConn star Kemba Walker to only 16 points and will host Pitt on Sunday in a big conference showdown.

5. Syracuse — The Orange avenged their earlier loss to Villanova with an entertaining 69-64 road victory. Wildcat Corey Stokes returned after missing several games with turf toe and was 5-10 from 3-point range, netting 24 points. ’Cuse has only two games remaining, but faces a stiff test against Georgetown tomorrow night.

6. Georgetown — The Hoyas look like they are in trouble without Wright, but they already have a NCAA bid locked up, so the immediate future is not as big of a deal. Wright did break his non-shooting hand after all, and if he can return, Georgetown will look primed for a deep tourney run.

7. Connecticut — The over-reliance on Kemba Walker was evident in UConn’s loss to Louisville. The Huskies have played solidly all year, but just haven’t been able to develop a supporting cast. Now the NCAA has suspended coach Jim Calhoun for three games next season for recruiting violations. Not a good time for distractions, Coach.

8. Villanova — Over the past five games, Villanova is 2-3 with only close victories over Seton Hall and DePaul. The Wildcats are a dangerous team, but they haven’t beaten a ranked team since Syracuse over a month ago — and the Orange just returned the favor. They close out the season with a tough stretch featuring St. John’s, Notre Dame and Pitt. This is not a good point in the season to forget how to beat good teams.