Another Big East battle

If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, it must be miles away.

Coming off of… If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, it must be miles away.

Coming off of consecutive home victories against preseason top-ten Georgetown and perennial power Connecticut, Pitt (17-2, 5-0 Big East) will play host to No. 24 Marquette on Sunday evening.

The Golden Eagles (16-4, 3-2 Big East) have won three straight contests entering Sunday’s game, thanks in large part to point guard and reigning Big East Rookie of the Year Dominic James.

“The most important thing is we’re starting to get better, we’re starting to learn how to play,” Marquette head coach Tom Crean said on gomarquette.com. “Dominic has had a lot to do with us getting better.”

James, who was also named Big East Player of the Week on Monday, is averaging 16.5 points per game this season. The springy, diminutive point guard averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds in consecutive victories over then-ranked conference foes Connecticut and West Virginia last week. He added another 18 points in a win at Louisville on Monday.

Joining James in the stellar Marquette backcourt is fellow sophomore Jerel McNeal. McNeal is second on the team with 14.7 points per contest and leads the Golden Eagles with 61 steals.

Rounding out the three-guard rotationthere are three guards or the guards are specific to the 3-point line?JH is Wesley Matthews. At 6-foot-5, Matthews is easily the tallest member of the Golden Eagle backcourt. He has 5.5 rebounds to go along with his 12.1 points per game.

The Marquette interior revolves around 6-foot-10 forward Ousmane Barro. The Senegal native has accumulated 22 blocks and is averaging nearly seven rebounds per contest. Barro contributed 14 points and 11 boards in the victory over Louisville for his fourth double-double of the season.

Pitt, meanwhile, remains undefeated against Big East opponents and has a perfect 12-0 record in the Petersen Events Center.um, does lead really fit rest of story? Or does it just need a sentence to clarify that the fear is around going against Marquette, not that we’re unprepared?JH it doesn’t seem like it doesKT

Preseason Big East Player of the Year Aaron Gray easily had his best game of the conference season against the Huskies on Tuesday. Gray totaled 22 points and 19 rebounds despite being guarded by 7-foot-3 freshman Hasheem Thabeet for much of the game.

“He’s huge for us,” teammate Levon Kendall said following the game. “Anytime a guy gets 22 and 19 [referring to Gray’s performance against the Huskies], it’s hard to downplay that. That’s what he’s done all year, and that’s what we expect out of him.”

Gray is averaging 15.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game despite having a four-game stretch from late December through early this month in which he failed to score in double digits.

Partly responsible for Gray’s lack of points in those games was Pitt’s outside shooting. The Panthers perimeter shooting is still sizzling following their game with Connecticut.

Sophomore guard Ronald Ramon connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and finished with 17 points. Ramon has improved his average to 10.1 points per contest since the start of Big East competition. He is also shooting a remarkable 55.6 percent from behind the arc in the Panthers five Big East contests.

“I worked a lot on my shot this summer and came into the season ready to be a real weapon on offense,” Ramon said. “My teammates do a great job of getting me the ball in good situations, and I know they have the trust in me to knock down the shot.”

Point guard Levance Fields has also proven himself a threat from 3-point rangeif he’s talking about three pointers this should be 3 not threeKT from beyond the arc/from downtown with his recent performance. Fields converted one of his two 3-point attempts on Tuesday and has hit over 42 percent since the beginning of the conference season. The Brooklyn native is also averaging 5.0 assists per game.

Aside from a poor performance against the Huskies, junior wing Mike Cook has continued to find ways to get to the basket. Cook led all scorers with 18 points against Georgetown and provided 10 points against DePaul in an important road victory.

“We have tremendous depth and a lot of guys who can score,” head coach Jamie Dixon said, “but I think it’s our perimeter shooting that really sets this team apart.”

“They have the opportunity to play in Atlanta,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of the Panthers, referring to the Panthers’ ability to make this year’s Final Four.

The game will tip-off at 3 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center and will be broadcast nationally on CBS.