First round filled with excitement, features upset and blowout

NEW YORK CITY – The first round of Big East tournament play set up interesting matchups for… NEW YORK CITY – The first round of Big East tournament play set up interesting matchups for the quarterfinals, especially since Rutgers upset Notre Dame in the late game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

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Rutgers 72, Notre Dame 65

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; In the post-game press conference, Rutgers head coach Gary Waters was coughing and reaching for his water bottle.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;You’#39;ve got to bear with me,’#34; he said with a raspy voice. ‘#34;My throat is killing me.’#34;

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; He was excused. His team had just used great defense and clutch offense to shut down Notre Dame in the third game of the day.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Rutger guards Ricky Shields and Quincy Douby hit three 3-pointers in the game, but no shot was more important than Shields’#39; runner with 1 minute 15 seconds remaining to give the Scarlet Knights a 66-65 lead. He followed with a steal and another layup to put his team ahead by three.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; The Irish then missed several shots as the clock neared zero, as they had done all game, hitting only 22 of 61 shots (36.1 percent), with Colin Falls connecting on one of 10 and Chris Thomas shooting six-for-17.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;We made a commitment to shut them down,’#34; Waters said, reminiscing about the 42 points the guards scored on Rutgers earlier in the season.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; And Rutgers was proud that they put the Irish’#39;s NCAA tournament hopes on the line.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;We weren’#39;t going to lay down and let them get the bid to the NCAA,’#34; Douby said.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Rutgers will face No. 3-seeded Syracuse Thursday at 9 p.m. Earlier in the season, Rutgers let a 17-point lead disappear against the Orange. Rutgers players said after the game last night that the loss to Syracuse was still fresh in their minds.

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Georgetown 56, Seton Hall 51

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#160;Georgetown caught a cold last night but needs no medication.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;Both winning and losing is contagious,’#34; Hoya head coach John Thompson III said after his team captured a 56-51 win against Seton Hall.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Darrel Owens hit two late 3-pointers to propel the Hoyas past a Seton Hall team that was looking to pull of a shocker in the Garden.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Owens finished with 14 points, all coming in the second half and 12 coming from 3-pointers. Brandon Bowman also knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points. His back-to-back 3-pointers in the first half gave the Hoyas a seven-point (23-16) lead.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;I’#39;ve got to give Georgetown credit,’#34; Seton Hall head coach Louis Orr said. ‘#34;They were 10 for 19 from 3.’#34;

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Late in the game, the Pirates had a chance to run away with a win, but crucial turnovers and an off-target shot from freshman Justin Cerasoli put Seton Hall into too deep of a hole. Orr had a message for his young guard:

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;You got more basketball,’#34; he said. ‘#34;You got to learn.’#34;

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; The Hoyas will move on to play No. 2-seeded UConn in the second round at 7 p.m. today.

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West Virginia 82, Providence 59

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; The Friars’#39; first round performance against the Mountaineers was typical of their whole season – disappointing.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;The game really started out in the wrong direction tonight,’#34; said Providence head coach Tim Welsh. ‘#34;We just, for some reason, didn’#39;t answer their intensity early.’#34;

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; West Virginia jumped out to a 25-9 lead early and built a 19-point lead twice in the first half. By halftime, the Friars were virtually on the bus heading home, trailing 35-20.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; The Mountaineers maintained the double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; ‘#34;I haven’#39;t looked at the stats,’#34; West Virginia head coach John Beilein said, ‘#34;but I’#39;m very proud of the fact that it is so difficult to beat a team … three times.’#34;

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Prior to last night’#39;s matchup, the Mountaineers had played two close games with the Friars, but pulled off victories both times.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; In the third meeting, forward Kevin Pittsnogle scored a game-high 24, with five 3-pointers. Tyrone Sally, Patrick Beilein and Mike Gansey also reached double figures for West Virginia, scoring 16, 13 and 11 points, respectively.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; Providences’#39; Ryan Gomes notched 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the loss at the Garden.

‘#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160;’#160; West Virginia will now play No. 1-seeded BostonCollege at noon today.