Leave a Comment *********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****The 2010 Big East Tournament has reached the quarterfinal round and what better way to tip-off the action than with a match-up between Syracuse and Georgetown at high noon in Madison Square Garden. I am sure many fans will be joining Digger Phelps on a long lunch today. If you can get to NYC, there are still tickets available to be purchased and the links below provide the resources to find seats with Stub Hub’s guarantee for fans to have their tickets in hand prior to the game, even at this last minute…The remaining Big East Conference Tournament Schedule…QUARTERFINALS: THURSDAY, MARCH 11th:Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 5 March 11 2010 1) Syracuse vs. 8] Georgetown, 12 noon.4) Villanova vs. 5) Marquette, 2 PM.Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 6 March 11 20102) Pittsburgh vs. 7) Notre Dame, 7 PM.3) West Virginia vs. 11) Cincinnati, 9 PM.Semifinals, Firday March 12th:Session 7:Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 7 (Semifinals) March 12 2010Championship, Saturday March 13th:Session 8:Big East Basketball Tournament Tickets – Session 8 (Championship) March 13 2010Georgetown (8) vs. Syracuse (1), 12 Noon.–Georgetown Braces for Syracuse Showdown (NY Post)–Syracuse-Georgetown Gives Big East Quarterfinals an Old-school Feel (Syracuse Post-Standard)–SU-Georgertown Showdown at MSG Today (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)–Still No Formula for Beating Syracuse (Auburn Citizen)–Orange Scouting Report: SU vs. Hoyas (Post-Standard)–Despite Big East Tournament Win, Georgetown Remains a Mystery (Washington Post)–Georgetown Gets one more shot at Syracuse (Washington Times)The 2010 Big East Tournament could be a payback tour for the Hoyas. Leg one was successfully completed yesterday as John Thompson III’s club avenged an earlier loss to South Florida with a 69-49 romp. Today they have a double case of revenge to serve up against the Orange, who won both regular season meetings against them. The Hoyas hope to handle the SU trademark zone defense better and improve upon the 31% three-point shooting performance of the two losses. SU has capable shooters in Chris Wright, Jason Clark and Austin Freeman and a good passing big man in Greg Monroe to attack the zone properly.The Cuse enter the BET as the #1 seed and a likely #1 seed when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced on Sunday. They are coming of a regular season closing loss at Louisville and will hope to head into the NCAA Tournament with some momentum and not their first losing streak of the season.————————————–Marquette (5) vs. Villanova (4), 2 PM.–Wright Looks Past Recent Villanova Slump (Philadelphia Inquirer)–Villanova’s Reynolds: From Short-timer to All-timer (Inquirer)–Final Exam Time for ‘Nova Freshmen (Inquirer)–Villanova Not Worried About Last Slump (Philadelphia Daily News)–Marquette Survives Redstorm (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)–Marquette Earns Date with ‘Nova (Inquirer)The second game of the afternoon doubleheader in Madison Square Garden has the Golden Eagles and Wildcats meeting for the third time this season, but first since January 9th. ‘Nova won both contests by two points as the teams match-up really well. Since those close encounters, Buzz Williams’ squad has learned to win close games including three consecutive overtime wins, all on the road, recently.The Wildcats have lost four of their last six and look to right the ship prior to the NCAA Tournament. The teams match-up well with a similar philosophy in style of play, so it should be another good one.————————————–Notre Dame (7) vs. Pittsburgh (2), 7 PM.–Keeping Sharp is Key for Pitt (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)–Irish Wont Put an End to a Good Thing (Journal-Gazette)–Notre Dame Still on a Roll With Pitt Up Next (Post-Gazette)–Notre Dame Catches Fire at Right Time (SNY.tv)–Harangody of Old Returns (South Bend Tribune)–Pitt Sticks to Routine (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)–Panthers Go Hunting in Big Apple (Beaver County Times)The Panthers head into the Big East tournament with eight wins in nine games and face the Irish, winners of their last five games. The lone loss for Pitt in that run? A 68-53 setback in South Bend which started ND on their roll.In a change of identity, Mike Brey’s team looks more and more like a Big East team than anytime in recent years. With senior Tory Jackson controlling the tempo on offense and more attention being paid to defense and rebounding, the Irish have turned their fortunes around even with All-American big man Luke Harangody sidelined foir the majority of their hot streak. The maintained their philosophy in their Big East Tournament 2nd round win last night over SHU as Harangody game off the bench to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. Pitt returns to action as the #2 seed off a double-bye in the first two rounds of the tournament. The hope to avenge the earlier loss to the Irish which was suffered a few days after they beat Villanova in the Pete. The Panthers look to improve their NCAA Tournament seed in NYC as well.—————————————-Cincinnati (11) vs. West Virginia (3), 9 PM.–Stakes Raised for WVU-UC (Charleston Gazette)–WVU Has It’s Big Chance to Shine (Daily Mail)–WVU Has Turned Around Big East Streak (Daily Mail)–Mountaineers Face Cincinnati Tonight–UC Edges Louisville to Stay Alive, Face Huggins Next (Cincinnati Enquirer)Bob Huggins will lead his alma mater tonight against the school that made him a college coaching icon when the Mountaineers and Bearcats do battle in Madison Square Garden in the nightcap of the conference tournament quarterfinals. The subplots do not end there as UC head coach Mick Cronin was once a Huggins’ assistant at UC.“I need to win more,” Cronin said Wednesday night of facing his former mentors Rick Pitino and Huggins in back-to-back games with UC’s season on the line. “I’m younger. Hopefully they take that into account. They are both in the NCAA Tournament. We need to keep winning. Hopefully Coach Huggins will feel my pain and help me out.”Huggins was seated behind the UC bench last night and got an up close and personal view of Cronin’s Bearcats which attacked the glass and fought for loose balls in a similar manner to the UC teams of the Huggins’ era, complete with their intimidating black jerseys. The match-up, though, is one that will keep Cronin up late at night trying to find answers for his club.“Other than ‘Truck’ Bryant they are 6′7 and up,” said Cronin.. It poses matchup problems with smaller guards. That’s a concern. We definitely have some matchups that are definitely, from a size standpoint, a concern for us.”UC super frosh Lance Stephenson is aware of the tough match-up, but hopes to keep his personal success at Madison Square Garden rolling, the same court where he led Lincoln HS to four consecutive PSAL crowns and has come up big in the clutch in both wins so far for Cincinnati.“West Virgina’s a good team, a real good team, so were gonna battle and try to win and it’s gonna be a tough one,” said Stephenson Wednesday.document.write(');Share and Enjoy: