How about this line for Lance Stephenson in Cincinnati’s 63-59 win over Miami (Ohio) at the US Bank Arena: career-high 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers.
Unfortunately he needed two stitches above his left eye after getting elbowed late in the game.
Think Lance is turning the corner?
He scored 8 straight points during an 11-0 stretch that put Cincy up 15-6.
“He got on a run in the first half,” Cincy coach Mick Cronin told Cnati.com. “My fear is, after he did that, we stood around and watched him. Good teams are going to guard him tight and we got to help him.”
Lance shot 6 for 11 from the field, but Cronin says his shooting will improve as times moves on.
“One thing coach (Rick) Pitino used to talk about a lot and I used to look at, no matter how talented you are as a young player, young players tend to shoot at a low percentage in their career,” Cronin told Cnati.com. “Cashmere [Wright], Dion (Dixon), some guys that are younger players, Lance, in particular, I think they will shoot it better as time goes on.”
GAVITT TALKS BIG EAST
Guest Blogger Dan Gavitt was gracious enough to write his second post for ZAGSBLOG while in Florida for the SEC/Big East Invitational….
After covering over 3,000 miles in 6 days between Washington, New York, and Tampa, I’m headed back to the BIG EAST Conference headquarters in Providence, RI. Travel-wise it was an uneventful trip, as there were no flight cancellations, no lost luggage, and while the weather wasn’t great, it was reasonable enough to get where I needed to go!
Business-wise it was a pretty successful week, as the DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational was a good event for the Conference. I had the chance to see 6 different BIG EAST teams play this week – Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, DePaul and Syracuse. The ‘Cuse capped it off with a great win over a very good Florida team in Tampa on Thursday night, 85-73.
“We just can’t beat Le Moyne,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim joked in the postgame, referring to the team’s loss to the D-2 program in an exhibition.
Since that loss, the Orange beat No. 12 Cal and No. 4 North Carolina by a combined 38 points at Madison Square Garden, and Boeheim won his 800th career game. Syracuse is now 3-0 against Top 25 teams with an average margin of victory of 16.7 points.
Against the Gators, the Orange were led by junior forward Rick Jackson, who had a career high 21 points to go with 11 rebounds. Senior guard Andy Rautins continued his all-around outstanding play with 16 points and 5 assists for Syracuse, which leads the country in assists per game. But when the game was on the line, it was once again junior forward Wes Johnson who made the big plays to secure the win for Syracuse.
After leading at halftime 42-36, the Orange saw No. 10 Florida trim the lead to 1 on a barrage of 3 pointers. Coming out of a timeout with 9 minutes remaining in the game, Johnson nailed a 3 pointer, scored a lay-up on a fast break, and blocked a shot to push Syracuse’s lead to 65-59. The Orange lead never got under 5 points after that, as Johnson scored 9 of his 17 points down the stretch and finished with a double-double including 10 rebounds.
The DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational is an annual doubleheader series that is owned and operated by ESPN. The third year of the event featured games on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in front of 15,874 fans. St. John’s continued its best season start in 15 years by defeating Georgia, 66-56, in the first game.
No.14 Connecticut battled back against No. 4 Kentucky in a game played a very high-level before losing in the last minute, 64-61. Thursday’s SEC/BIG EAST match-ups saw DePaul drop a game without star junior center Mac Koshwal to a talented Mississippi State squad, 76-45. Syracuse defeated Florida at the St. Pete Times Forum before a crowd of 9,353 that was pretty evenly split between Gator and Orange fans. The doubleheaders were televised on ESPN and ESPN2.
The venues and match-ups for the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational are determined by ESPN in consultation with the two conference offices. The series has provided teams with a good opportunity to play quality non-conference opponents on neutral courts in big markets in both the SEC and BIG EAST regions. The national television exposure in December on ESPN and ESPN2 helps the BIG EAST and SEC promote their teams heading into conference play. Next season will feature the 4 remaining BIG EAST teams that have not yet participated in the event – Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Seton Hall. The 2010 DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational dates, sites and SEC participants have yet to be announced by ESPN.
· Since the college basketball season started 4 weeks ago, today is the first day without a least one BIG EAST team playing. It’ll be a busy weekend for BIG EAST teams with 8 games on Saturday and 6 games on Sunday before most all of our institutions break for the exam period next week. There are only 5 games this coming midweek. Next weekend at 16 BIG EAST teams will be back in action. Only 2 weeks remain until the BIG EAST Conference schedule opens on December 26 with No. 6 West Virginia at Seton Hall.
· The entire Florida coaching staff has roots in the BIG EAST. Head coach Billy Donovan played at Providence and led the Friars to the 1987 Final Four. Associate head coach Larry Shyatt served as an assistant coach at Providence, and assistant coaches Richard Pitino (Louisville) and Rob Lanier (Rutgers) also spent time on BIG EAST benches.
· Three great local rivalry games in the BIG EAST this weekend: Marquette at #20 Wisconsin on Saturday at 5:00pm on ESPN2, No. 3 Villanova at Temple on Sunday at 3:00pm on CBS College Sports, and No. 19 Cincinnati at Xavier on Sunday at 7:00pm on ESPNU.
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