Breaking down the Big East tournament
Remember when James Bouknight was out with an elbow injury, and nobody seemed to know the extent of the injury or when (or if ) he’d return?
Remember when Andre Jackson was sidelined for six weeks by a broken wrist?
Remember when COVID-19 pauses, cancellations and postponements made UConn’s season as herky-jerky as an old, wooden roller coaster?
What a difference a few weeks make.
As the Big East tournament unfolds on Wednesday, UConn hasn’t had a game postponed since Jan. 31. The Huskies have played nine games in February and March, winning six of them — including four in a row and six of their last seven.
Jackson returned on Feb. 10 at Providence and has looked good. Bouknight returned a week later against those same Friars and has looked like the Big East Player of the Year. He won’t win the award because he only played in nine league games, but he’s clearly the league’s best player.
Fact is, COVID-19 pauses affected most teams in the Big East, and for that matter, around the country. UConn wound up playing 17 Big East games, more than Xavier (13), DePaul (15), Villanova (15) and Georgetown (16). Only Creighton and Butler managed full, 20-game league slates.
Fact is, most teams have injuries. And right now, some of the top teams in the league are experiencing serious ones.
Meanwhile, UConn is a relative picture of health. Shabazz Napier tabbed his 2014 national title team the “Hungry Huskies.” As No. 3 seed UConn begins postseason play, facing Wednesday’s Providence-DePaul winner on Thursday at 9 p.m., the “Healthy Huskies” may be the team to beat at Madison Square Garden this week.
Here’s a breakdown of the other 10 teams at this week’s Big East tournament by seed (and who their first opponent will be):
NO. 1 VILLANOVA
(vs. Georgetown-Marquette winner, Thursday, noon)
The Wildcats suffered a devastating blow last week when point guard Collin Gillespie, the first-team allleague senior who boasts a national championship ring, suffered a season-ending MCL tear. Then, on Saturday, Justin Moore, who moved over to the point guard slot, suffered a severely sprained ankle that has left him doubtful for the Big East tournament, per coach Jay Wright. That could leave point guard duties in the hands of sophomore Chris Arcidiacono, who had played a grand total of 17
minutes this season before being thrust into action on Saturday.
NO. 2 CREIGHTON
(vs. Xavier-Butler winner, Thursday, 6 p.m.)
The Bluejays’ season has been marred not by injuries but by controversy. Head coach Greg McDermott caught fire for telling his players to “stay on the plantation” during a recent postgame rant, and was ultimately suspended indefinitely. Creighton looked a bit listless in a 12-point loss at Villanova (with McDermott) but looked like world-beaters on Saturday in 20-point win over Butler without McDermott. Marcus Zegarowski, the preseason Big East Player of the Year who had struggled a bit through much of the season, has come on strong and never looked better than on Saturday, when he poured in a career-high 32 points. After the game, he publicly supported McDermott, even while condemning the coach’s comments, and on Monday, McDermott was reinstated.
NO. 4 ST. JOHN’S
(vs. No. 5 Seton Hall, Thursday, 3 p.m.)
Mike Anderson will likely win Big East Coach of the Year after leading the Red Storm, picked to finish ninth in the league, to the No. 4 seed. The Johnnies rallied back from huge first-half deficits in their final two regular-season games, including down 18-0 to start on Saturday vs. Seton Hall, to win both. Freshman point guard Posh Alexander, the league’s co-Defensive Player of the Year (with UConn’s Isaiah Whaley), has missed the past few games with a thumb injury.
NO. 5 SETON HALL
(vs. No. 4 St. John’s, Thursday, 3 p.m.)
The Pirates have really sputtered down the stretch, losing their last four games (including that blown lead to St. John’s and a Senior Day loss to UConn) and falling from the right side of the bubble to the outside looking in. There’s still enough talent here to regroup and make a run, which is exactly what the Hall needs to do this week.
NO. 6 PROVIDENCE
(vs. No. 11 DePaul, Wednesday, 9 p.m.)
There’s no guarantee the Friars will even get out of the first round. DePaul, after all, took PC to double-overtime at Alumni Hall this season. And if the Friars beat DePaul on Wednesday, they get UConn on Thursday night. Still, no one would doubt PC’s talent, with a pair of second-team all-Big East picks in David Duke and Nate Watson. Ed Cooley’s teams have traditionally improved as the season goes on, and the Friars are coming off a win over depleted Villanova on Saturday.
NO. 7 XAVIER
(vs. No. 10 Butler, Wednesday, 6 p.m.)
Exactly what will it take to knock the Musketeers off
the bubble? Noted bracketologists Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm both have Xavier among their “Last Four In,” even though it’s lost two in a row, three of its last four and five of its last seven games. A loss to Butler on Wednesday might finally do the trick, but who knows at this point?
NO. 8 GEORGETOWN
(vs. No. 9 Marquette, Wednesday, 3 p.m.)
Dan Hurley rightly considers Patrick Ewing a Big East Coach of the Year candidate, and thought Ewing likely won’t win it, he’s guided a Hoya team picked to finish dead-last in the league to a 7-9 record in conference play.
NO. 9 MARQUETTE
(vs. No. 8 Georgetown, Wednesday, 3 p.m.)
The Golden Eagles have wins at North Carolina and Creighton and against Wisconsin. Yet they’ve largely underachieved in conference play.
NO. 10 BUTLER
(vs. No. 7 Xavier, Wednesday, 6 p.m.)
Late-season wins over (a still-healthy) Villanova and Seton Hall reminded us about the Big East’s overall depth.
NO. 11 DEPAUL
(vs. No. 6 Providence, Wednesday, 9 p.m.)
The Blue Demons have won at St. John’s and taken Providence to double-overtime. Still, in all likelihood, this is former UConn assistant Dave Leitao’s final week as DePaul’s head coach.