The hits keep on coming for ranked basketball teams in the Big East. The No. 15 Louisville Cardinals are in a tailspin after another loss (we've touched on this theme already recently), this time a blow out on the road against the Providence Friars. The No. 24 Seton Hall Pirates didn't have as much trouble in a comfortable win over the DePaul Blue Demons. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the South Florida Bulls in the other Big East game on Tuesday.
Providence 90, No. 15 Louisville 59: This game was an absolute beatdown even without Providence's second-leading scorer Gerard Coleman. Louisville trailed 43-25 at the break and didn't put up much of a fight in the second half. In fact, whenever Peyton Siva picked up his fifth foul (a cheap one from behind the three-point line on Bryce Cotton) with 11:05 to play in the second frame, Doris Burke said it looked like the type of foul you pick up whenever you don't want to play anymore. As it turns out, Siva's foul caused the only misfire of the night on a Cotton three-point attempt (he was 5-5 when not being fouled). Cotton and Kadeem Batts tied for a game-high 27 points for the Friars. Betts also had 10 rebounds. Vincent Council had a double-double for Providence with 15 points and 14 assists, which tied Louisville's assist total. The Cardinals reliance on the three-pointer was not working last night. They got 20.3% of their points from behind the arc but only hit 4-19. Chris Smith and Kyle Kuric were the only Louisville players in double figures in scoring. For more postgame Louisville coverage, visit Card Chronicle.
No. 24 Seton Hall 94, DePaul 73: The Pirates won their first game as a ranked team since 2001 easily. Fuquan Edwin scored 24 of his career-high 28 points in the first half for Seton Hall. The Pirates are now 4-1 in league play this year. Seton Hall raced out to a 13-6 lead, DePaul went on a run to cut the lead to 15-13. The game got away from the Blue Demons when Seton Hall responded with a 12-2 run. Seton Hall finished the first half with a 51-34 lead and never looked back. Herb Pope had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates. Jordan Theodore had 26 points and 11 assists for Seton Hall. Brandon Young had 16 points for DePaul, while Cleveland Melvin and Worrel Clahar had 14 points. For more postgame Seton Hall coverage, visit South Orange Juice. For more post game DePaul coverage, visit the SB Nation Chicago storystream.
Notre Dame 60, South Florida 49: Notre Dame started on a 6-2 run to star the game. After South Florida tied the game at 8, the Irish regained the lead and had a 30-26 lead at the break. South Florida closed the gap to two points near the midway point in the second half. The Irish pushed the lead out of reach with an 11-5 run. Scott Martin had his second straight double-double for the Irish with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Jack Cooley led the Irish with 16 points. Jerian Grant chipped in 14 for Notre Dame. Augustus Gilchrist and Jawanza Poland were the only Bulls in double figures in scoring. For more Notre Dame postgame coverage, visit One Foot Down. For more South Florida postgame coverage, visit Voodoo Five.
There are three Big East games on the schedule tonight: No. 1 Syracuse at Villanova (7 p.m., TV: ESPN2); St. John's at No. 24 Marquette (7 p.m., TV: ESPNU); Rutgers at Pittsburgh (7 p.m., ESPN3).