Big East Conference Results

[Bricky]

Ironic, isn't it?

Only as ironic as Alanis Morissette's idea of ironic.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Bentil's getting x-rays on his ankle. No word on the extent. It was the right this time. He had a similar injury scare in December but it was his left ankle. He didn't miss any time but was clearly playing hurt in the next few games.

[brewcity77]

That didn't look good for Bentil. If he's out for any extended stretch, PC could be in trouble. They don't have an easy out in their next five. Nova and GT at home, road games at Marquette, Xavier, and Seton Hall. They could go from lock to bubble in a hurry.

[bilsu]

After tonight's games, MU is just a game out of third place in the loss column in the Big East.  Just sayin'.

and DePaul has two games left against St. John's

[Golden Avalanche]

That damn Depaul game man.

As I wrote yesterday, no matter the wins MU can accomplish it will be the DePaul loss that holds them back.

[We R Final Four]

Unless DePaul gets a few more big wins--then loss may not be as bad. If they don't, then yes the DePaul loss will haunt us.

[jsglow]

Here's the way I'm looking at it.  There are 4 teams directly above us in the standings with 4 losses.  Pass them in the standings by Winning Every Day and everything will take care of itself. 

[Benny B]

Only as ironic as Alanis Morissette's idea of ironic.

I'm not talking Canadian Irony here.

[21rooster]

I'll take this ridiculous thought process a step further: MU has home games remaining against three of the four teams with four losses.  Seton Hall is a road game, but I have a feeling Marquette is going to walk away with a win tonight (Vegas disagrees).  Providence may be without Bentil (or at least not at 100%) next week, and MU has already shown they can match up with the Friars.  Creighton is one of the few Saturday night Big East games for MU, so the BC should be rockin'.  Georgetown will be tough...but the environment should be great for the last home game of the season.  Yes, MU will lose some games in between...but so will everyone else. 

Now...do I really think third place is in sight?  Heck no.  But as a fan, I'm inclined to look at how they could possibly do it, even if it's not the most likely scenario.  Given the way the schedule works out, the door is open...but it has to start tonight. 

[brewcity77]

I'll take this ridiculous thought process a step further: MU has home games remaining against three of the four teams with four losses.  Seton Hall is a road game, but I have a feeling Marquette is going to walk away with a win tonight (Vegas disagrees).  Providence may be without Bentil (or at least not at 100%) next week, and MU has already shown they can match up with the Friars.  Creighton is one of the few Saturday night Big East games for MU, so the BC should be rockin'.  Georgetown will be tough...but the environment should be great for the last home game of the season.  Yes, MU will lose some games in between...but so will everyone else. 

Now...do I really think third place is in sight?  Heck no.  But as a fan, I'm inclined to look at how they could possibly do it, even if it's not the most likely scenario.  Given the way the schedule works out, the door is open...but it has to start tonight.

I always looked at DePaul as the point where we could start a run to the tourney. Well, we saw how DePaul worked out, but after that we had a beatable SJU and Stetson on deck, followed by a home game against an opponent we always play tough. Three for three, so that's the start.

Looking ahead, I think tonight is winnable. I'm not convinced by a Kevin Willard team and feel that the right gameplan can beat them. I don't think we can beat Xavier, but I do like our odds in the two home games that follow as well as our rematch with DePaul. That would give us a 7-1 stretch (damn DPU), deal losses to three of the four teams immediately ahead of us, and get us to 19-8 (8-6) with 4 to play. It would also make us very confident going into our crucial final four games.

Tonight is huge. Time to go.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'll take this ridiculous thought process a step further: MU has home games remaining against three of the four teams with four losses.  Seton Hall is a road game, but I have a feeling Marquette is going to walk away with a win tonight (Vegas disagrees).  Providence may be without Bentil (or at least not at 100%) next week, and MU has already shown they can match up with the Friars.  Creighton is one of the few Saturday night Big East games for MU, so the BC should be rockin'.  Georgetown will be tough...but the environment should be great for the last home game of the season.  Yes, MU will lose some games in between...but so will everyone else. 

Now...do I really think third place is in sight?  Heck no.  But as a fan, I'm inclined to look at how they could possibly do it, even if it's not the most likely scenario.  Given the way the schedule works out, the door is open...but it has to start tonight.

Win those three home games and all of the sudden you are 5-2 against the five other teams competing for third place. Win one of @Hall, @Creighton, @Butler and you will be 6-4 at worst. That would almost guarentee a 4th place finish or higher. Not a given that this happens by any stretch, but certainly seems doable.

[CTWarrior]

I always looked at DePaul as the point where we could start a run to the tourney. Well, we saw how DePaul worked out, but after that we had a beatable SJU and Stetson on deck, followed by a home game against an opponent we always play tough. Three for three, so that's the start.

Looking ahead, I think tonight is winnable. I'm not convinced by a Kevin Willard team and feel that the right gameplan can beat them. I don't think we can beat Xavier, but I do like our odds in the two home games that follow as well as our rematch with DePaul. That would give us a 7-1 stretch (damn DPU), deal losses to three of the four teams immediately ahead of us, and get us to 19-8 (8-6) with 4 to play. It would also make us very confident going into our crucial final four games.

Tonight is huge. Time to go.

Love your optimism.  We have to be better than we were against Butler to accomplish all of this, though, I think.  To me, Butler was our best win because we beat a good team that played pretty well.  At Providence is technically our best win, but frankly, we won that game because they played about as bad as they possibly could.  While Butler was probably a ceiling game for freshman Traci Carter, and near the top for HE, but I think several of our other players can play better.  I'm not as optimistic as you, but stranger things have happened.  Win tonight and there is a sliver of hope.

[Herman Cain]

Creighton at Villanova 9 Eastern CBS Sports Network
MU at Seton Hall 8:30 Eastern  FS1
SJU at Xavier 6:30 Eastern FS1

Last night showed there are no gimme games in this league. DePaul has a two guys that would be major factors on any team in the league .

[BrewCity83]

We could go to bed tonight tied for 5th with a win over the Hall and a Villanova win. 

[WarriorPride68]

We could go to bed tonight tied for 5th with a win over the Hall and a Villanova win.

Or tied for 7th with a loss  I like your scenario a lot better

[PGsHeroes32]

We dropped to 2-5 in conference with a loss at the buzzer to DePaul in 2010 too(although that made us 2-4, cuse beat us right after). We finished 11-7.

I'm just gonna pretend history was meant to repeat itself in a similar fashion!

11-7 here we come!!

[Herman Cain]

Johnnies playing X tough  on the road tonight. This league is a bear.

[Herman Cain]

Nova big win over Creighton

[WarriorPride68]

No update on Bentil ankle from PROV. But was seen at facilities without crutches or a boot

[bilsu]

Big game today in reference to where MU might finish in the standings is DePaul at Creighton. Creighton is one game ahead of us and DePaul is two games behind us with two St. John's games to play.

[Herman Cain]

11:00 - Marquette @ 6 Xavier, FS1 - Joe Davis, Dickey Simpkins

1:00 - DePaul @ Creighton, FSN - Kevin Kugler, Nick Bahe

1:30 - 3 Villanova @ 11 Providence, FS1 - Gus Johnson, Tarik
Turner

3:30 - Butler @ St. John's, FSN - Brian Custer and Vin Parise

8:00 - Georgetown @ Seton Hall, CBSSN-- Andrew Catalon & Steve Lappas

[WarriorPride68]

Ben Bentil playing (off bench). Picked up 2 quick fouls after an early bucket.

Prov will be on a 2 game losing streak coming into the MU game

Edit -- Bentil looks healthy. Scores 7 pts in first 4 minutes after halftime

[Herman Cain]

Villanova, Creighton and Butler win. Looks like like Bentil is back.

[BM1090]

Villanova, Creighton and Butler win. Looks like like Bentil is back.

Seton Hall wins tonight and it's a good day for the league.

[Herman Cain]

I think at this point our best option for the Big East tournament is to finish 7th and have Seton Hall finish in the top 6th. That way we go into the play in portion playing a team we can match up well against. Also theoretically that would put our next game against Xavier rather than Villanova.

I know it is a long way from the tournament but just throwing it out there.