The Big East - SEC Challenge -- 2011-12

The Big East - SEC Challenge Lives!
Rather than scrap this made-for-TV inter-conference series, the creators decided to revamp it, and despite the sheer size of the field (12 games over three days), it looks like a change for the better. The twelve games will be played into the first weekend (Thursday, Friday & Saturday) in December. Six games will be hosted by SEC schools and six by Big East schools. In most cases it appears that the sites will be campus locations (noted below).

Opponents
Big East	SEC	Loc.	When
Cincinnati	Georgia	Athens, GA	Fri. 12/2
Connecticut	Arkansas	Conn.	Sat. 12/3
DePaul	Mississippi	Chicago	Thu. 12/1
Georgetown	Alabama	Alabama	Thu. 12/1
Louisville	Vanderbilt	Louisville	Fri. 12/2
Pittsburgh	Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	Sat. 12/3
Providence	South Carolina	SC	Thu. 12/1
Rutgers	LSU	RAC NJ	Sat. 12/3
Seton Hall	Auburn	the Rock	Fri. 12/2
St. John's	Kentucky	Lexington, KY	Thu. 12/1
Syracuse	Florida	Dome, NY	Fri. 12/2
West Virginia	Mississippi St.	Starkville, MS	Sat. 12/3

Notes & Observations
1. The conference press release from Thursday contains a thumbnail of each matchup. 12 of the Big East's 16 teams will play their counterpart over three days, with four games scheduled for each day.
2. Villanova, Marquette, Notre Dame and South Florida will not participate in the 2012 series. I assume these four will participate in the 2013 renewal.
3. Each night has a number of interesting matchups. St. John's at Kentucky and Georgetown at Alabama lead off the series on Thursday night. Both Coach Lavin and Coach Calipari will have relatively young squads from very storied programs, while Coach Thompson and Coach Grant will bring together two squads who will be in the hunt for the NCAAs.
4. Friday -- Louisville-Vanderbilt and Syracuse-Florida will be the featured games to open the weekend. Both will be hosted at Big East sites. Coach Mick Cronin's Bearcats will travel to Georgia (Athens?) to face Coach Mark Fox's Bulldogs. The Bearcats will feature big man Yancy Gates along with guard/wings JaQuon Parker, Sean Kilpatrick and pg Cashmire Wright. Georgia loses one starter, Jeremy Price, but returns a deep squad that features 5-11 guard Dustin Ware.
5. Saturday -- While the finale will offer three Big East heavy weights -- Connecticut, Pittsburgh and West Virginia -- only a few members of the Huskies' National Championship squad will take the court against a Razorback squad that will be breaking in a new coach (Mike Anderson from Missouri). Indeed, if Coach Jim Calhoun decides to retire this summer (rumored for the past week), both teams will sport new staffs in addition to different squads. Pittsburgh will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Volunteers who themselves will have Cuonzo Martin instead of Bruce Pearl, stalking the sidelines. The perennial Big East powerhouse will have Coach Jamie Dixon and the nucleus of the squad that won the regular season conference title in 2011. While Mississippi State has a boatload of talent and a home court advantage, the Bulldogs gave Coach Rick Stansbury everything he could handle, and then some. Should Coach Huggins wander into the wrong locker room on Saturday, he might mistake the Bulldogs for one of his old Bearcat squads.

The new format, three nights, four games per night, provides a short enough timeframe while simultaneously committing the entire SEC in the Challenge. Given the duration and exposure, conference observers should have a better opportunity to gauge the relative strengths of the two conferences.

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: BE-SEC 1st Night at the Garden

by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY - Many times the game does not live up to the hype. Not last night. UConn-UK gave us everything. Intensity of March, a packed (15,000 plus) Garden, the first collegiate appearance in New York of Kentucky’s eminently praised freshman sensation John Wall and two marquee programs laying it all on the line in the feature contest of the SEC-Big east Challenge. Kentucky defeated UConn 64-61 in a game not decided until the last possession (two missed treys by the Huskies).

Possession numbers:
Went over calculations a few times but still had a three possession difference. Many times possessions are even sometimes they deviate by one or two. A difference of three is not a regular occurrence.

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Kentucky	71	90
UConn	67	91

Kentucky opened the first four minutes with a 12-0 run. During that stretch UCONN had more timeouts (2) than points (0). They never panicked and gradually got back in it. Transition opportunities fueled by some solid inside play allowed UConn to establish a run to take the lead.

UConn led 29-23 at the break but Kentucky opened strong and gradually rebuilt a slim lead. With a minute to go UConn led 61-60. With half a minute to go and the entire Garden knowing his number would be called, John Wall , UK’s marquee freshman, converted a conventional three point play for the ultimate margin of victory.

The four factors:

		FTM
	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Kentucky	41	17	36	20
UConn	46	28	44	30

The UConn turnover rate stands out as absurdly high. The work on the offensive boards offset the turnovers to a degree for UCONN. A glaring figure on the stat sheet was UConn’s 14 of 24 from the line. A game breaker in a one possession affair as this.

Wall led all scorers with 25 points. He scored four of UK’s 5 field goals the last 8 minutes. Calipari quickly notes the signs of youth, 2 assists 7 turnovers. But for a highly touted frosh to come into a packed MSG, against an outstanding program, and will his team to win in crunch time speaks volumes of his ability and collective poise.

Patrick Patterson had a solid 16 point effort for the Wildcats. UCONN was led by Jerome Dyson with 17 points. Gavin Edwards continues to impress. A career 3 ppg scorer entering this season, the 6-10 senior came off the bench to contribute 16 points 8 rebounds.

The first game saw St.John’s earn a 66-56 victory over Georgia. Following the game Georgia coach Mark Fox commented, “I thought in the first half we played pretty well.” A breakdown at the half with St.John’s leading 28-25.

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
St. John's	31	90
Georgia	32	78

‘Pretty well’? The defensive efficiency of 90 can get you a fair amount of wins. Even there, St.John’s eFG percentage was 45% and the turnover rate was under 20%. Georgia defense was respectable the first twenty minutes, nothing great. The offense was ‘offensive’. A 78 OE is putrid. Even colleagues without calculators going while quotes were being scribbled, wondered about Fox’s assessment of the first twenty minutes.

For the game:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
St. John's	63	105
Georgia	63	89

The four factors:

		FTM
	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
St. John's	56	18	29	24
Georgia	40	32	32	22

St.John’s coach Norm Roberts cited ball pressure on the guards and a good defensive effort as keys. Turnover rate was largely due to some carelessness with the ball with a double digit lead in the waning minutes, something Roberts wants to address.

Dwight Hardy led St.John’s with 12 points. DJ Kennedy, Paris Horne and Sean Evans did not start due to being 3 minutes late for the team bus. The St.John’s trio all played 29-31 minutes and contributed.

Red Storm improved to 7-1 and a significant sign to date, they are beating the teams they should.

Trey Thompkins, a 6-10 soph, led all scorers with 19 points. He is the Bulldogs lone signature or go to player. It figures to be a long year in Athens, Georgia.

“This team has a nice will to win. We have to stop drinking the poison (listening to the hype) and just get better in practice.” - UK coach John Calipari

“(John) Wall is ‘all of that’ He’s a tremendous, tremendous player. He is a big time player.” - UConn coach Jim Calhoun