NEW YORK

But they didn’t make it easy on themselves.

The No. 10 Pirates blew a 29-point second-half lead and advanced to the second round of the Big East with a 109-106 victory over No. 15 Providence after Friars freshman Duke Mondy missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Read the full story here.

**Brendan Prunty has a good story about Seton Hall guard Keon Lawrence and how his off-the-court issues contributed to a disappointing season.

**Lance Stephenson hit the game-winning foul shot to lift Cincinnati to a 69-68 victory over Rutgers, which faces an uncertain future.

(Photo courtesy Getty Images)

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How close is the aging and ailing Calhoun to the end of his own career? What’s left in the cupboard at UConn after this season to motivate him to stay?

Could the embattled Roberts save his job with a late-season run at Madison Square Garden? How far would he have to take the Red Storm in the Big East to do so?

Those questions became even more pronounced after the No. 13 Red Storm put a 73-51 beat-down on the No. 12 Huskies to advance to a second-round date with Marquette Wednesday.

Read the full story here.

**Click the Video Player at right for St. John’s-UConn highlights.

**Wesley Johnson and Lance Stephenson honored by the Big East. Read the story here.

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Lance Stephenson

“I think I’m going to stay and keep working,” Stephenson told the newspaper. “I don’t think I’ve had an NBA season this year so the best choice for me is to stay.”

“Lance really likes it at Cincy,” Lance Stephenson Sr. added in a text message. “My wife and I are happy how he’s maturing and enjoying the college life. We will support him with any decision he makes.”

The all-time leading scorer in New York state history, Stephenson was tabbed as the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year, but there is no guarantee he’ll win the postseason award.

Rutgers rookie Dane Miller is averaging 12.5 points and 6.6 boards overall and 9.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in the conference. He has won the last three Rookie of the Week honors.

Stephenson is averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds overall and 10.7 and 4.6 in Big East games.

He is shooting just 20 percent (11 for 56) from beyond the arc and has committed a team-best 64 turnovers.

“[Stephenson] has had a heck of a freshman year,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin told the Enquirer. “But he’s had some rough spots, no doubt about it.”

NBA scouts have been underwhelmed by Stephenson’s freshman season and the Enquirer cited several scouts who said he would be no higher than a low second-round pick.

“He’s been good this year for Cincinnati but I don’t know if he would have projected as a high-lottery pick,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said. “I think down the road he certainly will be. I think he’s improved his game. He’s learned to play with other players more comfortably and another year at Cincinnati under Mick Cronin will only make him a better player.”

Cronin told the Enquirer that Stephenson will meet after the season with his parents to discuss his future but could understand why he might want to return.

“He definitely wants to play better,” Cronin said. “That’s just a reflection of him letting you know, ‘Hey, I know I need to play better.’

“Lance’s big thing is maturity and not trying to score on a guy just because he scored on him on the previous play, not breaking the offense and going one-on-five.”

(Photo courtesy Cincinnati Enquirer)

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By winning his third straight Big East Rookie of the Week honors, Miller  joined Carmelo Anthony as the only conference frosh ever to win three straight such awards.

Anthony did it during the 2002-3 season when he led Syracuse to a national championship.

Brooklyn’s Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati was named the Preseason Rookie of the Year by the coaches and many expected “Born Ready” to run away with the postseason honors.

But the 6-foot-7 Miller is making a hard push. He leads Big East frosh in scoring (12.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.6).

Miller and Villanova freshman guard Maalik Wayns have each won Big East Rookie of the Week honors three times.

Stephenson and Brandon Triche of Syracuse have each won two apiece. Vincent Council of Providence, Alex Oriakhi of UConn and Cashmere Wright of Cincinnati won one each.

“Even though we don’t have the best record and other freshmen like Lance Stephenson and Brandon Triche have more eyes [watching their games], I feel like I’ve played to the ability I have,” Miller told The Star-Ledger Feb. 14 after the team beat Georgetown. “I feel like I still haven’t reached my potential yet.”

(Photo courtesy Rutgers Athletics)

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Brooklyn’s Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati was named the Preseason Rookie of the Year by the coaches and many expected “Born Ready” to run away with the postseason honors.

But Rutgers’ freshman forward Dane Miller and Villanova freshman guard Maalik Wayns may have something to say about it.

The 6-foot-7 Miller won his second straight Rookie of the Week honors Monday after averaging 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the week.

Miller had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the upset of then-No. 7 Georgetown Sunday, shooting 5 of 9 with 4 assists and 2 blocks. Miller had an offensive rebound and tip-in with 19 seconds remaining to provide RU a 67-66 lead it never relinquished. He also hit a pair of clutch free throws with 10 seconds on the clock. Miller had 10 points, three steals and four rebounds in 70-62 win over Caldwell on Tuesday.

Rutgers coach Fred Hill argues Miller should win Rookie of the Year honors.

“I don’t think he has to prove it to me, I think he has to prove it everyone else,” Hill said Sunday. “He’s a guy as a freshman who keeps getting better and better. Tonight was one of his better defensive games. He works very hard, he’s a great student of the game.”

Miller is averaging 12.5 points-per-game in league contests to leads all Big East rookies in scoring in conference games. He’s also averaging 6.3 boards and 2.8 assists.

The 6-5 Stephenson is averaging 12.1 points,  5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in Big East games.

Wayns, 6-1, is averaging 9.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in conference games.

Between them, the trio has won seven of the 13 Big East Rookie of the Week honors this season. Wayns leads all rookies with three such honors. Stephenson, Miller and Brandon Triche of Syracuse have each won two apiece. Vincent Council of Providence, Alex Oriakhi of UConn and Cashmere Wright of Cincinnati won one each.

Council is second among all players in the league in assists (5.3), while his teammate, freshman Bilal Dixon, is third in blocks (2.08)

“People always ask if me if one of my goals is trying to compete for Big East Rookie of the Year, or any first-team rookie [honors]. Not really,” Miller said. “My main thing is just to come out and win.”

(Photo courtesy Rutgers Athletics)

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The cover read, “Final 4 – Jennings, Holiday, Evans & Stephenson. Who’s the best guard in the country?”

Three years later, three of those four guys are in the NBA and the fourth, Stephenson, likely soon will be.

Before Jennings torched the Knicks for 22 points and 8 assists in a 114-107  Bucks’ victory at Madison Square Garden, he spoke about the NBA prospects of Stephenson, a freshman at Cincinnati, and Kentucky frosh John Wall.

“I haven’t heard much about [Stephenson] so in that case probably when you don’t hear a lot about somebody, they probably need to stay another year or so,” Jennings said.

The 6-5 Stephenson was the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year and is the favorite to win that same postseason award. He has been steady, but not spectacular, averaging 12 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

“He’s had a good year,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said recently. “I think for a freshman he’s had a great year. You can’t compare people to John Wall or Michael Beasley but Lance has had a very good year. I’d probably say if the voting were taken right now he’d probably be Freshman of the Year in the Big East. You can’t live up to ridiculous expectations that other people set forth for you.”

“He’s always been stronger than other kids and he always had that NBA body,” Jennings said. “Colleges are different. But when you get to the league it’s more open and you’re able to really showcase your skills.”

Jennings should know. After not getting a qualifying SAT score to attend Arizona, he spent last season in Italy, where the playing time was sparse and the lessons were hard. Now he and Evans are Rookie of the Year candidates.

Jennings is averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds, while out in Sacramento, Evans is averaging 20.7 points, 5 assists and 4.7 rebounds.

Jennings, like virtually everyone else, says Wall will be the No. 1 pick.

“I think the kid John Wall for sure is going to be the No. 1 pick…Now you just gotta wait and see how good they’re really gonna be on the next level because on the next level everybody can do what you can do.

“In college everybody can’t do what John Wall can do.”

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The 6-foot-5 Stephenson, New York State’s all-time leading scorer, is averaging a team-best 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Bearcats (13-7, 4-4 Big East).

“He’s had a good year,” Cronin said. “I think for a freshman he’s had a great year. You can’t compare people to John Wall or Michael Beasley but Lance has had a very good year. I’d probably say if the voting were taken right now he’d probably be Freshman of the Year in the Big East. You can’t live up to ridiculous expectations that other people set forth for you.”

Stephenson may or may not head to the NBA after on season, perhaps depending on the feedback he gets from NBA scouts and GMs.

In the meantime, Cronin said he and his staff were still working with Stephenson to develop various aspects of his game.

“I think he struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter at times,” he said. “He seemed to correct that at Louisville [scoring 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting] and he’s working hard on it. Just learning how to play off the ball is something he’s worked hard on. As a coaching staff we’ve tried to get him to where he can get some easy baskets and moving without the basketball.”

Fellow freshman Sean Kilpatrick, a White Plains, N.Y. native, was one of the reasons Stephenson came to Cincinnati in the first place.

But Cronin opted to redshirt the 6-5 shooting guard because he wouldn’t have gotten much playing time behind senior Deonta Vaughn.

“I wish I was out there helping my team, but I feel it’ll help me in the long run,” Kilpatrick, who averaged 25.6 points as  a senior at White Plain High, told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Kilpatrick picked Cincinnati over Providence, the team the Bearcats face Saturday. Kilpatrick surely would’ve liked the chance to face the Friars, but he’ll have to wait until next year.

“With all these perimeter guys, I didn’t want him to waste a year,” Cronin told the Enquirer. “A guy told me a long time ago that if you can redshirt a good player, it’s really going to help you down the road.”

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NEW YORK

With Cincinnati and St. John’s tied at 50 with 7.6 seconds remaining, Stephenson tried an in-bounds pass to teammate Deonta Vaughn under the Cincinnati basket.

But Hardy alertly cut in front of Vaughn, stole the ball and was fouled by Dion Dixon.

Read the full story here.

**And here’s Aditi’s story on Syracuse’s win over Rutgers at the RAC.

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Lance Stephenson

Yet when he returns to the Garden Wednesday for the first time as a collegian to face St. John’s (10-5, 0-3 Big East), he doesn’t expect a friendly response.

“Yeah, of course. Everyone wanted me to go somewhere close to home so I think they’re gonna boo me much harder than Rutgers did,” Stephenson, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound freshman from Brooklyn who plays for Cincinnati (11-5, 2-2), said Monday on a conference call. “It makes me play harder.”

Read the full story here.

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Wesley Johnson of Syracuse, Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks of West Virginia and Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson of UConn have all played — and beaten — the Pirates this season.

Now here comes Cincinnati and Lance Stephenson, the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year who is averaging a team-best 12.5 points to go with 4.8 rebounds.

The Bearcats (11-4, 2-1 Big East) visit the Pirates (9-5, 0-3) at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Prudential Center.

“With a guy like Lance, he just doesn’t look like a freshman. He’s like a man out there. I think he’s just a difference-maker for them and he gives them another offensive weapon that they haven’t had to go with [Yancy] Gates and Deonta Vaughn,” said Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez, whose team has dropped four straight and five of six.

“Man, I don’t think he’ll be in the league long. Let’s put it that way.”

Gonzalez believes both Syracuse’s Johnson and West Virginia’s Ebanks should be lottery picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.

“Those guys are ridiculous,” he said.

While St. John’s coach Norm Roberts was heavily involved in Stephenson’s recruitment, Seton Hall (9-5, 0-3 Big East) was never really a factor in Lance’s thinking.

Still, Gonzalez watched him play in high school and now figures that the 6-foot-5 Stephenson will also have a chance to jump to the NBA after this season.

“I think Lance, if he continues the pace that he’s at, where he’s basically going to be Rookie of the Year and the numbers he’s getting and the competition he’s doing it against, knowing the whole idea that if the 19 age rule [weren't in place] he maybe could’ve went out of high school, I gotta believe he’s one-and-done,” he said.

Lance Stephenson Sr. said his son wasn’t thinking ahead to leaving for the NBA after this season.

“We’re just taking it game-by-game,” he said. “So we’re not really thinking about nothing far in advance.”

Lance Sr. and his wife Bernadette, Stephenson’s little brother, Lantz, and his daughter, Liara, all came to the Rutgers game last week in which Stephenson scored 10 points in a 65-58 victory.

Since Cincinnati plays at Seton Hall Saturday and then against St. John’s Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, his family will get to see him up close twice in the coming days.

“Seton Hall, St. John’s, they’re going to be tough games,  just like this one was, so I’m just looking forward to seeing him,” Lance Sr. said after the Rutgers game.

Stephenson has had his ups and downs already this season.

He hit two foul shots with .7 seconds left to lift the Bearcats over UConn, but then played more of a secondary role in the win over Rutgers.

“At Lincoln I used to just go,” Stephenson said. “Now I got a coach [Mick Cronin] that puts me in the spot and I got to…know when to go to the hole and when to pass it.”

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