March 2015 | Page 20 of 30 | Zagsblog
Recent Posts
About ZagsBlog
Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Follow Zags on Twitter
Couldn't connect with Twitter
Contact Zags
Connect with Zags:
Wednesday / December 11.
  • NCAA Basketball: St. John's at Seton HallNEW YORK — Seton Hall’s late season free fall came to its seemingly inevitable conclusion in the first round of the Big East Tournament, where the Pirates were destroyed by Marquette, 78-56, in a game they were never really in.

    After peaking at No. 19 in the nation earlier in the season, the Pirates (16-15) lost 9-of-10 to close the season. An NIT bid, once seemingly inevitable, seems highly uncertain at this point.

    “We’re young, we were really young,” junior guard Sterling Gibbs, a second-team All-Big East selection, told SNY.tv after managing just 6 points on 1-for-8 shooting to go with 5 assists. “I think a lot of people mistake talent for us having to go far and having these high expectations.

    BY JEREMY FUCHS

    Diagne

    PISCATAWAY, N.J. — You could’ve forgiven Pope John senior forward Moustapha Diagne for being distracted. After all, the Syracuse-bound Diagne has had to deal with the turmoil surrounding his future school and the prospect of reduced scholarships and perhaps diminished chances at winning.

    But the 6-foot-9 Diagne didn’t seem  fazed Wednesday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center, when he scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds as Pope John XXIII beat Seton Hall Prep 52-42 to win the New Jersey North Non-Public A title.

    “I just focus on my senior season,” Diagne said after the game.

    Pope John coach Jason Hasson confirmed that Diagne is signed with Syracuse, has his scholarship intact, and will be a member of the Orange next season.

    Briscoe layupIn a battle of New Jersey’s two McDonald’s All-Americans, Kentucky-bound point guard Isaiah Briscoe came out on top against Syracuse signee Malachi Richardson.

    Briscoe scored 21 of his 34 points in the second half and added 7 assists to help Roselle (N.J.) Catholic overcome a 19-point deficit on Wednesday to beat Trenton Catholic, 72-67, in the New Jersey South Non-Public B final.

    “That’s what I do, and I do what I do,” Briscoe told Mike Kinney of MSGVarsity.com. “I go to get the win.”

    Richardson scored 23 points in the loss.

    The Lions will face North champion St. Anthony at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the Non-Public B state final in Toms River, N.J. The winner of that game will advance to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions, which features the state’s six group champions — four public and two non-public — in a winner-take-all event.

    NCAA Basketball: Butler at ProvidenceProvidence sophomore point guard Kris Dunn and Villanova junior point guard Ryan Arcidiacono were named co-Big East Players of the Year on Wednesday.

    Other players also received votes for Player of the Year, multiple sources told SNY.tv.

    The 6-foot-3 Dunn earlier was named co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Sir’Dominic Pointer of St. John’s. Dunn averaged 15.5 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals for the Friars (21-10, 11-7 Big East). He is projected as a late first-round pick in the NBA Draft by Draft Express.com.

    Cain4Eli Cain, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard from Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep and the NJ Playaz AAU program, committed to DePaul on Wednesday following a recent official visit.

    “Thanks to everyone that supported me through my recruiting process.. For my college career I will be attending DePaul University,” he Tweeted.

    “One of the wings is graduating and they have a lack of guard depth, so it’s minutes for me as a freshman,” Cain told SNY.tv on Wednesday. “The coach [Oliver Purnell] lets them play, too. And it’s in the Big East, which is always a plus. And it’s not too far from home. I think I can flourish there.”

    Cain, who helped the Playaz win the Peach Jam last summer alongside Kentucky-bound guard Isaiah Briscoe of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic and St. Benedict’s sophomore Trevon Duval, also considered Iona, Wagner and Delaware, the school from which he decommitted last fall.

    NCAA Basketball: Providence at St. John'sNEW YORK — March will never quite be the same around New York City without The Allman Brothers Band doing their three-week ‘Peakin at the Beacon’ stint, but at least we still have the Big East Tournament.

    Sure, it’s not your father’s Big East Tournament with Syracuse, UConn and Louisville, but it’s still a great event that should draw big crowds this week.

    Here are five key questions heading into the tournament, which begins Wednesday night.

     

    1. Can anyone beat Villanova?

    The top-seeded Wildcats (29-2, 16-2 Big East) have won 12 straight, haven’t lost since a Jan. 19 beatdown at Georgetown and are coming off a 105-68 destruction of St. John’s on Saturday in which they committed three turnovers, none in the second half.

    } });
    X