SOUTH BEND, Ind. — If this is the last season of the Big East as we know it, at least it’s not going out with a whimper.
Saturday night’s game between Notre Dame and Rutgers, won by the Fighting Irish 69-66, capped a grueling day in the league that left little doubt of the mayhem to come.
South Florida upset Georgetown. Providence upended Villanova. Cincinnati needed overtime — and a career-high 36-points from Sean Kilpatrick of Yonkers — to hand Marquette its first league loss of the season, in overtime. St. John’s nearly blew all of a 17-point lead but hung on to win at DePaul. Syracuse knocked off No. 1 Louisville on the Cardinals’ home floor.
“A one-game win streak is huge in this league,’’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
Syracuse (17-1, 5-0 in the Big East) and Louisville (16-2, 4-1) have separated from the rest of the league. Marquette’s 4-0 league start was impressive considering how much Buzz Williams had to replace. But the Golden Eagles’ first three wins included two in overtime and one by a 49-48 score over Georgetown.
Cincinnati (16-3, 4-2), learning to play under the burden of being the hunted, rather than the hunters, stumbled out of the gate, but its victory over Marquette (13-4, 4-1) puts those two teams tenuously atop a group of eight schools that are going to bludgeon each other the rest of the season.
“You can’t blink in this league this year,” Rutgers coach Mike Rice said, “or you’re going to lose two, three games in a row and you’re going to fall down in the standings.’’
Rice and Brey should know. The Scarlet Knights surged to a 2-1 start, their best in the league in seven years, before falling to to 3-3. Notre Dame opened 2-0 before getting ambushed at home by Connecticut. Saturday night’s win upped the Fighting Irish’s league record to 3-2.
Joining Notre Dame and Rutgers with three league wins are St. John’s (3-3) and Pittsburgh (3-3). Georgetown (2-3), Villanova (2-3), Connecticut (2-3) and Providence (2-4) round out a group of eight schools with NCAA Tournament aspirations.
Eight Big East teams — Louisville (7), Syracuse (11), Marquette (16), Connecticut (21), Cincinnati (30), Rutgers (51), Notre Dame (54), Georgetown (55) and Pittsburgh (62) were in the Top 68 of the RPI prior to the weekend’s games.
“I think what’s good is that’s going to keep our league RPI up and make us be in the vicinity of getting eight bids,’’ Brey said. “And so I think that’s a good thing. Other than those two right now [Syracuse and Louisville], the rest of us are fighting for our lives.’’
* Quote of the Week: After Eric Atkins made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to give Notre Dame its 69-66 lead, Rutgers tried a half-court pass that was knocked out of bounds. The clock doesn’t start until the ball is touched, yet 1.2 seconds went off the clock in the Joyce Center, leaving the Scarlet Knights with just .7 left to try a desperation 3-pointer by Myles Mack that didn’t fall.
“I don’t see how a deflection could be 1.2 seconds,’’ Rice said. “But they have very quick clocks around here at Notre Dame.’’
* Stat of the Week: after scoring just 13 points in the first half of its 71-69 OT loss at Cincinnati, Marquette scored 50 points in the second half. In the first half, the Golden Eagles were 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) from the field, including 0-of-9 on 3s and 3-of-8 from the line. In the second half and overtime, they were 15-of-34 from the field, 8-of-16 on 3s and 18-of-23 from the line.