Big East: Injured teams remaining competitive

The Big East Conference regular season is beginning to look like one of those corn-ball scenes in a really bad spaghetti western.

Five cowboy buddies are running from the law when one goes down. As his partners try to drag him to safety, the fallen cowpoke implores them, “I can’t make it. Go on without me.’’

Sigh. Tear. Scene. And cut!

So it’s been for many of the teams in the Big East this season. Either through injury, suspension or defection, Big East teams have experienced a stunning loss of personnel this season. And remarkably, despite sustaining significant losses, teams like Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Louisville and Syracuse remain near the top of the conference standings.

It’s a testament to the remaining talent and some savvy on-the-fly coaching that Pittsburgh has survived the losses of starters Levance Fields and Mike Cook, that Louisville managed without frontcourt starters David Padgett and Juan Palacios, that Syracuse continues to push for an NCAA bid despite the loss of starting guard Eric Devendorf and that Connecticut seemed to catch fire right when second-leading scorer Jerome Dyson received a 9-game suspension.

Here’s a look at each team’s situation:

Pittsburgh (18-5 overall, 6-4 Big East): On Dec. 20, the Pittsburgh Panthers were 10-0 and playing nationally-ranked Duke at Madison Square Garden when senior guard Mike Cook tore his anterior cruciate ligament. The Panthers went on to win that game on Levance Fields’ last-second jumper.

The very next game, Fields, Pitt’s junior point guard, went down with a broken ankle. Pitt lost that night to Dayton.

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon had one non-conference game remaining to re-shuffle his starting lineup.

The Panthers have forged ahead without Fields, who was averaging 11.9 points and 5.4 assists, and Cook, 10.4 points and 2.6 assists. Pitt is 6-4 in the Big East, including a big home win over Georgetown.

More good news is that Fields should return soon. He certainly looked healthy as he led the charge of Pitt players off the bench as they mobbed Ronald Ramon after the senior guard buried a last-second 3-pointer to beat West Virginia last Thursday.

Louisville (18-6 overall, 8-3 Big East): Louisville got off to a so-so start, losing three of its first 10 games, including neutral court games to BYU and Purdue and a home loss to Dayton. The Cardinals had two reasons for their early stumbles. Two big reasons – 6-foot-11, 245-pound senior center David Padgett and 6-8, 250-pound senior forward Juan Palacios.

Padgett missed Louisville’s first 10 games with a fractured kneecap. Initially, Louisville coach Rick Pitino thought the injury would keep Padgett out for the entire season.

Padgett came off the bench for the first six games after his return, but the Cardinals are 6-2 with him in the starting lineup, including a convincing 59-51 victory over Georgetown on Saturday. Padgett is averaging 10.6 points on a team where the leading scorer is guard Jerry Smith at just 11.5 points per game.

Palacios, who missed nine games, doesn’t put up the numbers that Padgett can, but he means just as much to the Cardinals. To put in terms that denizens of the Bluegrass State can relate to, he’s the veteran stable horse who calms young colts like sophomores Earl Clark and Derrick Caracter. And speaking of Clark and Caracter, both have missed one game this season due to suspension.

Syracuse (16-8 overall, 6-5 Big East): First Andy Rautins, who started 20 games last season, tore the ACL in his left knee while playing for Canada in the FIBA Americas Qualifier last August. Then sophomore center Devin Brennan-McBride re-injured his shoulder and was lost for the year.

Then senior Josh Wright, unhappy with his playing time, quit the team. Less than a week later, starting guard Eric Devendorf tore his ACL in a Dec. 15 game against East Tennessee State.

When freshman Scoop Jardine received a two-game suspension for his role in the use of another student’s ID card, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was left with seven scholarship players. The Orange beat both Providence and DePaul with the limited roster.

When Jardine returned, he played just three minutes against Villanova, and still the Orange won.

Syracuse has sustained so many personnel losses that in recent weeks Orange assistant coach Mike Hopkins and graduate assistant Kip Wellman got their ankles taped up for practice.

The loss of Devendorf continues to hinder Syracuse’s offense. Devendorf was averaging 17.0 points per game and shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range. He was the lone Syracuse player who could score from outside the arc and penetrate into the lane where he could score or create for others.

One Big East coach recently said if Syracuse remains at or above .500 in the conference, “it would be the best coaching job of Jim’s career. He would be the easy choice for Big East coach of the year.’’

Connecticut (18-5 overall, 7-3 Big East): Of the four contending teams that have suffered some sort of personnel loss, Connecticut’s losses have had the least impact. In fact, the Huskies have been playing better and more cohesively since Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins were suspended for having alcohol in their car. (Dyson’s suspension was lengthened to nine games when he flunked a subsequent drug test).

While Dyson was UConn’s second-leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, he also dominated the ball and interrupted the Huskies’ offense.

UConn opened a lot of people’s eyes with their 68-63 win at Indiana just days after Dyson’s suspension. And they haven’t lost since, defeating Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Georgia Tech in succession.

Guard A.J. Price and sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet have stepped up while junior forward Jeff Adrien now occupies the lead spot on this dog-sled.

Rising Team

Connecticut – The Huskies’ winning streak now stands at seven games after wins at Syracuse and against Georgia Tech this past week. Connecticut’s win streak has been manufactured against some teams with real iron – Marquette, at Cincinnati, at Indiana, Louisville, Pittsburgh, at Syracuse and Georgia Tech.

Honorable mention: St. John’s. The Red Storm had lost six straight Big East games but bounced back with back-to-back road wins over South Florida and Rutgers and then edged Providence on Saturday.

Falling Team

Providence – The Friars have lost five of their last six games to fall to 4-7 in the Big East. The latest loss was a 64-62 loss at St. John’s. Now Providence is looking at a brutal stretch: at Pittsburgh, home to Louisville, home to Georgetown and then at West Virginia.

Player of the Week

The University of Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet stood tall this past week. Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 sophomore, averaged 15.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in UConn’s wins over Syracuse and Georgia Tech. Thabeet had seven blocks and eight boards against Syracuse, while holding SU center Arinze Onuaku to a sub-par 6-point, 6-rebound performance.

But Thabeet was even better against Georgia Tech. He scored a career-high 24 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and turned away six shots.

Freshman of the Week

Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn scored 20 points, doled out six assists, grabbed five rebounds, picked off four steals and turned the ball over just once, but his last-second desperation 3-pointer fell short as the Orange lost to Connecticut 63-61 last Wednesday. Flynn played all 40 minutes against the Huskies. He’s now played the entire game in five straight contests, becoming the first Syracuse player to play all of five straight games since Allen Griffin did it in the 2000-01 season.

Stat of the Week

41.2: In a 55-54 loss to Pittsburgh last Thursday, West Virginia made just 41.2 percent of its free throw attempts. The Mountaineers made seven out of 17 shots from the foul line.

They Said It

"It was very hot in there and I was sweating like crazy. Not having worn a white linen suit since my first communion, no one told me when you’re sweating you can’t wear blue (underwear). I was about to look ridiculous.’’ — Louisville coach Rick Pitino on why he switched out of his all white suit; which he wore as part of Louisville’s fan white-out against Georgetown, and into a dark suit at halftime of the Cardinals’ win over the Hoyas.

Key Upcoming Games

Wednesday, Feb. 13
Notre Dame at Connecticut
The two hottest teams in the Big East face off. Notre Dame has won five straight. UConn is on a 7-game roll.

Friday, Feb. 15
Pittsburgh at Marquette
It’s date night at the Bradley Center! In a rare Friday night game, Pittsburgh and Marquette get together. The winner moves closer to a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.

Saturday, Feb. 16
Georgetown at Syracuse
Syracuse is in desperate need of a marquee win. The Orange just missed out on Jan. 21 when Georgetown pulled out a 64-62 overtime win at the Verizon Center. Expect the Carrier Dome to be jumping for this one.

Sunday, Feb. 17
Seton Hall at West Virginia
Seton Hall enters the week with a 5-6 Big East record. West Virginia stands at 5-5. Both teams still harbor some hope of an NCAA bid, but the loser in this one will see those hopes dashed.

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