Big East Tournament Live-Blog Session 5

Session 5 of the Big East tournament, and the games are really going to pick up today. We start with the Louisville Cardinals taking on the Providence Friars. The Friars carry with them the league's last hope for getting in eight teams. Win and they are dancing. Lose and they are headed to the NIT. Louisville, on the other hand, is just trying to ensure themselves a #1 seed come Sunday.

The second game is going to be even more entertaining as Villanova takes on Marquette in the 4-5 game. Both teams are overloaded with guards, have a ton of athletes on the wings, and play aggressive defense. It is going to be a fun day to watch.

Remember, come check in while you are at work. We will be live-blogging throughout the day and the tournament. Any questions, comments, or issues, email me at ContactBIAH@gmail.com.

- they are checking in on the monitor, and it counts. What a game. Marquette needs to keep their heads high, they fought hard.

- Reggie Redding finds Dwayne Anderson under the rim for a lay-up at the buzzer. Game over, Nova wins 76-75.

- Nova needs to try and get a turnover in the backcourt, then foul immediately across the timeline.

- Stokes travels! Marquette ball, up 75-74 with 40 seconds left.

- McNeal misses a pull-up three, Nova board.

- Reynolds with a driving lay-up, but Marquette responds with McNeal finding Hayward for a three at the top of the key. Marquette with their first lead in a long time.

What an atmosphere. What a game. This is what the BET is all about.

- Acker with another three ti cut it to 72-71, Butler blocks Reynolds then gets fouled. One of two. We are tied.

- The intensity in this arena is palpable right now. There are probably more Nova fans, but Marquette has a decent showing. It is 70-67 right now, and Butler is going to the line with a chance to cut the lead to 1. There have been a ton of free throws today, as the teams have combined to go 53-61.

- Acker picked up his fourth. He, Burke, and McNeal all have 4.

- Dwight Burke picked fouls on either end of the court going for boards against Reynolds. Butler got fouled for Marquette, shooting 1-and-1 to cut it to 2. Marquette is 31 -35

- McNeal with a three to cut it to 69-65.

- Marquette is hanging around down seven. If you are Nova you want this lead at 10 or 12 because of hoqw quickly Marquette can put up points.

- Jimmy butler scored his 15th point on a drive to the rim, but Stokes hit another 3. He has scored 13 points in about 4 minutes to keep Villanova in the lead. 67-58 and Nova ball with 7:34 left. McNeal has not played well today. He just turned the ball over again.

- Stokes answers with another jumper. He has 10 this half and 17 on the game.

- Acker has hit two straight threes, and the lead is back to six at 62-56. Things are coming much easier for Marquette offensively this half.

- Under 12 timeout, and it looks like Williams is leaving McNeal in. It is a good decision as the Eagles are down 60-48. When Williams pulled McNeal in the first half with four, that is when the Wildcats pushed the lead because there was not anyone on the floor for Marquette who could score.

- Huge call. McNeal just picked up his fourth fouling Corey Stokes on a three. Stokes has the last 8 for the Wildcats, who open up a 60-48 lead.

- Marquette cuts the lead to 52-46. They are 25-29 at the line. Stokes with a hugwe three off the dribble to answer.

- Cunningham just picked up his third on a cheap one deep in the corner covering Hayward.

- Under 16 timeout, and the score is 51-42.

- Marquette starts the half with an 11-2 run, hitting three three's. Two of them came off of a half court set, both of which came from the corner off of back-screens.

- Quick five points for the Eagles, including a three off of a set playy nice start.

- Foul trouble all around - Cunningham, Anderson, Clark and Reynolds all have two. Matthews, Cubillan, Acker, have two for Marquette, McNeal three.

- Corey Fisher ends the half going coast to coast in four seconds, finishing with a gorgeous spin move to beat the buzzer. Nova dominated the half with defense. Marquette was completelÿ ineffective in any type of halfcourt set (21% from the field), and as a result, the Wildcats were able to get out and run the floor. Reynolds was awesome. He held McNeal to just 9 points and an assist, while scoring 18 points and drawing McNeal's third foul. The two Corey's combined to add 15 points.

- This is where Marquette really misses James. They have no one that can get them into their offense.

- Huge foul. Jerel McNeal just picked up his third foul on a ticky tack call on the perimeter. Reÿnolds hits two - 41-25.

- Under 4 timeout and Nova is up 38-25. Reynolds has 13 and is doing everything - defense, hitting shots, setting up teammates. Jimmy Butler is keeping the Eagles close. Hayward has just four, Matthews just three, but Butler has nine, all on garbage points.

- Marquette is shooting just 15% from the field. Great look by Reynolds for a Redding lay-up as well. He is the best player on the floor right now 36-22 Nova.

- Marquette has it down to 30-22, but Matthews a cheapy 25 feet from the rim. Reynolds jumps a passing lane and it is quickly back to 12.

- When Marquette is able to beat the Nova defense down the floor, they score or gwt fouled everytime. When they don't, they struggle to get a good shot.

- Hayward with back to back turnovers trying to lead the break, and Stokes bangs Nova's fourth three of the half to give the Cats a ten point lead. Nova is just executing offensively better - getting better shots and making better decisions, especially in the half court. Marquette has been unable to do anything against Nova's set defense.
- Acker just picked up his second as well. Reynolds hits both ends as Marquette is already in the bonus. 22-15. 9:30 left.

- Burke just picked up his second foul for the Eagles. That is a big foul because they are so thin up front.

- McNeal takes a board and goes coast to coast with it. And-1. 17-15.

- Marquette was called for a foul on a renound, and Marquette picked up a tech. Didn't see who it was on, but Stokes hit both. 17-10.

- Under 12 timeout, and it is clear that Nova has game planned well for Marquette. They aren't givind McNeal or Matthews much room at all to operate. The three that McNeal hit earlier was the only good look either has gotten at the rim. Matthews does have a game-high 5 boards.

- Nova has opened up a 15-9 lead. Both McNeal and Mattheqws are cold early. Not a good sign.

Villanova is getting a lot of goodlooks at the rim early.

- 8 straight for Nova ended by two straight threes from Corey Fisher.

- Under 4 timeout, and it is 3-2 Marquette. So far the two teams have combined for 2-13 shooting and 4 turnovers.

- McNeal three-ball answers a Cunningham 15 footer.

Sloppy start to this one. Bunch of turnovers and mised open shots and we are scoreless 2:30 in.

- Cunningham's shorts are huge. Enormous. Parachutes.

- Nova Marquette is about to tip. The arena is, once again, about 2/3 filled right now, although a number of people are still filing back in.

- This one's over. Louisville advances to the Big Easy semis with a 73-55 win over the Friars. Clark finished with 24, 10, and 6 assists and Samuels added 22 points and 7 boards. Efejuku led the Friars with 17.

- We are ar the under 4 timeout, and Louisville has kept this lead right around 12-15 points for most of the second half. 66-52 now. Clark and Samuels have been fantastic. Combined, they have gone for 43, 14 boards, and 11 assists. Everytime it looks like PC is going to make a run at them, the Cards respond with a basket. What has helped them extend this lead has been their defense. They are si active and so long in their 2-3 zone. It is very tough for PC to get a good look against the zone right now because the Cards are long and quick enough to get a hand up on the shot.

- The Cards had opened up a 15 point lead, but Curry hit a three and was fouled. 61-50 5 minutes left.

- T-Will has not played well today. He has not been all that active on the defensive end, has not shot all that much offensively, and right now has just 2 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists. Clark haas been great. He has 21, 6, and 5. 58:44 with 7:26 left.
- The pace is really starting to pick-up right now. Louisville is asserting their size inside on the offensive end with three o-boards in the last two possessions. They also are starting to run Clark up the middle of the floor in transition and against the PC press. Twice they have found him for a 1-on-0 lay-in.
- Williams with his first points of the game with a huge one-handed dunk along the baseline.

- Two more turnovers and a missed three for PC. They are terribly out of sync offensively. 30% from the floor and 8% from three for a very good shooting team.

- Louisville's press is starting to have a bigger effect on PC. The Friars are getting forced into playing at a faster pace, and as a result have turned the ball over the last two possessions. The Cards are now up 49-36.

- PC just can't buy a jump shot. They are shooting just 31% from the floor and 10% from three. We are at the under 12 timeout, and Louisville is up 45-36. After a little push at the start of the half by PC, the Cards are starting to regain control of this thing. They just need to avoid silly turnovers in the back court.

- Louisvile could be in trouble with fouls. McGee and Williams both have three and Clark and Samuels both have two.

- A charge on Jerry Smith takes us to the under 16 timeout, and the score is 38-32. PC has been pounding the ball in the paint to McDermott this half, and it has paid off. McDermott isn't going to score a ton of points, but he is such a good passer out of the post that PC is almost guaranteed to get a good shot when they get the ball to him inside.

- PC has cut it to 38-32 after two buckets by Kale. Another o-board on their next possession.

- PC opens the half by pounding the ball inside to McDermott, but the Ville responds with hoops by Clark and Jennings. 38-28.

- Kyle Kuric tips in an o-board at the end of the first half, and L'Ville takes a 34-24 lead into the break. I'll be back five, the Ladybirds dance team is on. Smokeshows.

- Efejuku has been so active defensivelý. He is a one man press right now. He has forced three or four turnovers in the backcourt, and has gotten two buckets and three fouls off of them. He now has 12 points to lead PC.

- PC is fighting. They have yo have 10 o-boards right now, and they have been forcing L'Ville into turnovers in the backcourt. Clark and Samuels are too much up front right now, however. Combined they have 23 points. It is 28-19 with 2:57 left in the half.

- T-Will just picked up his second foul. For those streak for the cashers out there, both T-Will and Curry are scoreless.

- And we have our first real highlight of the tourney as Clark caught a half court oop from Sosa. But Efejuku responded with a three point play. PC is killing the Cards on the o-glass. McDermott with a follow. 26-15.

- A Samuels o-baord, oiutworking PC for it, leads to a three from Earl Clark. 24-10

- Louisville's size advantage = 10 early points for Samuels.

- PC is down 21-10 at the under 8 timeout. They are playing hard, hitting the glass, but they are not hitting their shots. Part of it is that L'Ville is defending well, forcing PC into rushing offensively, but the Friars have had some quality looks during this first half and simply aren't hitting them.

- Louisville is lucky PC is missing shots today. They have gotten a number of good looks from the perimeter. They are shooting 24% from the floor. Louisville is shooting much better (just 1-8 from deep), but they are utlizing their decided advantage in the post.

- 9;00 left in the half and it is 17-10. PC is really battling on the offensive glass.

- Jeff Xavier is down after getting hit on a rebound by T-Will. Where's his brother?

- Louisville has by far the hottest cheerleaders so far. Hotter than South Florida. And there is about 25 on the team. I like those odds.

- We are at the under 12 timeout, and it is 17-7 Louisville. I missed the first five minutes (seriously, Gotickets.com ... never) but from what I have seen, Louisville's defensive pressure has been too much for the Friars.

- 14-7 Louisvikke early. Clark and Samuels have an of the Cardinal points.

- sorry for the delayed start. Never, ever use Gotickets.com. Ever.