We’ll be posting a running log of our thoughts today. This will be a collected effort by all of us (i.e. we will each take a break slacking off from work today)…

[12:23 pm] (Georgetown 20, Villanova 10): Like last year, Georgetown jumped out to a big early lead against Villanova. Unlike last year, though, Georgetown is totally prepared for the Nova press — they’re beating it by throwing long cross-court passes, thus starting their offense early into the shot clock. Also, they’re shooting the lights out from three. From what I’ve seen early on, this will continue to be a blowout (unlike last year, when Villanova came back to make it a five point game at the end).

[12:35 pm] (Georgetown 27, Villanova 17): Jonathan Wallace has 16 points already. It doesn’t hurt when he shoots like this:

It looks like Georgetown hasn’t fully figured out Villanova’s press, but if you can make threes like this, you don’t have to worry about beating any stinkin’ press. How amazingly demoralizing for Villanova.

[1:18 pm] (Georgetown 40, Villanova 34): Roy Hibbert, the magician — 0 points, 3 fouls, 1 field goal attempt. Could Villanova be turning this into a game?

[1:23 pm] (Georgetown 40, Villanova 37): It’s official. We have a game thanks to Reynolds and co. Apparently they too have been known to stick the three.

[1:51 pm] (Georgetown 65, Villanova 55): If Georgetown loses this game, it’ll be an embarassment. Shouldn’t it be a rule in basketball that if you shoot 15-25 from three, you win the game? By the way, shout-outs to my man Jay Bilas, who apparently has been nominated for an Emmy. He’s the man.

[1:54 pm] (Georgetown 67, Villanova 58): 17 threes in total, Roy Hibbert with 0 points. I guess that’s one way to win. By the way, this banter between Bilas, Raftery, and McDonough is pretty hilarious — they keep giving him shit for being nominated by an Emmy.

[2:03 pm] (Georgetown 75, Villanova 58): Georgetown: 26 field goals on 24 assists. This has *got* to be a record. That statistic is just insane.

[4:41 pm] (WVU 67, UConn 58): Should WVU hold on for the win, the Big East will officially have 7 teams in the Big Dance. How’s that, Doug Gottlieb?

[5:03 pm] (WVU 78, UConn 72): I should never, ever doubt Dan’l B. That man is smart. From earlier this year:

But the one I’ll be watching will be West Virginia. They’ve got a #48 RPI, a 12-seed from Joe Lunardi, and a resume full of quality play all year. Barring a disaster the rest of the way, they’re going to slip into the tournament in the #8 to #12 range and will have a great shot at the Sweet Sixteen as “underdogs.”

[5:24 pm]: For The Mountain Top’s log of the game, click here. An errant thought: maybe it makes sense that Aeropostale is the sponsor of the Big East tournament this year. With the way Joe Alexander has been playing (34 points today, 22 points yesterday) and his good looks, he’d make a perfect Aeropostale Big East Tournament MVP. Can’t you just see him frolicking with those other models?

[7:32 pm] (Pitt 21, Louisville 22): I’m rooting for Louisville here, just because we don’t need to see Pitt in the finals yet again. But honestly, I don’t care much for this game — I’m still one of those old school Big East guys and seeing Louisville in MSG is still strange to me. By the way, have you noticed that Big East commercial where they have the Big East teams and the year they joined written on some old gym wall? Isn’t it funny how they don’t include BC, Miami and Virginia Tech at all?

[9:19 pm] (Pitt 72, Louisville 64): Not sure if I should be happy or sad for Old Big East. Helluva performance by Pittsburgh, though. They’re all healthy and looked damn good. Blair gave fits to Padgett all night long.

[11:53 pm] (Marquette 89, Notre Dame 79): Sort of fitting for the Big East that all top seeds except for Georgetown went down. I’ll be rooting for West Virginia and Marquette tomorrow, so you’ll likely see a Georgetown-Pitt final.

Categories: Commentary