SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTOS BY MARVIN CHAMBERS
March Madness has arrived, and conferences from all over D1 showcased teams for the NCAA tournament. The annual Big East Tournament took place in New York City at Madison Square Garden, with several teams looking to punch a ticket by either winning it outright or impressing the selection committee.
On the opening day in the men’s tournament, St. John’s beat Butler 76-63 thanks to 19 points and 15 rebounds from Joel Soriano and Posh Alexander’s 13 points. Butler was led by Simas Lukosius’ 23 points. Seton Hall lost a heartbreaker to DePaul 66-65, after a potential game winning layup off of goaltending was overturned by the officials. Leading DePaul was Javen Johnson with 19 points and 4 rebounds and Jalen Terry with 14 points. The Hall got a solid performance from Tyrese Samuel with 16 points and 12 rebounds. In the nightcap, Villanova beat up Georgetown 80-48, who fired head coach Patrick Ewing after the loss.
The next day, top seeded Marquette beat St. John’s 72-70 in overtime. Leading Marquette was Tyler Kolek with 19 points and 9 rebounds while Kam Jones had 11 points. Connecticut beat a sporty Providence team 73-66. The Friars got a solid effort from Bryce Hopkins, who scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the loss. Adama Sango netted 10 points and 5 rebounds in UConn’s win. Other games saw Creighton stun Villanova 87-74 and DePaul lose to Xavier 89-84.
In the semifinal round, Marquette slipped by Connecticut 70-68. Kolek led Marquette once again, this time with 17 points and 4 rebounds while David Joplin posted 17 points and 3 rebounds. Sanogo gave UConn 19 points and 11 rebounds. Xavier handled Creighton 82-60 thanks to Jack Nunge’s 17 points and 9 rebounds and Colby Jones’ 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The title game saw Marquette easily beat Xavier 65-51. Kolek was big again, scoring 20 points and grabbing 8 rebounds while Kam Jones had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Adam Kunkel had 14 points and 4 rebounds to lead Xavier. Marquette became the outright Big East Conference champions for the first time ever and won their first ever conference championship. Head coach Shaka Smart earned Big East Coach of the Year while Tyler Kolek was Big East Player of the Year.
The men’s NCAA tourney has slotted Alabama as the overall #1 seed, along with defending champion Kansas, Houston, and Purdue getting the other #1 seeds. Notably, Rutgers got snubbed, and will have to settle for the NIT along with Seton Hall. Fairleigh Dickinson ended up in a #16 play-in game to determine who gets to play Kansas.
As for the women’s tournament bracket, undefeated defending champion South Carolina is the obvious overall #1, with Indiana, Virginia Tech, and Stanford as the other #1s. UConn had to settle for a #2 seed this time, while locals St. John’s and Monmouth ended up in play-in games. Seton Hall will host Saint Joseph’s in the first round of the WNIT.
Finally, Aaron Rodgers announced that he intends to play for the New York Jets next season, pending the team working out a trade with the Green Bay Packers.
