Big East
Ruoff, Mountaineers Turn Back the Irish
Alex Ruoff (25 points), left, and West Virginia gave Kyle McAlarney and Notre Dame little room to maneuver in a second-round win in New York.
(By Jim Mcisaac -- Getty Images)
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
Alex Ruoff scored 25 points, Devin Ebanks had 17 rebounds and West Virginia built a big halftime lead then held off a surge led by Luke Harangody to beat Notre Dame, 74-62, last night in the second round of the Big East tournament in New York.
West Virginia went up 36-18 at halftime with a smothering defense that pushed Harangody off the ball and forced him to shoot just 2 of 6 for four points in the half. Harangody muscled his way open in the second and ran off nine straight points and 15 of 18 to help the Irish get within eight with 2 minutes 27 seconds to play.
But Notre Dame (18-14) got no closer and the Mountaineers (22-10) advanced to the quarterfinals and a matchup with No. 2-seeded and second-ranked Pittsburgh.
The Big East's regular season scoring leader, Harangody finished with 27 points and eight rebounds. Kyle McAlarney added 17 points for Notre Dame.
Da'Sean Butler added 20 points and Darryl Bryant had 17 for the Mountaineers, who are 11-5 at Madison Square Garden.
West Virginia enjoyed a 52-32 rebounding advantage.
-- MARQUETTE 74, ST. JOHN'S 45: Wesley Matthews scored 20 points and the No. 21 Golden Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak by holding the Red Storm to a Big East tournament-record 10 points in the first half.
Lazar Hayward added 17 points for fifth-seeded Marquette (24-8), which advanced to today's quarterfinals against fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Villanova.
It was the first Marquette win since the loss of starting point guard Dominic James to a broken left foot. The Golden Eagles needed him in the four losses -- all to ranked teams -- but they didn't need him in their ninth straight win over St. John's dating from 1966.
Paris Horne had 15 points for the Red Storm (16-17), which made just 3 of 22 field goal attempts in the first half. The Golden Eagles led 38-10 at the break.
-- SYRACUSE 89, SETON HALL 74: Eric Devendorf scored all but one of his 19 points in a technical-filled second half and the No. 18 Orange pulled away for a second-round victory. Jonny Flynn had 19 points and 11 assists for Syracuse (24-8), which will face third-seeded and third-ranked Connecticut tonight in the quarterfinals.
Jeremy Hazell scored 27 points for the Pirates (17-15).
-- PROVIDENCE 83, DEPAUL 74: Sharaud Curry scored 25 points and the Friars held the Blue Demons without a field goal for nearly eight minutes in the second half to turn a 62-59 deficit into a 70-62 lead with 3:36 to play.
Providence (19-12), which got its first Big East tournament win since 2003, plays top-seeded Louisville in today's quarterfinals.
Will Walker and Dar Tucker scored 31 points apiece for DePaul (9-24), the first time two teammates scored more than 30 in a Big East tournament game. However, Walker went almost 13 minutes of the second half without a field goal, and Tucker also failed to score for nearly nine minutes.
