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Matt Carroll was Notre Dame's lone bright spot against Pittsburgh.
AP
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Pittsburgh
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Connecticut
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Notre Dame
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Syracuse
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Georgetown
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Villanova
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Providence
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Boston College
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Rutgers
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West Virginia
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St. John’s
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Miami
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Seton Hall
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Virginia Tech
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1
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Number of teams in the Big East that are not starting a freshman. Pitt is the only one. West Virginia starts three freshmen and two sophomores.
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"This is going to be a dogfight. This league is so good this year, it’s just fun to be a part of."
-- Pitt coach Ben Howland after the Panthers beat Notre Dame in the first league showdown of the season.
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By Dave Hickman, Special to CNNSI.com
Everyone needs a wake-up call every now and again. Consider Chris Thomas and Notre Dame awakened.
It's not that the Irish considered themselves invincible, mind you. Even after a December to remember during which Notre Dame had whacked three Top 10 teams in a seven-day span and rose to a No. 5 ranking themselves, the Irish understood all too well that the tough part was yet to come.
But they never imagined they would be humbled quite like this.
"They set the standard," coach Mike Brey said. "We need to get to their level."
The "they" of which Brey spoke are Pittsburgh's Panthers, 72-55 winners over the Irish in both teams' Big East opener on Monday.
If there was a question of whether or not Notre Dame had surpassed the Panthers in the league's pecking order, it was answered.
And if there was some question as to whether Thomas, the Irish's superb sophomore point guard, was ready to dethrone Pitt senior Brandin Knight as the league's premier point guard, that was answered, too.
"I think the old guy against the young guy was evident," said Brey. "Brandin is a man and he's been through a lot of battles. We were on his home court and he took over. This Pittsburgh program has been laying for us for a while. I read some of their quotes and they were looking for a win against us. I just think this is a game Chris can learn from."
The Knight-Thomas matchup was more one-sided than anyone might have imagined. Knight's numbers were nothing to shout about -- 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and six turnovers. But he also stripped Thomas a couple of times in the open court, harassed him into 2-of-15 shooting and held the Notre Dame star to just five points.
Notre Dame's Matt Carroll was the only Notre Dame player to score more than six points. He had 31.
"It could have been really ugly if it wasn't for Matt," Thomas said.
Well, it got pretty ugly even with Carroll. Notre Dame was held without a point during a nine-minute stretch of the second half, Pitt went on a 16-0 run and it was over.
As the Panthers are wont to do, they simply outmuscled Notre Dame for most of the game. Center Ontario Lett and forward Chevon Troutman combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds.
Pitt shot 52.7 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 20 times and missed 14 of 25 free throws. And the Panthers still won going away.
"When you look at some of those stats, this is one we thought we might be able to steal on the road," said Brey, whose team had beaten the Panthers four straight times during the regular season. "But we lost control of it. They just were too much."
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Ontario Lett hasn't had too many chances to shine. In his two seasons since arriving at Pitt from Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound senior pretty much has been a role player.
Maybe that's about to change.
Lett received a rare starting opportunity against Notre Dame when he replaced Toree Morris in the lineup. After his 20-point, eight-rebound, three-assist performance, it might be difficult to get him out of the starting five.
"I don't think I was juiced up because I started," Lett said. "I just had some good opportunities and took advantage of them."
Indeed, he took advantage of his opportunities. Lett made eight of his nine shots and at one point scored 10 straight in the first half. His rebounding and muscle inside against Notre Dame freshman Torin Francis helped Pitt to a huge 51-30 rebounding margin.
"He's strong and athletic," said Francis, who was held to just six points. "He was hard to deal with physically."
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HOT: St. John’s guard Marcus Hatten
In back-to-back games against Seton Hall and Providence, the 6-1 senior eclipsed the 30-point mark. He is averaging 22.4 points for the season.
NOT: Big East vs. ranked teams
After winning five straight against non-conference Top 25 teams, the league has now lost five straight Overall, the Big East is 5-7 against ranked teams.
HOT: Connecticut center Emeka Okafor
The 6-9 sophomore leads the country in blocked shots (5.7) and the Big East in rebounding (12.6) while shooting 58 percent and scoring 16.9 points per game.
NOT: West Virginia’s rebounders
The Mountaineers are being outrebounded by an average of 7.1 boards a game, six rebounds more than any other team in the league.
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Boston College had every reason in the world to underestimate little Northeastern. Still, that's no reason to actually do it.
Suffice it to say that the next time the Eagles play their Boston brothers that won't be a problem, not after the Huskies beat B.C. 72-67 at Conte Forum.
"I didn't think we'd lose to Northeastern. I didn't think there was any chance," Troy Bell said. "That's just the way I am. As long as there's a light at the end of the tunnel I'm going to go hard. I thought we had it."
The Eagles never had it. They never even led in the second half.
And that surprised even second-year Northeastern coach Ron Everhart, who tried not to let his team get too pumped up over the chance of an upset.
"But then the game is over," Everhart said, "and you look up at the Jumbotron and say, 'Damn, it's B.C.' "
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 Sheiku Kabba, Providence
The 6-2 junior guard had five points in the final 66 seconds and 14 for the game in the Friars’ 75-71 win over St. John’s.
Mike Sweetney, Georgetown
Despite playing just 25 minutes because of foul trouble, the 6-8 junior had 23 points as the Hoyas made a game of it at No. 1 Duke before losing 93-86.
Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia
The 6-10 freshman made all seven of his field goal attempts and scored 19 points as the Mountaineers beat Miami, 68-63.
Kueth Duany, Syracuse
The 6-6 senior guard scored 20 points as the Orangemen rallied late for a 70-66 win at Seton Hall.
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There are easier ways to start the Big East season than the way Miami is being forced to start it.
The Hurricanes got a real rush on Jan. 4 when they opened their new $48 million on-campus Convocation Center with a 64-61 win over North Carolina. But just when Miami was feeling comfortable in its new home, along come three straight road games to begin the league season -- at West Virginia, Connecticut and Seton Hall.
The Hurricanes got off to a bad start when they gave up 41 second-half points in losing 68-63 at West Virginia. Now comes an even more difficult test Saturday at UConn.
“We gave up 41 points in the second half to a team that I read couldn’t score,” said Miami coach Perry Clark. “So Lord knows what we’re going to do with Connecticut.”
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Providence is 2-0 in the Big East for the first time since 1988-89 and only the second time ever. … Notre Dame’s 17-point loss at Pitt was the largest margin of defeat in Mike Brey’s three years at the school. But the Irish’s No. 5 national ranking is the school’s best since 1981. … In the last two games, Pitt’s Lett and Troutman are a combined 34 of 39 from the floor. …
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