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Lunardi still has Virginia as a #1 seed, but now has Nova as the 3rd one. So it's Kentucky, Duke, Nova, and Virginia. I think it gives Nova a buffer now where if Wisconsin won the Big Ten, they wouldn't bump Nova but rather Virginia. Also means Nova won't play Kentucky in the national semi's which obviously is huge.

Bill Marsh wrote:

R Jay wrote:There were plenty of bad calls (again), but Providence missed FTs that could have tipped the scales.
As a Big East fan, I really enjoyed this game. Can't wait to see Providence wreck brackets in a week.

What are you talking about? Providence shot 71% from the line. That's a good night of FT shooting. They only got 17 FT opportunities, so it's not like they had a ton of chances.

Henton missed one at the 1 minute mark. Bentil missed one at the 2:15 minute mark. Dunn missed one at the 3 minute mark. I'm not saying that they necessarily win if they make those or that it negates the bad calls, but if they make those it's a different game.

Ochefu also would have had an easy putback, but it doesn't really matter.

I remember Stokes getting called for nothing with 1 second to go on the perimeter in a tie game at Georgetown a few years back, in a game that obviously meant less than this one, and I rememebr how much it hurt. Complain all you fan, Friars fans - I get it.

Letsgonova wrote:Ochefu also would have had an easy putback, but it doesn't really matter.

Yeah, agree on that. Had a layup there.

DudeAnon wrote:I know things are unlikely to change. But I would really hope that Val is aware how awful the officiating has been in this conference.

My only complaint with Val; making John Cahill supervisor of the officials in the BE.

Awesome PC-Villanova game. Great competition. Great atmosphere. Great conference...!

Xavier's 1-3-1 diamond-style defense has G'town off balance. It also minimizes Smith-Rivera.

NEW YORK -- Ryan Arcidiacono hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left after a questionable foul call, and fourth-ranked Villanova escaped Providence 63-61 on Friday night to return to the Big East title game for the first time since 1997.
The Friars' Kris Dunn, who shared conference player of the year honors with Arcidiacono but outplayed him Friday, made a layup off a turnover to tie the game with 12.4 seconds remaining. Arcidiacono then drove to the hoop, and Ben Bentil, whose steal and assist led to the tying basket, was called for a foul even though replays appeared to show little contact.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400784956

Stainbrook and Josh Smith are 2 excellent big men. They are going back and forth.

Xavier got a huge lift off the bench from freshman JP Macura who scored 8 points and then went down with an ankle injury. He's probably done.

Should be an exciting second half.

I would have preferred if they let them play at the end there as well. Ochefu would have had a dunk or layup had they swallowed the whistle so I don't think it affected the outcome. But a game as good as that should be won in the trenches by men not at the foul stripe IMO.

Much props to PC. Every time we went up 10 or 12 you had an answer. I think this game will serve both teams well in the tourney. If PC is a 6 seed, that 3 seed is going to have all it can handle. Tough, tough, tough.