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Providence Romps in Big East

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Josh Oduro posted 20 points and nine rebounds as seventh-seeded Providence defeated 10th-seeded Georgetown 74-56 in the first round of the Big East tournament on Wednesday.

Providence’s Devin Carter, who was named Big East Player of the Year hours before the game, tallied 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Ticket Gaines shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range on his way to 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Friars (20-12) made 12 of 32 attempts from deep as they kept their faint NCAA Tournament hopes alive. They will face No. 8 Creighton, the second seed, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Georgetown (9-23) saw its first season under coach Ed Cooley come to an end in ignominious fashion. Cooley, Providence’s coach for 12 years, finished the season 0-3 against the Friars.

Jayden Epps poured in 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting to power the Hoyas’ offense.

Georgetown turned an 18-point deficit into a 64-56 game with 3:40 left after Drew Fielder contributed eight points, including two 3-pointers, and Epps made a driving layup.

Oduro made two free throws, and after Epps missed a pair of his own, Carter pulled up for a long 3-pointer that rattled around the rim and dropped to give the Friars a 13-point lead with 2:51 to go. From there, they were not seriously threatened.

Georgetown finished the game 4-of-19 from the foul line, with Epps shooting 3-of-11 there.

Providence was ahead 9-7 when Rich Barron knocked down a transition 3-pointer to spark a 11-0 run. Gaines hit a trey to make it 20-7 Friars, and Cooley called a timeout to stem the tide.

Another triple by Gaines gave Providence a 14-point lead. Epps kept the Hoyas in the game by making a 3-pointer while being fouled to the ground and finishing the four-point play.

Epps brought Georgetown within 28-21 with 9:25 left in the half, but Garwey Dual and Corey Floyd Jr. joined Providence’s 3-point party. Oduro’s free throws in the final minute gave the Friars a 40-27 halftime lead.

The Hoyas fell behind 45-27 early in the second half before forging a comeback. Rowan Brumbaugh set up Dontrez Styles for a reverse dunk, but less than a minute later Oduro tossed it to Carter and he elevated in the lane for an alley-oop of his own.

Georgetown drew within 49-40 while Providence went scoreless for a 4:50 stretch. Oduro knocked down a 3-pointer with 11:22 left to end that drought.

Carter deflected a pass near halfcourt and took it in for a dunk to make it 61-46 with 7:53 left.

–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media

BIG EAST Names Providence’s Devin Carter as Conference Player of Year

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Providence guard Devin Carter was named BIG EAST Player of the Year. Connecticut coach Dan Hurley wasnBIG EAST Coach of the Year and Hurley’s freshman guard standout Stephon Castle was been selected unanimously BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.

The conference’s head coaches make the selections and are not permitted to vote for their own players. The awards are presented at Madison Square Garden prior to the start of the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament Presented by JEEP. It is the 42nd consecutive year the BIG EAST is playing its postseason tournament at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Carter, a 6-3 junior guard, is the BIG EAST scoring champion with a 21.4 average in league games. Overall, he ranks second in scoring at 19.4, third in rebounding at 8.6, fourth in 3-point shooting, making 38.5 percent and fourth in steals at 1.9. Carter, whose hometown is Miami, Fla., has posted 12 double-doubles this season, which ranks third in the league. In addition to his outstanding offensive production, he is also considered one of the BIG EAST’s top defensive players. Carter has helped lead the Friars to a 19-12 overall record and a 10-10 league mark. He is only the second Providence player to earn BIG EAST Player of the Year. Kris Dunn won in 2015-16 and shared the award in 2014-15 with Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono.

Hurley, in his sixth season at UConn, has guided the Huskies to an overall record of 28-3 and an 18-2 BIG EAST mark, which is the highest conference victory total in league history. Included in the 18 victories was a 14-game BIG EAST winning streak.  The Huskies are outright regular season BIG EAST champions for the first time since 1999. Hurley’s UConn career record is 132-58 (.695). In BIG EAST regular season play, he is 55-21 (.724). This week, the Huskies are ranked second in both national polls. Hurley’s Huskies are 27-1 against non-conference opponents over the last two seasons with all 27 wins coming by double digits. During that stretch, they set the D-I record with 24 straight.

Castle’s selection as Freshman of the Year should not be a surprise since he was the Preseason Freshman of the Year as chosen by the coaches and earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors a record 11 times during the season, including the last seven weeks. Unlike most college freshmen, Castle also excels defensively and is customarily given difficult defensive assignments. He leads all league freshman with an 11.2 scoring average, but also makes all-around contributions, with averages of 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. The last UConn player to be named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year was Rudy Gay in 2004-05. Gay shared the honor with Jeff Green of Georgetown.

BIG EAST Player of the Year
Devin Carter, Providence

BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Dan Hurley, Connecticut

BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Stephon Castle, Connecticut

Xavier Opens Big East with W

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Desmond Claude scored 26 points and ninth-seeded Xavier earned a 76-72 victory over Butler in the opening round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

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Claude and the Musketeers (16-16) advance to the conference tournament quarterfinals against No. 1 seed UConn. Voted the league’s most improved player, Claude scored at least 25 for the fourth time this season and hit 11 of his 20 shots.

Xavier made winning plays down the stretch. The Musketeers led for the final 11:12 and pulled away in the final minutes, taking a 75-68 lead on Dayvion McKnight’s strong drive to the rim and bucket with 53 seconds left.

Butler had a chance thanks to DJ Davis’ 3, cutting the deficit to 75-71 with 45 seconds left.

Posh Alexander split a pair at the line with 13 seconds remaining. After Alexander missed the second free throw, Butler got the offensive rebound after a lengthy review. But Davis lost the ball in the lane with four seconds to go.

McKnight scored 16 of his 20 in the second half and Xavier shot 51.5 percent in the final 20 minutes and 46.3 percent overall. Quincy Olivari hit three of Xavier’s seven 3s and contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Pierre Brooks scored 21 to lead Butler (18-14), which entered with a NET rating of 65 and likely needed at least one win in the tournament and some outside help to be invited to the NCAA Tournament.

Jalen Thomas and Posh Alexander, who appeared to suffer a scary right knee injury with about five minutes left in the first half, added 14 points apiece.

Xavier withstood Butler’s charge and held a 32-31 lead at halftime after Claude hit a floater in the lane with 28 seconds left.

After missing their first eight 3s, the Musketeers heated up with four 3s in the opening minutes of the second half to take a 46-43 lead on Claude’s triple just inside of the 16-minute mark.

Olivari’s 3 snapped a 54-54 tie with 11:12 left and his fastbreak layup made it 61-56 with 8:46 remaining.

–By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Philly’s Jensen Honored by USBWA

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association honored Mike Jensen, longtime college basketball writer and columnist for the Phildelphia Inquirer, as winner of the Jim O’Connell Award for excellence in beat reporting. Jensen will be recognized April 8 at the association’s annual awards luncheon in Glendale, Arizona, site of the Men’s Final Four.

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Originally from Peekskill, N.Y., Jensen covered basketball for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 35 years, first on the high school beat, then colleges for 30 years as a beat writer and then a columnist. His 2017 Year of Philly Hoops Inquirer series spanned 55 parts with roughly 2,000 words appearing every Sunday in the Inquirer. He left the paper at the end of 2023 and now is writing a book on Philadelphia basketball.

“I’m way beyond honored by this,” Jensen said. “Jim O’Connell was a special man and a guiding light for how to conduct yourself in this business, in addition to being one of the funnier people on the planet.”

Jensen, a Vanderbilt graduate, won first-place Eclipse Awards for best enterprise or feature story in 2004 and ’06 for the sport of horse racing in a newspaper or magazine. He also covered soccer for the paper from 1989-2002, traveling to nine countries on five continents. Jensen recalls his best assignment, covering Temple under John Chaney for nine seasons, calling it “stealing money.”

“Mike is an original,” said USBWA President Brendan Quinn of The Athletic. “He arrived in Philadelphia as an outsider and ended up as a definitive voice on the city’s most parochial sport. No small task. Mike’s career combined dogged reporting with incredible writing and a high-level understanding of the game. He’s not only one of the best in the business, but also a better friend.”

The USBWA has annually recognized exemplary beat reporting each year since 2020 in the name of the late legendary Associated Press writer Jim O’Connell. The award is part of the association’s annual Best Writing Contest. Affectionately known as “Oc,” O’Connell was a USBWA president, is a member of the USBWA Hall of Fame and earned the Curt Gowdy Print Media Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s award given to media.

O’Connell served as the AP’s national college basketball writer from 1987 until shortly before his passing in 2018. He was a fixture at all the sport’s major events, from the Final Four to the Big East Tournament to the Maui Invitational. He covered eight Olympics and worked as a desk supervisor, overseeing the entire sports operation for the world’s largest news-gathering organization.

Jensen joins a list of other outstanding writers as a winner of this award that includes the late Terry Hutchens, Mike Waters, Emily Giambalvo and Geoff Grammer.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.

USBWA JIM O’CONNELL AWARD WINNERS
2020: Terry Hutchens
2021: Mike Waters
2022: Emily Giambalvo
2023: Geoff Grammer
2024: Mike Jensen

Scheffler to Defend at PLAYERS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will begin his defense at The Players Championship paired alongside fellow Americans Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas for the first two rounds.

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Coming off a dominating victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he beat the entire field by two strokes on Sunday, Scheffler is the first defending champion to arrive at TPC Sawgrass as the top-ranked player in the world since Rory McIlroy in 2020. The event was ultimately canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scheffler will begin his quest for a repeat in the afternoon wave on Thursday, teeing off in at 1:40 p.m. ET in one of the marquee pairings released Monday. The trio will tee off at 8:35 a.m. on Friday. Fowler won the Players in 2015 while Thomas claimed the trophy three years ago.

Thursday’s afternoon wave will include other marquee groups comprised of defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark playing with fellow former champions Collin Morkikawa and Brian Harman, while young American stars Tony Finau and Will Zalatoris will play with former Open champion Shane Lowry.

McIlroy is coming off a disappointing Sunday at Bay Hill, where he stumbled to a final-round 76. Rather than grab his opportunity to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, McIlroy saw the distance between him and Scheffler grow further with a tie for 21st.

The 2019 champion finished T33 at last year’s Players. He will tee off at 8:35 a.m. on Thursday in a featured group along with Jordan Spieth and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.

Also teeing off in the morning wave of the opening round will be the group of Patrick Cantlay, 2004 Players champion Adam Scott and rising Swedish star Ludvig Aberg.

They will all be looking to get off to a fast start to put pressure on Scheffler, the +500 pre-tournament favorite at DraftKings and +550 favorite at BetMGM.

“Everybody, I guess, now is kind of looking up at me at the top of the rankings and trying to take me down, so in order to stay up there, you got to put in a lot of work,” Scheffler said on Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Beat Jazz in Get-Away Game

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SALT LAKE CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jayson Tatum tossed in a game-high 38 points and Derrick White made 7 of 11 3-point attempts and scored 24 points as the Boston Celtics wrapped up a five-game road trip by beating the Utah Jazz 123-107 on Tuesday night.

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It was the third straight victory for Boston, which lost the first two games of the trip.

Jrue Holiday added 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Celtics, who made 20 of 49 3-pointers (40.8 percent).

Boston led by seven entering the final quarter and seized control by scoring the first 15 points of the fourth. Utah’s first points of the period came on a Jordan Clarkson layup that made it 113-93 with 5:34 to play.

Keyonte George scored 26 points to lead the Jazz. Utah received 21 points from Clarkson and 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Collin Sexton.

The Celtics were missing Jaylen Brown (sacroiliac strain), Al Horford (toe sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring strain).

Utah played without Lauri Markkanen, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a right quad contusion.

Boston made nine 3-pointers in the opening quarter and led 44-33 after 12 minutes. The Celtics later had a 52-35 lead, but Utah went on a 15-2 run and trailed 54-50 with 6:07 left in the first half. An 8-0 spurt helped Boston build a 16-point lead late in the second quarter, and the Celtics owned a 72-57 advantage at halftime.

The Celtics made 14 of 25 3-pointers in the first half. White and Sam Hauser each had four treys by halftime. It was the 15th time Boston has scored at least 70 points in the first half of a game this season.

Utah was within two points when a Clarkson basket cut Boston’s lead to 93-91 with 36.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the Celtics scored the final five points of the frame and had a 98-91 edge entering the fourth.

–Field Level Media

BIG EAST Names Award Winners

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NEW YORK – (March 11, 2024) The BIG EAST Conference announced the winners for four individual awards for its 2023-24 men’s basketball season.

For the third season in a row, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. Desmond Claude of Xavier was chosen BIG EAST Most Improved Player. Hassan Diarra of Connecticut has been selected for the BIG EAST Sixth Man Award. Creighton’s Steven Ashworth has been tabbed the winner of the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award.

The league’s head coaches make the selections and they are not permitted to vote for their own players. The BIG EAST will announce the remaining individual awards: BIG EAST Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete on Wednesday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. The BIG EAST Media Award will also be presented.

Kalkbrenner, a 7-1 senior center from Florissant, Mo., is the third player in BIG EAST history to win Defensive Player of the Year honors three times. Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning won three times (1989, ’90, ’92) and former Hoya Patrick Ewing won four times (1982, ’83, ’84, 85). This season, Kalkbrenner is the BIG EAST’s blocked shot leader in league games with a 3.4 mark. His 2.97 blocked shot average in all games ranks third nationally. Kalkbrenner is an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection.

Xavier’s Claude, a 6-6 sophomore guard, has improved across the board for the Musketeers. As a freshman, he was used in a sixth-man role and averaged 4.7 points and 2.5 rebounds. This year, Claude brought his scoring mark up to 16.0, his rebound average up to 4.1. His assist/turnover ratio improved from 1.24 to 1.50 and his free throw shooting went from 57.1 percent to 79.2 percent. This season, he has scored in double figures in 28 of 31 games compared to five in 35 games last year.

UConn’s Diarra has been a most effective sixth man for the regular-season champions. A 6-2 senior guard, he is playing 19.1 minutes per game and is averaging 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He is shooting 77.8 percent from foul line and 36.7 percent from 3-point range. Diarra has 72 assists while committing only 33 turnovers. In addition to his offensive contributions, he often draws a top defensive assignment.

Creighton’s Ashworth has made an immediate impact with his sportsmanlike play and his steady production. A 6-1 guard transfer from Utah State, he took over the starting point guard on a team that enters this week’s BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Bluejays are 23-8 overall and 14-6 in league play. Ashworth is averaging 10.5 points and 4.1 assists. His assist average ranks ninth in the conference. 

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

BIG EAST Most Improved Player

Desmond Claude, Xavier

BIG EAST Sixth Man Award

Hassan Diarra, Connecticut

BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award

Steven Ashworth, Creighton

Celtics Look to Extend Road Streak

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SALT LAKE CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will be looking to extend their road winning streak to three games when they face the slumping Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

After beating Phoenix 117-107 on Saturday, the Celtics earned a 121-99 victory at Portland on Monday. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 26. Sam Hauser came off the bench to make 6 of 10 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 22 points.

“We just played hard, made the right reads on offense, knew our personnel on defense and made a lot of shots,” Hauser said. “I had a rough first half but turned it around in the second half. Once you see a couple (shots) go, the rim gets bigger and you get more confidence.”

Jrue Holiday (knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) sat out Boston’s win over Portland. Al Horford scored 11 points against the Trail Blazers but may not be available against Utah since he typically does not play on back-to-back nights.

Tuesday’s contest will be the final game of Boston’s five-game road trip. The Celtics opened the trip with losses to Cleveland (105-104) last Tuesday and Denver (115-109) on Thursday.

Utah has lost two in a row, five of its last six and 10 of its last 12. The Jazz trailed by 39 points in the first half of Saturday’s 142-121 loss at Denver. Utah outscored the Nuggets 44-24 in the third quarter to pull within 14 but failed to get any closer. Denver made 19 of its 32 3-point attempts in the game.

“Obviously when you’re down 39 points at one point it’s a long road back to win the game, but I do think the second half is something we can build on,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said.

Utah’s Lauri Markkanen has missed the last three games with a right quadriceps contusion. Markkanen is averaging 23.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 51 games this season.

Utah’s Walker Kessler returned to the lineup against Denver after missing four games with a right foot sprain. Rookie Keyonte George scored 29 points against the Nuggets, and fellow rookie Brice Sensabaugh made 7 of 11 field-goal attempts for 16 points.

“I think both of those guys (George and Sensabaugh) … the best thing is they show a tremendous amount of confidence in themselves,” Hardy said. “They have a tremendous amount of confidence in each other — the way they speak to each other during the game and encourage each other. The way they feed off each other I think is a positive. They both know there’s a lot of work to be done, though. To get to the level they want to get to, to be a team that’s competing for a championship, those guys are really going to have to up their level.”

The matchup will be the second game between the Celtics and Jazz this season. Utah shot 36.2 percent from the field (34 of 94) and 17.6 percent from behind the 3-point line in a 126-97 loss at Boston on Jan. 5. The Celtics never trailed and led by as many as 36 points in the first half.

Tatum led Boston with 30 points in the win. Utah, which turned the ball over 18 times in the game, received 17 points, five rebounds and five assists from Markkanen.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Drill Blazers, Brown 27 Points

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PORTLAND – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jaylen Brown recorded 27 points, six rebounds and five assists and the Boston Celtics became the first NBA team to reach the 50-win mark this season with a 121-99 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers.

Jayson Tatum added 26 points and eight assists and Sam Hauser scored a season-best 22 points off the bench for Boston.

Payton Pritchard added 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Al Horford had 11 points and three blocked shots and Derrick White contributed 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots for the Celtics.

Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the 10th time in their past 11 home games.

Anfernee Simons scored 17 points, Jerami Grant added 14 and Scoot Henderson had 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Portland.

Boston won for the 13th time in its past 15 games despite playing without Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) and Jrue Holiday (knee).

The Celtics shot 49 percent from the field, including 15 of 40 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range.

Portland connected on 44.8 percent of its shots and was 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc.

Boston led 79-60 with 7:44 left in the third quarter after a 7-0 run.

The Trail Blazers answered with a 15-5 charge, and Grant’s three-point play pulled Portland within 84-75 with 1:36 remaining in the third. The Celtics scored the final four points of the stanza for a 13-point lead.

Tatum and Hauser connected on back-to-back treys to boost Boston’s advantage to 101-83 with 8:40 left in the contest.

Hauser later buried a trey to push the lead to 115-95 with two minutes remaining as the Celtics closed out their seventh win in the past nine meetings with the Trail Blazers.

Brown scored 17 first-half points to help the Celtics hold a 66-52 lead at the break. Ayton scored 14 in the half for Portland.

Boston made six treys in the first quarter en route to a 37-28 lead. A dunk by Luke Kornet made it 50-33 with 7:47 left in the half.

Simons hit two 3-pointers during an 11-0 surge that allowed the Trail Blazers to move within 56-50 with 3:37 to play. The Celtics answered with a 10-2 run to make it a 14-point halftime margin.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Next Up -> The PLAYERS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The 2024 PGA Tour season gets serious this week as the Tournament Players Club hosts the annual PLAYERS Championship, otherwise known as “The Fifth Major.”

LAST TOURNAMENT: Arnold Palmer Invitational (Scottie Scheffler); Puerto Rico Open (Brice Garnett)

THIS WEEK: The Players Championship, Ponte Vedra Beach, March 14-17
Course: TPC Sawgrass (Par 72, 7,275 yards)
Purse: $25M (Winner: $4.5M)
Defending Champion: Scheffler
FedEx Cup Leader: Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (NBC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 a.m.- 6 p.m.
X: @ThePlayers

NOTES: This is the 50th playing of the event, which began in 1974, and the 42nd edition at TPC Sawgrass, which became the venue in 1982. … Scottie Scheffler is the first defending champion to arrive at The Players ranked No. 1 in the world since Rory McIlroy in 2020. McIlroy won in 2019 and the event was ultimately cancelled the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … There are 22 players in the field making their event debuts this week, including Sweden’s 10th-ranked Ludvig Aberg and Nick Dunlap, who turned pro after winning the American Express in January. … Tiger Woods, the 2001 and 2013 champion, is not in the field. … Each of the past four winners of The Players entered the week ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. … The three hole-in-ones at the signature 17th hole last year marked the first time there were multiple aces on that hole. … LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman holds the tournament scoring record of 24-under 264 set in 1994.

BEST BETS: Scottie Scheffler (+650 at BetMGM) is coming off a five-shot victory at Bay Hill, and also won The Players by five shots last year. His seven PGA Tour wins since 2021-22 are the most of anyone during that span. … Rory McIlroy (+1500) missed the cut last year and has an average finish of 34th over his past four appearances. However, he did win in 2019 and was in contention last week until a 76 on Sunday. … Justin Thomas (+2300) finished T12 at Bay Hill after going 72-73 over the weekend. The 2021 Players champion has only one finish worse than T12 in his past nine worldwide starts. … Wyndham Clark (+3400) is a career-best fifth in the world rankings following his runner-up last week. The defending U.S. Open champion also won at Pebble Beach last month. … Shane Lowry (+3400) has finished T4 and third the past two weeks. … Tom Hoge (+7100) set the course record with a third-round 62 en route to finishing T3 last year.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Valspar Championship, Palm Harbor, Fla., March 21-24