NEW YORK  – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – No. 10 Marquette won’t have Tyler Kolek when it faces Villanova in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament tonight.

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Last season’s Big East Player of the Year hasn’t played since Feb. 28 due to an oblique injury. After Kolek missed the final three games of the regular season, Marquette coach Shaka Smart said Wednesday that Kolek would sit out at least the first game of the conference tournament.

“The plan is absolutely for him to play next week (in the NCAA Tournament),” Smart said Wednesday.

The third-seeded Golden Eagles (23-8) enter this game against the sixth-seeded Wildcats (18-14) without much room to improve their NCAA Tournament seed. They figure to be a No. 2 or 3 seed when their name is called on Selection Sunday, so resting Kolek is a tradeoff for the long term.

Kolek averaged career highs of 15.0 points and 7.6 assists per game in 28 games this season. He went for 21 points and 11 assists when Marquette beat Villanova 87-74 at home on Jan. 15, and followed that with 32 points and nine assists in the Golden Eagles’ 85-80 road win over Villanova on Jan. 30.

Marquette is no one-man show.

Oso Ighodaro (14.4 ppg, 7.2 rebounds per game) is an NBA prospect, and Kam Jones has been on fire. The team leader at 16.7 ppg, Jones had three 30-point performances over the last six games of the regular season.

Jones dropped 30 on 12-for-17 shooting plus nine assists in Marquette’s regular-season finale, a back-and-forth, 86-80 win over Xavier. Ighodaro went 11-for-15 for 24 points.

“Sometimes you can be a little bit like the little engine that could, and particularly when you have the reigning Big East Player of the Year on the bench in street clothes,” Smart said postgame. “I thought that our guys did a really good job helping each other just continue to believe and feel like we could do it.”

Marquette won the Big East tournament title last year, beating eventual national champion UConn in the semifinals and Xavier in the final.

Villanova squarely is on the NCAA Tournament bubble due to its unusual mix of great wins — North Carolina on a neutral floor, Creighton on the road — and bad losses to Philadelphia Big 5 rivals Penn, Saint Joseph’s and Drexel.

So, Wednesday night’s nailbiter against DePaul probably didn’t help its case.

DePaul went 0-20 in the Big East during the regular season, yet the Wildcats trailed the Blue Demons for 10:39 of their first-round contest and needed a late 3-pointer by Justin Moore to escape with a 58-57 win.

Eric Dixon finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, raising his team-high season average to 16.4 points per game.

Second-year coach Kyle Neptune took a half-glass-full view of the near-upset.

“We got another game,” Neptune said. “We got another opportunity to play, like I said, for the people in our locker room. We’ve had — it’s now towards the end of the season. We feel like we got a lot of basketball left. We feel like we can get a lot better from this game.

“We look at it like, all right, who else can go and miss the shots we did and still get stops and hold a team at 57 points and find a way to win in the end? And that’s how we’re going to look at it.”

–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Justin Moore hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.8 seconds remaining to lift sixth-seeded Villanova past 11th-seeded DePaul 58-57 in the nightcap of the opening round of the Big East tournament Wednesday.

The Wildcats (18-14) will play third-seeded Marquette in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.

Eric Dixon had 21 points and nine rebounds, Mark Armstrong added 11 points, and Moore scored eight of his 10 in the second half.

Jalen Terry led DePaul with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

The Blue Demons (3-29) lost their final 20 games of the season. They had one last possession but Armstrong stole the ball.

Moore hit a tough shot in the lane with 7:06 left for a 47-45 Villanova lead.

Terry responded with a deep 3-pointer from the wing with 6:17 remaining for a 48-47 DePaul advantage.

Later, Da’Sean Nelson converted a three-point play with 1:52 remaining for a 55-52 lead for the Blue Demons.

Then Dixon came back with a 3-pointer with 1:31 left to equalize at 55.

Terry answered for DePaul with a pullup jumper with 1:13 left to give the Blue Demons a two-point lead and setting the stage for Moore’s winning basket.

Dixon posted up and scored for a 12-9 Villanova lead with 10:24 left in the first half, then Jordan Longino dropped in a 3-pointer from the corner with 8:38 remaining for a 15-9 advantage.

DePaul kept it close, however, and got within 19-14 on Elijah Fisher’s layup — the Blue Demons’ first 2-pointer of the game — with 4:13 left. Back-to-back 3’s by K.T. Raimey and Terry gave DePaul the lead at 20-19 with 2:02 left.

Villanova led 27-25 at halftime thanks in large part to nine points on three made 3-pointers from Longino.

DePaul, on the other hand, shot just 8 of 29 in the opening half.

DePaul increased the lead to 40-32 with 12:57 remaining in the second half when Terry hit a 3 after Villanova went more than five minutes without scoring.

But the Wildcats went on a quick 8-0 run after the drought to tie the game at 40-40 with 9:41 to go.

–Field Level Media

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PROVIDENCE – (Report from Official News Release) – Only 16 games into the 110-game BIG EAST league schedule and just one team remains unbeaten after two drama-filled contests on Wednesday. Seton Hall won at Providence 61-57 and Villanova edged Xavier 66-65.

Seton Hall got scoring support from Dre Davis, who notched a team-high 17 points. Kadary Richmond contributed 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Pirates (9-5, 2-1 BIG EAST) shot slightly better than Providence (11-3, 2-1) from beyond the arc. The Hall was 7-of-16 and PC was 4-of-17. Josh Oduro netted a game-high 23 points for PC. Bryce Hopkins suffered a leg injury five minutes into the second half and did not return. The Friar defense was also strong, holding the Pirates to 36.2 shooting from the floor. Both of Seton Hall’s league wins have come against ranked opponents (UConn).

Villanova had a 10-point lead midway through the second half, then held off a Xavier comeback bid. The Wildcats (10-4, 3-0) got 26 points from Hakim Hart (14) and Brendan Hausen (12) off the bench. Eric Dixon helped with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Musketeers (7-7, 1-2) were led by Quincy Olivari’s 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Xavier was 10-of-10 from the line, but only 5-of-18 from 3-point range.

The next BIG EAST action is Friday when fourth-ranked UConn visits Butler at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The Huskies (12-2, 2-1) lead the league in scoring offense (83.1), scoring margin (+19.5) and are the only BIG EAST team shooting better than 50 percent from the field (50.2). The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-2) are third nationally (12.9) in fewest fouls committed and 20^th in free throw shooting (77.2).

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NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Villanova University was named winner of the BIG EAST Presidents’ Award for the 2021-22 academic year. The conference honor, which was established by the league’s Presidents in 2015, is awarded to the BIG EAST institution that has excelled at the highest levels in academics, athletics and citizenship during the preceding academic year.

A selection committee of athletic and academic administrators from each BIG EAST institution selected Villanova for the award. Each institution provides the selection committee with comprehensive information that highlights its accomplishments in all three areas.

“Academic and athletic success along with active involvement in local communities are trademarks of BIG EAST institutions, and we congratulate Villanova’s student-athletes for their exceptional performance in all of these areas during the 2021-22 school year,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “We commend Father Peter Donohue, Mark Jackson, and Villanova’s outstanding coaches and administrators for their leadership and commitment to develop all sides of Wildcat athletes and to equip these extraordinary young people for success in the adult world.”

“On behalf of the entire Villanova community, congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators on being recognized once again with the BIG EAST Presidents’ Award,” said University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “You continue to be remarkable ambassadors for Villanova by exemplifying our University values in all you do academically, athletically and in the community. Congratulations on this deserving honor.”

“We are incredibly humbled to once again be presented with the Presidents’ Award from the BIG EAST Conference, one of the nation’s premier conferences,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Mark Jackson. “This honor is shared by our entire campus community, from the unwavering support of President Father Peter Donohue, who steadfastly champions our success to the tireless work of the Villanova Athletics coaches, athletic administration and support staff. However, first and foremost, this award was made possible by our student-athletes, who consistently excel in athletic competition and in the classroom, while also remaining committed to serving the community.”

The following are the highlights of Villanova’s excellence in academics, athletics and citizenship.

Academics – The 2021-22 academic year marked the 18^th consecutive year in which the Wildcats’ student-athletes posted a combined grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The overall student-athlete GPA for BIG EAST teams was 3.44 in the 2021 fall semester 3.47 in the 2022 spring. The Wildcats’ graduation success rate was 98 percent.

In all, 228 BIG EAST student-athletes made the Villanova Dean’s List (semester GPA 3.5 or above) in the fall semester and 227 in the spring.

The Villanova Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes with a 3.2 GPA or above, had 300 student-athletes in the fall and 308 in the spring.

Individually, the 2021-22 senior student-athlete awards presented to the top male and female student-athletes were Matt Campbell in men’s lacrosse and Maddy Siegrist in women’s basketball.

Collin Gillespie was named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball. A total of 45 student-athletes in BIG EAST sports graduated with honors.

Other individual BIG EAST academic award recipients by sport in 2021-22 included: Maddy Siegrist in women’s basketball, Matt Campbell in men’s lacrosse and McKenna Keegan in women’s cross country/track and field.

Millicent Routledge of women’s swimming and diving won the BIG EAST’s Michael Tranghese Leadership Award.

Softball standout Paige Rauch earned Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. She is a repeat winner of the accolade.

Team Athletic Accomplishments – In the final year of coach Jay Wright’s tenure, the men’s basketball team made their third NCAA Final Four appearance in the last six seasons while posting a 30-8 record. The Wildcats were also BIG EAST Tournament champions.

The women’s swimming team won its ninth consecutive BIG EAST Championship behind Kelly Montesi, who was named Most Outstanding Swimmer for the third time in her career. Coach Rick Simpson and his staff were chosen BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for the ninth season in a row.

The men’s soccer team earned an NCAA Championship invitation for only the second time in program history and reached the second round.

Women’s basketball coach Denise Dillon was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year as she led the Wildcats to a 24-9 record. The Wildcats were the runner-up in the BIG EAST Tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship.

The softball team captured its second straight BIG EAST Championship crown and made the program’s second trip to the NCAA Championship.

The women’s cross country team picked up its sixth BIG EAST title in the last seven years. The men’s and women’s teams featured seven runners who earned all-America honors. The women’s outdoor track & field team posted a top-20 finish at the NCAAs.

In all, 136 Villanova competitors were recognized with All-BIG EAST honors.

Citizenship –- During the 2021-22 academic year, Villanova’s community outreach efforts were a blend of in-person activities along with some performed virtually as the region adjusted to the changing COVID-19 landscape.

Villanova’s Signature Day of Service brought together 4,000 students, including student-athletes, coaches and staff on September 16 in the 16^th year of the event. Among the notable contributions by student-athletes were: the women’s tennis team helped make memories with the residents of Divine Providence Village for persons with intellectual disabilities.

Villanova bolstered its educational programs in the areas of diversity and gender equity with a focus on student-athlete belonging and building community. UNITAS sponsored or co-sponsored events with the purpose of Creating a Culture of Belonging, Building Partnerships and Awareness and Education.

Villanova student-athletes participated in 2021 Fall Inclusion Week and co-sponsored DE&I programming with Villanova’s Campus Ministry, the Office of Disability Services and the University Counseling Center. It helped celebrate Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were gardeners at the Skunk Hallow Community Gardens while men’s and women’s basketball led the charge in packing hundreds of items for the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia.

The Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival is a signature event on the Villanova calendar. After over a year and a half pause for in-person activities for COVID, Villanova students, staff and administrators hosted the Special Olympics athletes for competition on campus.

In December, Villanova organized its annual Toy Drive and Adopt-a-Child program. Spearheaded by its SAAC, student-athletes sponsored holiday gifts for 30 children through the North Light Community Center. Toys also were collected at a women’s basketball home game and donated to North Light and other area organizations.

Although COVID-19 impacted some aspects of the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, Villanova Athletics UNITAS leadership hosted a Winter Apparel and Toiletries Drive at a men’s basketball game. Those items were packaged on MLK Day by the women’s lacrosse team, UNITAS leadership and the MLK Day of Service Committee for a YMCA in Philadelphia that services the homeless population.

In June, Villanova took part in its second annual celebration of Juneteenth. More than 50 student-athletes, coaches and administrators performed service work at Vaux Big Picture High School in Philadelphia.

Villanova added to its programming with “Every Mind Matters,” a group of student-athletes and staff guided by Sports Psychologist Dr. Rick Neff. The meetings focused on all aspects of mental health awareness and education.

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – For the third time since 2016, Villanova will play in the Final Four. The Wildcats became the NCAA South Region champions after a 50-44 victory over Houston this past Saturday in Texas. Villanova forward Jermaine Samuels was named the South Region Most Outstanding Player. Coach Jay Wright’s second-seeded team defeated Michigan 63-55 in the regional semifinals.

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Villanova will meet Kansas in the national semifinals this Saturday. On their way to the NCAA crown in 2018, the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks 95-79 in the same round. Villanova got off to a 22-4 start en route to the victory. Back in 2016, Villanova beat Kansas 64-59 in the South Region final.

Overall, BIG EAST teams own a 12-6 record in national semifinal contests not including when a BIG EAST team faced another league squad in 1985 and 1987. Villanova is 3-1, winning in 1985, 2016 and 2018 while losing in 2009.

Villanova will be without All-Big East guard Justin Moore in their Final Four lineup. Moore fell to the floor with a non-contact leg injury late in Saturday’s Elite Eight win over Houston. On Sunday, he was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon. Villanova announced that he’s scheduled for surgery this week and will be sidelined indefinitely.

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Villanova graduate guard Collin Gillespie was named the 2021-2022 Big East Player of the Year. Gillespie, who shared the award in 2020-2021 with his Villanova teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili, is the first repeat winner of the award since Providence’s Kris Dunn in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

Gillespie led the Wildcats to a 16-4 record in Big East play with 16.1 points and 3.1 assists per game. He was the fourth leading scorer in the league, trailing only DePaul’s Javon Freeman-Liberty, St. John’s Julian Champagnie and Marquette’s Justin Lewis.

Gillespie led the Big East in free throw percentage, at a 91.5% clip, and three-point percentage, at 43.1%. He was sixth in the league in field goal percentage, making 44.7% of his shots. He was also named the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year, on Wednesday, for his strong academic performance this year. He was one of two 4.0 student athletes on the Wildcat roster for the fall semester, along with fellow graduate student Jermaine Samuels.

The awards are the latest of a long list of accolades for Gillespie. Earlier this week, Gillespie was the only unanimous choice for the All-Big East First Team, and nationally he was named as a Third Team All-American by the USBWA and the NABC in 2021.

Gillespie is one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award, given to the Most Outstanding Player in College Basketball. If chosen, Gillespie would be the first Wooden Award winner from Villanova since Jalen Brunson in 2017-2018.

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HARTFORD – (Staff report from official News Release) – In a back-and-forth Top-25 showdown, No. 21 Connecticut and R.J. Cole came up clutch on both ends of the court, first knocking down a contested layup with 5.9 ticks left to give the Huskies a 70-69 advantage over eighth-ranked Villanova. Defensively, Cole forced a turnover with 1.1 seconds left to seal the 71-69 home win.

Early in the contest, UConn took a 33-32 lead on a layup by Adama Sonogo to close out the opening half. Just 2:38 into the second frame, the Huskies took the largest lead of the game, 43-36, on a pair of Isaiah Whaley free throws. After Villanova clawed back to take a four-point lead with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, UConn tallied the final six points of the contest to secure the top-10 win in front of a sold-out XL Center.

Sanogo led the Huskies (20-7, 11-5 BIG EAST) with 20 points and two blocks, while Whaley (13 points) and Cole (12 points) also reached double figures. Collin Gillespie led the Wildcats (21-7, 14-4 BE) with 17 points, while Brandon Slater added 15.

Tonight’s schedule includes three games. At 6:30 p.m. ET, Creighton and St. John’s put their multiple game winning streaks to the test, when the Red Storm host the Bluejays at Carnesecca Arena on FS1. Entering the game with five straight wins, Creighton sits a half-game back on the Huskies in fourth at 10-5. Meanwhile, St. John’s sits in a three-way tie for sixth place with Xavier and Seton Hall at 7-8 in league play.

At 7 p.m. on CBSSN, BIG EAST leader Providence welcomes the Musketeers to the Dunkin Donuts Center. Ranked 11^th in Monday’s AP Poll, the Friars enter the game with a 12-2 conference mark and 14-1 record at home. Xavier will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses against St. John’s and UConn and return to .500 in league play.

Rounding out the night, Seton Hall faces Butler at the Prudential Center at 8:30 p.m. on FS1. The Pirates enter the contest with a 16-9 (7-8 BE) overall record, while boasting a 10-2 mark at the Prudential Center this season. The Bulldogs enter the game with a 13-15 (6-11 BE) record.

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JAMAICA ESTATES, NY – (Staff report from Official News Release) – Villanova turned the tables on Creighton and gave coach Jay Wright a milestone victory, while St. John’s celebrated Lou Carnesecca’s 97^th birthday with a win over DePaul.

Wright notched his 500^th victory at Villanova when his team rolled past Creighton 75-41 in Finneran Paviliion. The Wildcats (10-4, 3-1 BIG EAST) had lost to the Bluejays (10-4, 2-1 BE) 79-59 on December 17. This time, Villanova held Creighton to 35.6 percent shooting from the field and allowed only 21 points in the final 27 minutes of the game. Justin Moore led the Wildcats with 22 points. Alex O’Connell had 13 points for Creighton.

On the night when legendary coach Lou Carnesecca turned 97, Julian Champagnie put on a sparkling performance to lead St. John’s (9-3, 1-0 BE) past DePaul 89-84. Champagnie scored a career-high 34 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked three shots. Dylan Addae-Wusu added a career-high 17 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute. Javon Freeman-Liberty had 24 points and seven boards for DePaul (9-4, 0-3 BE).

BIG EAST play resumes on Friday with two games between teams that met in the first round of last year’s BIG EAST Tournament. Marquette (9-6, 1-3 BE) plays at Georgetown (6-5, 0-0 BE) at 6:30 p.m. ET followed by No. 22 Xavier (11-2, 1-1 BE) at Butler (8-5, 1-1 BE) at 8:30 p.m. FS1 will carry both contests.

Last year, Marquette took the lone regular-season matchup against Georgetown before the Hoyas won 68-49 at the Big East tournament. Xavier won both regular-regular season games against Butler before the Bulldogs won 70-69 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

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JAMAICA ESTATES – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – After winning all four games on Saturday, BIG EAST teams own a collective 38-4 record, including a 4-1 mark against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll.

On paper, Villanova had the toughest assignment, taking on No. 17 Tennessee in the Hall of Fame Classic. The Wildcats held the Volunteers scoreless in the first six minutes and led 35-15 by halftime. Villanova won 71-53 with Jermaine Samuels, Collin Gillespie and Brandon Slater all finishing with 14 points. Samuels added a game-high 11 rebounds.

After a bit of a slow start, UConn got rolling against Binghamton and pulled away to win 87-63. Tyrese Martin led four Huskies in double figures and posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. UConn (4-0) outshot Binghamton from the floor 49.3 percent to 37.5 percent.

St. John’s bounced back from Wednesday’s two-point loss at Indiana to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson 87-74 at Carnesecca Arena. Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander each scored 17 points. Champagnie had 10 rebounds. The Johnnies (3-1) led by as many as 22 points.

DePaul was trailing Western Illinois by seven points with 14 minutes to play before reeling off a 13-0 run en route to an 84-80 victory. Javon Freeman-Liberty led the charge, scoring 27 of his career-high 33 points in the second half. The Blue Demons are 4-0 for only the fourth time since 1990.

Sunday’s four-game slate has three teams continuing in tournament play and one single game matchup. The day begins with Xavier hosting unbeaten Norfolk State (5-0) at noon ET on FS1 in the final game of a four-game homestand. The Musketeers (3-0) are coming off their 71-65 win over No. 19 Ohio State. Norfolk State won 90-84 at Bowling Green on Friday.

Villanova takes on its second ranked opponent in as many days when it battles No. 6 Purdue on ABC at 1 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Classic It will be the Wildcats’ third ranked opponent in five games.

In the second round of the Paradise Jam, Creighton (4-0) meets Colorado State on ESPN3 at 5:45 p.m. in a battle of 4-0 teams. The Bluejays have held all four opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field.

Marquette battles No. 22 St. Bonaventure (4-0) in the title game of the Charleston Classic on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. In the last three games, the Golden Eagles (5-0) have trailed by at least 12 points before recovering to win.

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“When it’s not always raining there’ll be days like this
When there’s no one complaining there’ll be days like this
When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch
Well my mama told me there’ll be days like this.”

• Van Morrison, Days Like This

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – If you aren’t paying attention to the sports calendar, a day like this might slip right on by. There are plenty of examples for great and underrated days in sports. One, The Breeders’ Cup, just passed by – seven World Series games in one day of horse racing – gone.

A few others?

• The Army vs Navy Game
• NCAA Tournament Thursday
• NFL Championship Sunday (Monday is the MLK, Jr holiday, too)
• Patriots’ Day in Boston (Boston Marathon in the morning and running all day; The Sox at 11am at Fenway)
• Iron Bowl – Auburn vs Alabama in NCAAF (November 27 this season)
• El Clásico – Real Madrid vs Barcelona (Every time they play)

We’ll take you through Opening Evening/Night for College Basketball 2021-22. (All times Eastern Standard):

4:30pm – The broadcast begins with some Bad News with some Good News. The Bad: FS-1 starts its broadcast and our minds immediately think, “John Tesh wants his song back,” as Roundball Rock, the NBA on NBC intro theme, seems SO out of place as has been the case with FOX/FS-1 coverage of the BIG EAST. The Good: The wonderful and familiar voice of Bill Raftery rises from the TV’s speakers like the smell of fine wine or aged single malt Scotch – as in Raftery’s favorite phrase – “Just One More.” Raftery is such a great asset for college hoops and seemingly every fan looks forward to listening to “Raft” all the way until March Madness.

“ONIONS!”

4:31pm – By the time everyone looks up, Villanova is up 7-0 on Mount St. Mary’s or is it Mt. Saint Mary’s. One thing is for sure, it’s NOT St. Mary’s.

4:42pm – Raftery gives us the very first “ball screen” reference of the new season.

4:50pm – A break in the action and the endless stream of Insurance ads allows time to check the TV schedule for the rest of the evening. There are dozens of games, but these stand out and will be included in this running story as the night goes on with an obvious BIG EAST theme.

• 6pm – Akron at Ohio State … a little early in the season to give Akron 16.5 points, eh?
• 6:30pm – Central Connecticut at UConn … They’re Back, if you dare drive to Storrs.
• 6:45pm – (The alphabet games begin with … IUPUI at Butler (That is Indiana University Purdue U Indianapolis)
• 7pm – BIG BOY Game No. 1 – Kansas vs Michigan State in Game 1 of Champions Classic at The Garden
• 7:30pm – Alpha 2 … UMBC at UMass (University of Maryland – Baltimore County for you alphabet fans)
• 8pm – More alpha … UAPB at Creighton … University of Arkansas Pine Bluff! Be there.
• 8:30pm – A tough one: SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) at Marquette
• 9pm – The various ‘college networks all tip-off vs each other with a TV remote challenge:
  • Houston Baptist at Texas (Longhorn Network)
  • Louisiana Tech at Alabama (SEC Network)
  • Navy at Virginia (ACC Network)
• 9:30pm – BIG BOY Game 2 with Duke vs Kentucky at MSG
• 10pm – Longwood at Iowa (Big Ten Network) – might be with Ernie, Chuck, Kenny and Shaq by then?

5:25 pm – Villanova heads to the lockers with a halftime lead, 45-21, over Mount St. Mary’s. “All ‘Nova,” they say. Collin Gillespie, a 6-3 senior guard for Villanova QBs the team while scoring seven points. From Kyle Lowry to Scottie Reynolds to Ryan Arcidiacono to Donte DiVincenzo to Jalen Brunson, Villanova recruits solid point guards and two position guards with the best of them. Nova Coach Jay Wright recruits to his system and it works, year-after-year.

5:35pm – A quick check of the entire NCAAB scoreboard shows that Manhattan defeated Manhattanville, 99-42, meaning Manhattanville is in for a very long season. Also, when looking at the Columbia at Fordham pregame, the odds show the Fordham Rams favored by 9.5 over Columbia U, an IVY League school on the sidelines since March 2020.

5:41pm – One game in and I can’t believe I’m looking forward to the Akron vs Ohio State game.

5:45pm – FS-1 having “technical problems” and Bill Raftery is pressed into solo play-by-play and commentator action before Jimmy Jackson joins the broadcast from FOX Sports Studios. Play-x-Play man Aaron Goldsmith does not return.

Where Have You Gone Aaron Goldsmith @FS1 – Our Nation Turns It’s Lonely to YOU. @NovaMBB

— DigitalSportsDesk (@DigSportsDesk) November 9, 2021

Editor’s Note: (This will be updated many times tonight, no more than 30 minutes between updates ideally).

5:50pm – During another lengthy FS-1 timeout, it allowed time to check the Mississippi Valley State at St. John’s pregame notes. A stop on ESPN dot com also showed fans are selling tickets online from $3 to $68. The problem? The $3 seats were better located than the $68 seats.

5:55pm – Bill Raftery informs us – with the score 65-40 – that “the next 10 minutes are important for The Mount.” They taught Raft that line at Nielsen TV Ratings school.

6pm – It’s off to the Akron at Ohio State game. We are soon reminded that Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Nate Thurmond once played ball at Ohio State but LeBron James grew-up and played high school ball in Akron, Ohio.  Score? 8-6, Akron early.

For some reason, it bothers me that Ohio State has a big map of Ohio on their court, copying Indiana. Shouldn’t Ohio have the rights to the map? It’s not like Indiana State has a map of Terre Haute.

6:17pm – It has become apparent that college basketball will be played this season in front of fans and indoors, of course. Not a mask will be seen or worn by students (and fans) in the stands, all packed-in like sardines and screaming their brains out. That leads to the very obvious prediction that there will be COVID+ outbreaks in college hoops this season. … If the Ottawa Senators (of the NHL) can have five guys break-out with COVID+ with some pretty serious NHL protocols, including the glass and boards as a barrier for the team benches, then college hoops – with the crowd on top of the players and benches could be in big trouble. Good Luck.

6:22pm – It also looks as though College Basketball coaches will dress down, much like their NBA counterparts. Gotta wonder if Rick Pitino, head coach of Iona, will wear cuff links with his sweats?

6:24pm – Technical difficulties will be the buzzword for Opening Tip-Off night of College Hoops 2021-22. ESPN2 lost video for only a few seconds and switched to remote side-by-side of the announce team, sitting in their home studios. What the COVID pandemic taught the networks is that they can save money and NOT send their broadcasters to the games. Airfare, hotel accommodations, meals and per diem all saved by networks. The fans lose as it’s not like you’re getting any discount on ESPN channels for the less than in-depth coverage with commentators staring at TV monitors instead of getting the first-hand knowledge, interactions, experiences and insights from courtside on-site. Boo.

6:30pm – ESPN breaks away at the 8:00 minute mark with Ohio State leading Akron, 20-17. (Reminder: The line was Akron +16.5). Now, it’s decision time. Do we watch five more ESPN2 commercials or do we flip for tip of the Central Connecticuit vs UConn game? With Villanova winning, 91-51, ‘Nova’s Justin Moore leading the team in scoring with an impressive opening-eve 27, it’s time to head back to FS-1.

6:33pm – The ball is tipped at Gampel Pavillion in beautiful Storrs. Full house. The Huskies are described as “an NBA team disguised as a UConn team,” by former NBA and UConn player Donny Marshall, a better than average TV commentator. He’s right, as UConn opens up a 15-5 lead at the first break (15:43 left in 1st Half).

6:55pm – It’s time for the alphabet game portion of the night to begin as IUPUI and Butler give it a run at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  Quick thought: Wouldn’t it be cool if the PxP guy said Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis instead of IUPUI every time down the court?  One problem. It’s four minutes into the first half and IUPUI has yet to score. (But they trail by only three points).

7pm – It’s time to head to the Varsity game and it’s great to see Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas do their pregame stand-up for Michigan State vs Kansas from courtside at Madison Square Garden with Holly Rowe adding to the broadcast from courtside, too. Bilas is the best in the business, as he notes “the energy (in The Garden) is amazing.” Pretty good for neutral court. No anti-COVID+ masks at MSG either, by the way.

7:16pm – ESPN wastes NO TIME with a classy video taped message montage and best wishes salute to Hall-of-Fame basketball contributor Dick Vitale who is battling lymphoma with a weekly chemotherapy sessions. Vitale has put so much time, effort and money behind the ESPN-led “V Foundation” in memory of Coach Jimmy Valvano, it’s now time for everyone in the college and worldwide basketball community to stand-up to support Dickie V. Donate $ HERE.

7:23pm – A break in the action of the Michigan State vs Kansas game allows some time to look at the Bracketology work on ESPN.com and predictions for the March Brackets and NCAA Tournament teams.  It’s a LONG way off and very difficult to predict in November, but here’s a look-see. Digital Sports Desk will do a bracket for While We’re Young (Ideas) either this weekend or next. See Joe Lunardi‘s first crack at it HERE.

Hey Joe? St. John’s is a “last four in,” eh? See you in Dayton!

7:35pm – At the three HOUR mark for this column and the College Basketball season is well underway across this nation. With the three hour mark came the first bathroom break of the evening and, with that, I broke out my favorite book, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook – a must for these early season games. I plugged this in a Sunday Sports Notebook but, it’s worth another plug to purchase it HERE. Spring for the Spiral bound version and the digital edition for travel and easy storage as a PDF on your computer or IUPUIPad.

7:45pm – As the games play, a thought comes and I can’t say it’s the first season that this thought has come along. When you see the likes of Kansas and Michigan State competing against each other at The Garden, it’s very apparent that they are playing at an entirely different level than the rest of the pack. With 2:59 left in the first half, Kansas leads Michigan State, 32-31.

Meanwhile, ESPN is promoting its halftime show and the next rankings of the NCAA Football Top 25. ESPN’s Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit are at The Garden for the upcoming halftime show, previewing the 9pm EST reveal of the CFP rankings. Everyone likes Georgia, many like undefeated Oklahoma, but after that?

Back to College Hoops. Amazing! Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will accept an award from Champions Classic, and its sponsor, State Farm. Of course, Coach K has been a $tate Farm guy forever. Talking heads are debating whether Coach K (five NCAA titles) or John Wooden (10 NCAA titles) is the best college basketball coach of all time.

Duke’s Coach K starts the 2021-22 season, announced to be his last, with a career record of  1,170–361. Wooden went 664–162 in his basketball coaching career, although there were fewer games played overall and the NCAA Tournament was limited to 16 teams when the Wizard of Westwood coached at UCLA.

8pm – ESPN is going full throttle as Rece Davis is joined by LaPhonzo Ellis and Seth Greenberg on the set (on MSG’s floor). You can’t help but wonder why ESPN gets its college coverage so finely tuned while its NBA coverage struggles annually, outside of key play-by-play man Mike Breen.

8:10pm – A quick flip back to ESPN2 and a tune-in at Columbus, Ohio shows Akron going up by a point (66-65) after 6-8 sophomore forward Ali Ali hit a three-point FG and converted the free throw after he was fouled on the play. With 0:06 remaining, Ohio State’s 6-8 sophomore forward Zed Key took a feed from Malachi Branham and scored the game-winner with less than 0:01 on the clock. The win marked the first “barn-burner” and “buzzer-beater” of the new college hoops season. As noted above, Akron and its (+16.5) covered quite easily, but lost a heart-breaker.

8:35pm – Kansas’ 6-5 senior guard Ochai Agbaji drains a three-pointer to make it 61-50 Jayhawks. It continues to look as though the teams at The Garden are playing a different sport than the rank and file early season games elsewhere in college hoops.

8:50pm – With Kansas in control, there’s time to start surfing a few of the other games. The first three clicks were greeted by more insurance commercials, but a stop at New England’s NESN+ brought about the UMBC at UMass game, a close 48-44 affair with 10:55 left. With a tip from the announce team, we see UMBC is 3-20 from three-point range while UMass is 0-10 from downtown. Note to NCAA Basketball: It might be time to bag the three-point shot. (Kansas won 87-74).

9:00pm – In other A-10-related action, St. Bonnies is drilling Siena (22-10 in second half) and Davidson is up by 27 over Delaware. Meanwhile, out in Western Massachusetts, the Minute People finally hit a “3” and were leading 54-46 when the channel surfing headed to the various Sports Nets.

9:01pm – FS1, aka the BIG EAST Network, went to split screen for Fairfield at Providence and Niagara at Xavier.  On FS2, Marquette was holding a slim lead over Southern Illinois -Edwardsville. Long way to go. Coach Shaka Smart is in his first year at Marquette and brought a few of his Texas recruits along with him. By the way, NYC soccer fans might note, the “Special Assistant to the Head Coach” at Marquette is Nevada Smith.

9:05pm – A look at the ACC Network put forth an early Upset Alert as Navy led No. 25 Virginia 5-0. The lead floated out to sea seconds later and Virginia led 7-5 when it was time to look elsewhere. Remember, colleges play an exhibition or two but there’s no “real” preseason games. It is evident tonight. Navy would prevail 66-58 for the ONLY upset of the first night for the Top 25 teams. Virginia is sure to drop out of that elite group.

9:15pm – Bonus programming! A look at the YES Network from New York showed a Southern U. vs Louisville billboard but the fans of college hoops were being treated to Oklahoma hosting Northwestern State (that of Natchitoches, Louisiana). OK was up 45-33 upon tune-in and we noted 6-8, 275 lbs center Larry Owens along with two players from Athens, (Greece, not Georgia), one from Tbilisi, (Country of and not State of Georgia), and one player from Israel. Can you imagine the culture shock upon arriving from Athens to Natchitoches? And, just how did that happen? NWSU head coach Mike McConathy is in his 23rd year, so go figure?

Meanwhile, in between games at The Garden, ESPN has turned it back over to the College Football Playoff rankings.

9:25pm – The College Game Day crew (football) finally gets around to the Top 10. They reveal in reverse order and here ya go, ICYMI.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma State

The CFP Show had some serious arguing over rankings that don’t mean a thing on November 9th.

9:32pm – When in doubt, back to the BIG EAST as Creighton and Arkansas Pine Bluff are battling it out (63-57 upon tune-in time with 12:42 left in the 2nd half). Arkansas Pine Bluff led 47-38 at the half but a little 29-7 run did that lead in. Creighton is very tough at home and any BIG EAST team to go on the road to Omaha and come back with a “W” is fortunate.

9:37pm – The FS1 producers switched to a live look-in for the end of the Niagara at Xavier game as Niagara missed a shot down the stretch that could’ve put the pressure on Xavier in a big way. X ended up winning 63-60 after Marcus Hammond hit a full court heave-ho for three at the buzzer. Xavier was favored by 17 points.

9:45pm – Yes, it was time to check in at TNT where Milwaukee was leading Philadelphia, 118-109,

9:50pm – It’s time to settle in for the final game of the night, with all due respect to that Longwood vs Iowa game on the Big Ten Network. No. 9 Duke and No. 10 Kentucky playing in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden (18,132) is “the” way to put an exclamation point on the first night of the NCAA Basketball Season.

ESPN is making it clear the entire season will be a tribute to Coach K, and rightfully so. Coming out of a break, ESPN rolled old photos and footage of Coach K at Army and getting a couple important victories – including No. 1,000 at The Garden against St. John’s, by the way.

Speaking of St. John’s, they drilled Mississippi Valley State, 119-61.

10:10pm – ESPN catches a very incognito Bruce Springsteen amongst the crowd at MSG. The Boss was  joining his daughter, Jessica, a 2014 Duke grad and 2020-21 USA Equestrian team silver medalist at the Tokyo Games.

10:13pm – Game score going back and forth between Duke and UK as the first half develops into a decent game, albeit somewhat physical.

10:25pm – The refs give each team a talking to, as the game got “chippy” and there was some jawing. Duke led 29-25 with 4:00 remaining in the 1st half.

10:40pm – At the half, Duke led 39-35 as the Kentucky team and head coach John Caliperi headed to the lockers. Coach Cal said on the TV interview with Holly Rowe, “we almost lost two exhibition games.”

11:00pm – Kentucky comes out hot in the 2nd half and it becomes quite apparent that this game is likely to go down to the wire.

11:10pm – Direct TV: Serena v. Wonder Woman; Serena …Wonder Woman.

11:12pm – Players, competing at high speed and rate, are cramping up a sign of not being in “game shape” as of yet.

11:45pm – Duke’s young team, despite four players cramping-up, close-out the Kentucky Wildcats, 79-71. Freshman Trevor Keels led the way for the Blue Devils with 25 points. Duke’s 6-10 freshman forward Paulo Banchero added 25 points.

Later in the night: Both Gonzaga and UCLA both won big over their opponents. The Zags taking Dixie State (Utah, by the way), 97-63 and UCLA – who Jay Bilas touted as the No. 1 team in the country – defeated Cal-Bakersfield, 95-58.

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