The Big East kicks it up

The Big East teams in the NCAA tournament picked things up yesterday. In fact, they went 5-0 against all comers.

Fom the Newark Star Ledger After slow start, Big East gets back on track

The Wildcats, a No. 1 seed, struggled but still had more than enough firepower for a 58-45 victory over No. 16 Monmouth. Georgetown, under-valued as a No. 7 seed, held on to beat a dangerous Northern Iowa team. Then West Virginia won, beating Southern Illinois with ease, and then Connecticut and Pittsburgh won at night -- although the No. 1 seeded Huskies continued to look out of synch, struggling badly for 30 minutes against an Albany team that lost to Sacred Heart and Harvard at home this season.

Trailing by 12 with 11:33 to play, UConn went on a 17-2 run fueled largely by point guard Marcus Williams before pulling away for a 72-59 victory over the Great Danes.

Meanwhile, the Panthers were easy winners over Kent State to complete the Big East's 5-0 day.

To summarize:

Villanova over Monmouth
Georgetown over Northern Iowa
West Virginia over Southern Illinois
Connecticut over Albany
Pittsburgh over Kent State

Yeah, Villanova’s win over Monmouth and UConn’s over Albany should have been no brainers, but a win is a win at this point of the year. Losers go home with a long wait until next season. Three Big East teams have had to go home. Five get to continue playing.