Even in a mega-conference like the Big East, every team plays each leaguemate at least once, so all the Big East Tournament games are rematches.  What makes today's slate interesting is that all of the higher seeds had a lot of trouble prevailing against the round one survivors, if they even managed to win at all.

12:00pm: 9) South Florida vs. 8) Georgetown - The Dominique Jones show came to DC in early February and the Hoyas had no answer for the Bulls' star guard.  Despite trailing by nine at the half, South Florida outscored their hosts by 46-29 in the second half and won comfortably.  Greg Monroe and Austin Freeman each scored 21, but got little help from Bad Chris Wright, who was 3 of 10 from the field and 0 for 6 from behind the arc.  To make things even trickier for Georgetown, South Florida won that game without Augustus Gilchrist, the big man who is averaging 15 and 6 on the season.  When you consider the desperation factor of Stan Heath's crew and their relatively easy opening victory over DePaul, Georgetown better be prepared for a battle if they want an extended stay in NYC.

2:30pm: 13) St. John's vs. 5) Marquette - Marquette went to overtime with a lot of teams this season, but the duel with D.J. Kennedy and the Johnnies was one of their most dramatic.  The Red Storm blew a late second half lead before a Malik Boothe three sent the game to overtime.  With the clock nearing zero and the score tied in the extra session, Golden Eagle late shot specialist Jimmy Butler grabbed a loose ball and connected on a baseline jumper, knocking off the hosts 63-61.  Kennedy had 20 for St. John's, bested only by the 22 of Marquette senior Lazar Hayward.  The Red Storm embarrassed UConn in the first round, which may have reminded them of last year's Big East Tournament, when they were sent home after  a 74-45 waxing from the Golden Eagles.

7:00pm: 10) Seton Hall vs. 7) Notre Dame - When the Irish and Pirates (that sounds like the best theme party ever) squared off earlier in the season, Luke Harangody went down while Jeremy Hazell blew up.  Notre Dame lost their star midway through the second half, but still came within a pair of missed threes from forcing overtime.  Tory Jackson tried (25 points, 6 assists), but there was no answer for Hazell, who scored 35 points on 12 of 16 shooting, including an absurd 8 of 11 from three.   This game is probably the most intriguing of the day, with all sorts of fun storylines, including:

• A Seton Hall win would make them 2-0 against the Irish and force ND closer to the bubble. The Fighting Irish would still probably be in, but we'd be sweating a little come early Sunday morning.
• Bobby Gonzalez attempting to not appear completely insane on the sideline after the entertaining but none-too-flattering Times profile.
• The Irish attempting to work Luke Harangody back into a fairly succesful flow. He saw limited action against Marquette and will probably get on the floor more tonight, so it's going to take an interesting balancing act from Mike Brey.
• Can the Irish find their stroke? They've shot below 25% from behind the arc the last few games, with Tim Abromaitis stuck in a 2-for-20 funk. Notre Dame has been winning without any trey barrages (with the occasional clutch shot from Carleton Scott), but it would make life easier if a few long range shots started to drop.

9:30pm: 11) Cincinnati vs. 6) Louisville - When the old Conference USA brethren squared off this season, the Bearcats held a double-digit lead halfway through the first half in Freedom Hall.  At that point, the Cards put the pedal to the floor and pulled away for a halftime lead and a second twenty minutes where they never trailed.  Reginald Delk's double-double and three threes led the Cardinals, who forced fifteen Bearcat turnovers.   Lance Stephenson came alive in the second half against the Scarlet Knights, and Born Ready will have to repeat that effort if his team is to have a shot at advancing to play Louisville.

~

Tomorrow's schedule:

12:00pm: 1) Syracuse vs. South Florida/Georgetown

2:30pm: 4) Villanova vs. Marquette/St. John's

7:00pm: 2) Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame/Seton Hall

9:30pm: 3) West Virginia vs. Louisville/Cincinnati