Big East Tournament

With 5 seconds separating WVU from the wrong side of the bubble and Darris Nichols injured the Mountaineers put their season in the hands of Joe Mazzulla. Mazzulla was able to beat the entire Johnnie defense up the court including splitting the last two defenders to send the game to overtime. In overtime the Mountaineers cruised and coupled with a Syracuse win over Marquette secured the 5th seed in the Big East Tournament. A remarkable ending to the regular season which would only have been more surprising had Jamie Smalligan ended the game by dunking on someone then stealing an inbounds and hitting a winning three.

As the fifth seed WVU draws Providence in the first round of the BET at 2:30 on Wednesday so get your excuses in early. I'm going with rickets. The women advanced to the semi-finals after taking South Florida apart yesterday. The women will face Louisville tonight at 8:00.

The Big East has announced the regular season awards winners (sans POY, COY, and ROY). The only Mountaineer to make any of the three All-Big East Teams was Joe Alexander on the First Team. None of the other Mountaineers were mentioned among the 27 on the first, second, or honorable mention. Congratulations to Joe who went from athlete to basketball player with a trip to the dog house in between this year. In fact this team will go as far as Joe can take them in the BET and NCAA tournament since the offense has started running clearouts for him in all crucial possessions. For the women three players made All-Big East honors. Olayinka Sanni was named to the First team while Meg Bulger and LaQuita Owens were named to the Second team. Meg also received the Sportsmanship Award. She plans to use to award for spare parts for her knee.