{"id":108451,"date":"2024-11-22T12:44:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=108451"},"modified":"2024-11-22T12:44:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:44:45","slug":"big-east-holiday-tournaments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/22\/big-east-holiday-tournaments\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Storm Gets Things Going As Big East Teams Visit Paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are still six undefeated Big East teams. Will that change when Big East teams visit Paradise for challenging holiday tournaments?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UConn will head to Hawaii with the first of three games in three days in the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/mauiinvitational.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maui Invitational<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> coming against Memphis on Monday. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/baylor-st-johns-mens-basketball-6a508ac04db689e2188e8f908660c46a\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St. John&#8217;s took Baylor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into overtime in the Bahamas with a matchup against either Virginia on Friday. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/gomarquette.com\/news\/2024\/11\/21\/mens-basketball-no-15-14-mubb-faces-georgia-in-bahamas-on-saturday\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marquette plays Georgia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Bahamas on Saturday.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should be a chance for some of the top Big East teams to respond to tough tests away from home. UConn and Creighton were the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/23\/big-east-preseason-poll-has-uconn-as-the-team-to-beat\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">favorites to win the Big East<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when the season began. These next few games should speak volumes on where the Huskies and the Bluejays are right now.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Red Storm Gets Things Going As Big East Teams Visit Paradise<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After four straight home games, it was fair to wonder how St. John&#8217;s would fare in its first game against a ranked team. The answer was that the Red Storm did just final, thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St. John&#8217;s had a chance to put away a talented Baylor team in the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/bahamarhoops.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Baha Mar Hoops<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> opener. However, <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/zuby-ejiofor-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zuby Ejiofor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> missed a pair of free throws with four seconds left in the second overtime. That set the stage for former Duke guard <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/jeremy-roach-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jeremy Roach<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Baylor a 99-98 win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">JEREMY ROACH CALLS GAME IN DOUBLE OT<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QkTKyPf4l3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QkTKyPf4l3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBKReport\/status\/1859791931242590476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ejiofor finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for St. John&#8217;s. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/aaron-scott-5.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aaron Scott<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> added 20 points off the bench.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Huskies Have Challenges Ahead<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was hard to read too much into games against Sacred Heart, New Hampshire, Le Moyne, and East Texas A&amp;M for the reigning national champion UConn Huskies.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Big East teams visit Paradise for holiday tournaments, the degree of difficulty will ramp up for the Huskies. After opening with Memphis, UConn plays either Colorado or Michigan State on Tuesday. The final game in Maui is on Wednesday. Auburn, Dayton, Iowa State, and North Carolina are on the opposite side of the bracket.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four UConn players are averaging more than 10 points per game this season. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/alex-karaban-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alex Karaban<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the only returning starter for the Huskies is putting up 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.3 blocked shots per game.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UConn is coming off an <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.stamfordadvocate.com\/sports\/uconn-mens-basketball\/article\/east-texas-a-m-solo-ball-alex-karaban-19929275.php\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uninspired effort<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a win over East Texas A&amp;M. The Huskies know that a similar performance in Maui could result in the team&#8217;s first loss of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">No. 2 UConn beat East Texas A&amp;M by 35 points Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Hurley&#8217;s first words at the podium postgame:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yeah so, um, yeah just comically bad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Added later: &#8220;I&#8217;m happy the game&#8217;s over.&#8221; <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MxUmhEZPj6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/MxUmhEZPj6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kyletheboone\/status\/1859277613530808751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><b>Kalkbrenner, Creighton Going to Vegas<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creighton will play Nebraska in Omaha as the Bluejays look to improve to 5-0 at home this season. Matchups with San Diego State and No. 23 Texas A&amp;M await No. 14 Creighton as part of the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.playersera.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Players Era Festival &#8211; Power Tournament<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Las Vegas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Big East Preseason Player of the Year <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/ryan-kalkbrenner-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ryan Kalkbrenner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is off to a tremendous start for Creighton. He had 49 points in a season-opening win over UT Rio Grande. Kalkbrenner ranks in the top five nationally in scoring heading into the weekend. He is one of the Big East stars to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/02\/big-east-stars-land-award-watch-lists\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">land on preseason watch lists<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. As Big East teams visit Paradise, it is a good time for the Big East to make a statement by winning tough games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>What Will Kam Jones Do for an Encore?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/kam-jones-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kam Jones<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in a win over 2024 national finalist Purdue. After struggling to put away Central Michigan and Maryland in its last two games, the Golden Eagles made quite the statement by rolling to a 76-58 <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/purdue-marquette-basketball-score-ff5f5ce94a10928492f9ffc5f542fcf1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">win over Purdue<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marquette faces Georgia on Saturday in the Bahamas. Jones is putting up 22.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 6 assists per game with three other Marquette players averaging more than 12 points per contest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are still six undefeated Big East teams. Will that change when Big East teams visit Paradise for challenging holiday tournaments? UConn will head to Hawaii with the first of three games in three days in the Maui Invitational coming against Memphis on Monday. St. John&#8217;s took Baylor into overtime in the Bahamas with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5287,"featured_media":108462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[4447,2960,1451,1242,1450,1744],"class_list":["post-108451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-big-east-basketball","tag-creighton-bluejays","tag-marquette-golden-eagles","tag-rick-pitino","tag-st-johns-red-storm","tag-uconn-huskies"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}