Player of the Week
Femi Olujobi, F, Senior, DePaul Blue Demons
It has been a season of ups and downs so far for DePaul, but they got a huge boost with a 79-71 win on the road at 24th ranked St. John’s. Leading the charge for the Blue Demons was senior forward Femi Olujobi, who finished with a season-high 27 points. He shot 11-19 from the field, the first time in double-digit field goal makes this season. The North Carolina A&T grad transfer has had the scoring touch before, scoring 20 or more points 11 times last season and once this season with the Red Storm.
St. John’s was missing their star guard Shamorie Ponds, but the day belonged at Olujobi. Olujobi, a Long Island native, had many friends and family in attendance and he thrusted the Demons to their biggest win of the season thus far.
Who’s Hot
Georgetown Buzzer Beaters
The Georgetown Hoyas defeated the Providence Friars 96-90 on Saturday in double-overtime, but the Hoyas had to scratch and claw their way there.
They got some help from two of their best players on two separate, deep clutch 3-point shots. The first game at the end of regulation. Head coach Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas trailed 73-70 athletic freshman guard Mac McClung took the inbounds pass just passed midcourt, hurled up a prayer at the buzzer and banked it home to go to overtime tied 73-73.
Then in overtime, with Georgetown down 86-83 in the final seconds, another freshman guard James Akinjo nailed a deep three well passed the top of the key with 3.4 seconds to send it to a second overtime. Georgetown would roll from there and take control. McClung and Akinjo combined for 36 points and have shown Ewing great promise going forward as leaders.
Who’s Not
Seton Hall Pirates
Seton Hall got off to a great start in conference, with an impressive home win against St. John’s and a road victory against Xavier. Since then, the Pirates are 1-3 in their last five. On Saturday, they suffered a tough 70-66 road loss at Marquette and then went to Providence to fall 72-63 against the Friars. In their last two losses, the offense has come up well short of their 74.4 ppg and this will need to change with tougher opponents to come.
Markus Howard, G, Junior, Marquette Golden Eagles
Howard’s play won’t earn him a spot on this list and it didn’t this time around. Just three minutes into Marquettes matchup with Georgetown on Tuesday, Howard exited with tightness in his back and did not return. Head coach Steve Wojciechowski didn’t commit to a time frame for Howard’s injury or a return so there is a chance he misses time. It has yet to be seen what will happen to this Marquette team with out Howard in the lineup and this may be a chance to see who will step up in Howard’s absence.
Top Big East Rebounders
5. Paul Reed, F, DePaul
Reed is in his second year at DePaul and has really grown with a large influx of minutes. Playing just under 10 minutes per contest last year, he has grown to just under 24 and raised his rebounding total to 7.6 rpg, fourth in the conference. He also has a nice ratio of offensive to defensive boards, at 40-82.
4. Naji Marshall, F, Xavier
Marshall leads the Big East in defensive rebounds by a massive amount with 112 and is fifth in the conference with 7.5 rpg. He upped his rebounding as well with more minutes compared to last season, from 4.4 to 7.5.
3. Josh LeBlanc, F, Georgetown
LeBlanc leads the Big East with 54 offensive rebounds and is tied for second with 8.0 total rebounds per game.
2. Alpha Diallo, G, Providence
Maybe the most impressive name on this list is because Diallo is a 6-7 guard who plays bigger than anyone on the floor at times. He is the top rebounder in the conference with an 8.7 rpg clip. He has six double-digit rebound games this season and in his third year at Providence, he has established himself as the most physical Friar.
1. Jessie Govan, C, Georgetown
If there’s one player in the Big East to pick to get you a rebound against any given opponent, Govan is the guy. He and former Seton Hall center Angel Delgado duked it out last year as the conference’s top big man/rebounder, but now Govan solely holds the distinction. The senior is second in the conference with 8.0 rpg and has six double-digit rebound games this season. Last year, he averaged 10.0 rpg and had 15 double-digit rebound games.