UConn versus Pitt in the Big East Tournament Championship. The rubber match on neutral court. Both sides held serve this year. They have split the BET the past two years — UConn in 2002, Pitt in 2003. The game everyone wanted. Add your own cliches here.

This matters. Ask Calhoun.

I get very, very upset when people say, “It’s a meaningless tournament.” It’s not meaningless to me. I know it’s not meaningless to Taliek Brown to come here to Madison square Garden. I know it’s not meaningless for Ben, it’s not meaningless to Josh, for any of us to go against the guys who are our neighbors, the guys that we battle against sometimes for, in Taliek’s case, four years.
…
But it is special to me. It always has been. Just like the regular season, people said, “Well, it’s not really important whether you win that game.” It was important to us. Wasn’t important of hurting Emeka, and we didn’t, but it was very important to me. Winning the BIG EAST is very important to me. Winning the National Championship is more important, certainly. But this is important to our basketball team, to our program. We want to be as good a program as there is in this league.

Tomorrow night we’ll have another chance to prove it against a team that’s been the best team this year and won the regular season title.

What he said.

I am so grateful the Big East puts the transcripts up from the postgame. Here’s an example of creative usage:

Q. For Ben and Taliek, this is the third straight year Connecticut and Pittsburgh meet for this championship. That’s never happened in 25 years of BIG EAST play. Can you talk about the rivalry or sense you get that’s developing between these two programs?
TALIEK BROWN: I think it’s a big rivalry between us two. I think our team, we, like, really hate them, you know (laughing).

That’s all we do when we play them, they play real tough, they play the way we play, they like to run, they just play real physical. It’s like a battle when we get out there. We just feel like this is the real championship. They beat us once, we beat them once. For me, this is my senior year so this where I end it, right here, so we’ll have to get a win.

Taliek Brown, clearly wants to win and sees it as a rivalry, but is having fun. Laughing when he says UConn hates Pitt. So how do the sportswriters use what he said? From Hartford

The schools will play for the Big East tournament title for the third year in a row and the plots just keep getting juicier. We have seen Brandin Knight play until he dropped in noble defeat. We have seen Pitt, rugged, immovable, rebound last season. And now we will see if UConn, magically transformed almost overnight from overrated powerhouse to determined underdog, can produce a most inspirational Big East tournament championship. And, oh baby, get this: After the Huskies beat Villanova 84-67 Friday night, Taliek Brown said his team hates Pitt.

Yep, hates. He set the UConn single season and career record for assists Friday night and he was clearly tired of dishing out the candy. Taliek wanted to dish some dirt.

Hate. Oh, boy.

That’s the story line.

Or…

“Our team, we really hate them, you know,” Brown said. “We feel like this is the real championship because they beat us once and we beat them once and for me this is my senior year, so I have to end it right here.”

The championship game not only concludes the season long trilogy between these teams but also an epic that has spanned three years.

Okay, how about New Jersey?

“We hate them,” UConn point guard Taliek Brown said of the Panthers. “This is how it should be.”

Nice. What does the AP have to say?

The Huskies and Panthers will play in the title game Saturday night for the third straight year and each won one of the first two.

“It’s a big rivalry. We really hate those guys. That’s all we do is play each other,” Connecticut guard Taliek Brown said after the second-seeded and ninth-ranked Huskies beat Villanova 84-67 Friday night in the semifinals.

Give the NY Times credit. They don’t have the quote in their game wrap-ups.
The Pittsburgh dailies don’t have the quote, but they appeared not to have waited for the Villanova-UConn game to file their reports. Dollars to donuts that it ends up in the papers after the game tonight.

The Connecticut papers also reported that Villanueva will be playing, and Okafor is likely. I believe the former, but doubt that Calhoun would risk the latter — no matter how much he wants this game.

While Jaron Brown’s status is officially questionable for the game, I think he’ll be playing.

Pitt will have to stop Ben Gordon and Taliek Brown on the perimeter. Pitt will win or lose this game on how well their defense holds UConn’s guards in check. Josh Boone will get points inside no matter what, he has been great against Pitt. Troutman and Taft will keep it reasonable, and I think Okafor and/or Villanueva won’t be able to be that agressive.

The guards will be the difference. Krauser will have to keep his emotions and that forearm shove to get separation in check somewhat tonight. You know he is going to want it in the Garden. Page can go 0-7 shooting, but if he can hold Gordon to under 15, I like Pitt’s chances.

Had things to do with the family today, so I will not be doing my game notes. Instead, just a review of the game.

The BC-Pitt game was not easy, but no one should have expected it to be. BC has been one of the hottest teams in the Big East, and they have the bodies inside to bang with Pitt. The difference, though, is that Pitt has guards that can hit a shot. BC’s starting guards had 4 points in the game. By comparison, Pitt’s guards had 22 points. BC’s forwards and center provided 35 points, but Pitt got 29 from theirs. Not enough to make up the difference.

The first half was ugly. Not the kind of ugly Pitt wins, but the kind they lose. Nothing falling. Confusion on the offense. Settling for too many jumpers rather than getting the ball inside. Both teams shot around 30%. BC got its lead because Pitt fouled them on shots, and BC was brilliant at the line. They went 12-12 in the first half. Pitt was 5-8. Pitt stayed in the game and won because of their defense. They got 11 steals in the game and forced 15 turnovers from BC.

The second half was different. Both teams shot better, but Pitt solved their 2-3 zone and got inside more for easier shots. This forced them back to man-to-man. Pitt shot 15-28 in the second half. Part of how they solved the zone was by Krauser and Brown taking the ball and slashing to the hoop more. Brown especially caught them off guard. The second half was classic Pitt. They never completely pulled away, they just grinded BC down as the game continued.

BC should be glad they have one more year in the Big East with this team. They are not built for ACC play, they are a big inside team that should do very well next year in the Big East.

Individual Evaluations
Chevon Troutman: ESPN sideline analyst, Len Elmore, raved about his game before and during the game. Troutman didn’t disappoint. Despite the foul trouble that limited him to “only” 33 minutes, Troutman’s defense on BC’s Craig Smith was huge. Smith abused anyone else who had to guard him (see, McCarroll). Troutman got 6 steals, a block and 6 rebounds to go with his 8 points (4-7).

Chris Taft: A little too eager to try for the tip-ins in the first half, he got smarter in the second half pulling the ball down before trying to put it in. 10 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes. A very typical game for Taft.

Jaron Brown: The stat sheet doesn’t do him justice. He had 11 points and 9 rebounds, but like his 2 steals, they always seemed to come just at the right time. He turned his ankle midway through the second half grabbing a rebound, but didn’t go down until he was able to pass the ball to someone. Got it re-taped and came back into the game after only a couple minutes. Even with the sore ankle, he made a key steal at about 7:47 and took it down for the lay-up himself to get Pitt’s lead back to 5. He kept BC’s star freshman Jared Dudley in check all night.

Carl Krauser: He is, without a doubt, the key on Pitt’s offense. He got 18 points, even though he didn’t shoot well, 5 assists and 2 steals. He is constantly in motion. Played the entire 40 minutes, and I expect the same tonight.

Julius Page: Watching Page go from a slasher and athletic nightmare on offense to a poor jump shooter has sucked. I hate to say this, but Dixon should have sat him more and played McCarroll or Graves in his place for this game. Page is a great defender, but it wasn’t necessary given BC doesn’t have good perimeter players. Considering how well he shot against VT when he had some rest, it seems that he should have gotten a little extra break last night. Page’s shots didn’t go down early or much. He had only 4 points on 2-6. One of the buckets came when he actually chose to take the ball to the basket. It surprised everyone.

Mark McCarroll: Pitt’s not-yet-ready-for-prime-time player. He has the skills on offense, but his defense will keep him on the bench. When he went in for Troutman, he was abused by Smith. In the first half, Smith got 4 straight baskets as McCarroll was helpless — though maybe Page should have been asked to help double him up some more. On offense, he still has a little trouble handling the pass inside.

Torree Morris: The big man had 6 points (3-3) in only 3 minutes of action. He provided a spark on offense, by not missing under the basket.

Tonight against UConn in the Championship.