plus Creighton, deserve any and all praise shoveled their way -- there may be more to the league. Seton Hall and Providence have looked plenty

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- Michigan sophomore Nick Carlson won two matches on the 19th hole Thursday at Oakland Hills to advance to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals.Carlson, from Hamilton, Michigan, beat British Amateur champion Scott Gregory of England in the morning round of 32, and topped Thailands KK Limbhasut in the afternoon round of 16.It was unreal, Carlson said. I cant even describe it. There were so many people on this last hole. I was feeding off them on 18. ... I didnt really realize how amazing it was to have this big of a crowd until that last putt went in. Just to look out and see people three deep all around the green, it was pretty special.Carlson will face Illinois junior Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Indiana, on Saturday on the Donald Ross-designed South Course that Ben Hogan dubbed the The Monster in his 1951 U.S. Open victory.I cant even put it to words, Carlson said. Sure, everyone is trying to win this, but I was just trying to get to match play, and now Im in the elite eight.Meyer beat Alex Smalley, the Duke sophomore from Wake Forest, North Carolina, who led stroke-play qualifying, 4 and 3 in the morning and outlasted Englands Sam Horsfield in 19 holes in the afternoon.Against Horsfield, Meyer made a 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole to extend the match, and won with a par on the first extra hole. Meyer also beat the Florida player in the Western Amateur final.It was pretty stressful, Meyer said. I knew that there was a lot of heat on it, and I knew that I had to make it to extend the match. As Coach [Illinois Mike Small] preaches, we own 10-footers, we own 6-footers, we own these putts that put us in these positions, and as a good player, youre going to be in these positions. You have to be clutch, and its how you respond.In the other upper-bracket quarterfinal, Pepperdines Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California, will face Australias Curtis Luck. In the round of 16, Theegala beat Chiles Joaquin Niemann 3 and 1, and Luck routed Cameron Young of Scarborough, New York, 6 and 4.In the other quarterfinals, Southern Californias Jonah Texeira of Porter Ranch, California, will play LSUs Luis Gagne of Orlando, Florida, and former Stanford player David Boote of Wales will face Oklahomas Brad Dalke of Norman, Oklahoma.Texeira beat Kyler Dunkle of Denver 6 and 5; Gagne topped Jimmy Stanger of Tampa, Florida, 3 and 1; Boote edged Collin Morikawa of La Canada, California, 2 and 1; and Dalke beat Bryan Baumgarten of Granite Bay, California, in 19 holes. Vapormax 2019 Teal Tint . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Vapormax 97 Japan For Sale . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.vapormaxcheapoutlet.com/ . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Vapormax Flyknit Black And White . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Vapormax 97 Silver Bullet For Sale . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. The Big East has nothing to prove.Lets start there, because by now, questions about the leagues viability -- whether it could survive the great college sports realignment of 2010s as a post-schism, basketball-only affair -- feel pretty silly. Of course?it is viable; of course?it can survive. If three years of quality basketball and a 50 percent NCAA tournament appearance average didnt seal the deal, Ryan Arcidiaconos dumpoff to a trailing Kris Jenkins signed those terms on the line which is dotted.By now, there is nothing surprising about the words Big East and good being used in close proximity. Even so, around the league, there remains a barely concealed need to repeatedly prove this status is deserved. League officials will privately fret about media coverage and mindshare. Fans will reply to any overview of the league -- even glowing praise -- with scores of mildly passive-aggressive tweets. Its as if each new AP poll or big hoops weekend is one more referendum on an existential question that no longer needs asking. Its kind of weird.Relative to the rest of the sport, the big hoops weekend at hand is a disproportionately big one for the Big East. Three of the leagues extremely impressive top four teams (No. 1 Villanova, No. 13 Xavier, No. 16 Butler) are all facing quality high-major competition, while a probably-underrated NCAA tournament-level upstart (Marquette) has an opportunity for a major win by way of a heated in-state rivalry.Oh, and thats big in normal terms, by the way -- not existential ones. The stakes simply arent that high, nor should they be. And anyway, if you needed more arbitrary proof of the Big Easts ongoing vitality (and you didnt, we promise!), you could also note this: With maybe two exceptions (maybe No. 5 Duke at UNLV and/or Michigan at No. 2 UCLA), if you find yourself watching interesting basketball this weekend, youll be watching the Big East.No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 23 Notre Dame, Saturday, noon ETVillanovas?Josh Hart is awesome. Last seasons quietest All-American-level player (maybe the least heralded star of any national title team ever) is even better so far this season. Hes averaging more points (17.6) than a season ago (15.5) despite taking fewer shots, in large part because because hes shooting 44 percent from 3 and (gulp) 63 percent from 2. Hart has suddenly become a much more capable distributor, though his turnover rate has remained low, and at 6-foot-6, hes still the teams second-best defensive rebounder -- the crucial reason coach Jay Wrights devastating undersized scoring lineups are practicable on both ends of the floor.For what its worth, Notre Dame knows this blueprint well. Bonzie Colson, the Irishs 6-foot-5 power forward/sometimes center, is arguably the seasons leading spokesman for the benefits of new-age positional versatility. The Irish dont guard like Villanova, and that may be the difference here, but the fact of the matter is that they match up witth the reigning champs -- stylistically, philosophically and dimensionally -- as well or better than any team in the country.dddddddddddd. At minimum, this neutral-floor game in Newark, New Jersey, should be a joy to watch.No. 22 Cincinnati at No. 16 Butler, Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ETUConns sundry crimes against the sport of basketball and/or humanity (even in wins!) arent the only reason Cincinnati has emerged as the clear front-runner in the American. The Bearcats deserve plenty of credit, too. Last weeks overtime victory in Ames, Iowa, was the stuff NCAA tournament runs are made of -- great defense and great offensive rebounding travel well. Good news, too, because Butler wing Kelan Martin is one of the nations high-volume breakout stars. He is using nearly a third of the Bulldogs available possessions, hoisting more than a third of its available shots, shooting it well enough (54 percent from 2, 33 percent from 3) and getting to the line all the time. Martin is just the tip of a deceptively balanced, efficient offensive spear for one of the surprise teams of the nonconference slate.Utah at No. 13 Xavier, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ETWhat did we grok from the Musketeers 76-61 loss at Baylor last weekend? That Baylor coach Scott Drews team is really, legitimately good. Good enough, in fact, to survive a typically well-coached, hard-nosed Xavier team for about 35 hard-fought minutes -- just in time to break things open late. The Musketeers played well, hung in and lost to a really good team in a true road game in December. Nothing to worry about there. Indeed, this matchup might tell us a good deal more about the Utes than their hosts. Utahs 6-1 record comprises a home loss to Butler and wins over Coppin State, UC Riverside, Montana State, Utah Valley, Northwest Nazarene, Concordia (Oregon), the latter two of which arent Division I teams.No. 17 Wisconsin at Marquette, Saturday, 2 p.m. ETWhile the Big Easts top four have been good thus far -- and the above three teams, plus Creighton, deserve any and all praise shoveled their way -- there may be more to the league. Seton Hall and Providence have looked plenty spry in the early going. Georgetown, like love, is a mysterious fig; who knows where the Hoyas will be in a month? But of the leagues middle, perhaps no team contains as much quiet potential as Marquette. The Golden Eagles got blitzed by Michigan at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17, and followed up with a close loss to Pitt the next night, which has made it easy to overlook an offense that is A) shooting the ball extremely well from just about everywhere and B) rarely turning it over. Coming off 89 points in 71 possessions in a win at Georgia last week, Marquette has a chance -- at home, even if a few Badger fans invade -- to introduce this scoring prowess to a far wider audience. ' ' '