It was another tale of two halves for the ‘Cats in tonight’s semifinal at the Big East tourney. First half, solid execution, great defense, big lead. Second half, not so much. If you feel like you heard this song and dance after Thursday’s quarterfinal at Marquette, well, you did.

‘Nova led by as much as 10 in the first half and by eight at halftime. But then Louisville started sharing the ball and knocking down open 3s — 5 of their first 6 after halftime, and 8 of 15 total for the second half (with 11 assists on 17 second-half field goals). The Cardinals also just flat-out pressured the ball, forcing ‘Nova to turn it over 23 times. Scottie Reynolds finished with two points and attempted just six shots, two in the second half — and all because he couldn’t get a shot off anytime he got the ball. ‘Nova had a big edge on the boards (42-33), but Louisville still seemed to get a lot of second-chance baskets. Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher both had 14 points, but both also picked up their fourth fouls when the game was still close. Fisher, who’s been so good this season and who WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST POINT GUARDS IN THE BIG EAST BEFORE HE’S THROUGH (emphasis added), turned it over a whopping seven times and really struggled against Louisville’s press.

Amazingly, for all his successes, Jay Wright has never reached the Big East final. The ‘Cats have now lost in the semis up here in four of the last six years. It’s not necessarily a reflection on him, since this tournament is just so unpredictable every year. At 26-7, ‘Nova still looks like a No. 3 seed, and it should still get to open the NCAAs at the Wacho Center. It just won’t be in Noo Yawk for the Big Saturday Night. Again.

Amazingly, Syracuse just needed overtime AGAIN to beat West Virginia, 74-69. And lived. Orange coach Jim Boehiem just opened his postgame press conference by saying, “Sorry we couldn’t give you guys a longer game tonight.” Perfect.