Perhaps there is no bigger swing of emotion a player can experience – well, over a few day period at least – than Matt Carlino did between four Big East games over an 11 day period.

First, against Creighton on Jan. 14, he hit a contested 3-pointer that was reviewed, only to be called good, leading to a 53-52 Marquette University victory. He followed that up with a 27-point effort at Xavier three days later, but missed a 3-pointer with six seconds left that could have tied the game in a Golden Eagles loss.

Then he missed a would-be game tying half court attempt at the buzzer against St. John’s on Jan. 21, and followed that up three days later with, what most thought – was a game-winning three against Georgetown on Saturday. That shot was reviewed as well, but this time it was ruled a two-point basket, leading to overtime and an eventual 10-point loss.

But for Carlino, the senior transfer from Brigham Young University and one of head coach Steve Wojciechowski’s first recruits, the last two weeks has been a leveling out of sorts.

He was brought in, specifically, to score and to facilitate the offense as a first year player in a first year system with brand new teammates. Then, two of those teammates departed and another was added.

On top of that, he’s been asked to find his offense in a way he’s never had to before.

"Obviously it’s been a little different just coming to a new team and finding my role, have played more off ball than I ever have in my career," said Carlino, who had been a point guard his entire college career. "But, I’m getting used to it and just looking to improve in every facet of the game."

"A lot’s been on his shoulders," Wojciechowski admitted. "There’s no question when he’s playing at his best our team can be really good. And at times when he hasn’t played as well, our team struggles. He’s a very important player. The thing I like about Matt, is head and his heart are always in the right place."

It’s what has helped Carlino get to where he’s at now, which is the player his teammates want to find when the game is on the line.

In the first 12 games of his Golden Eagles career, he averaged 12.3 points on 40.6 percent shooting, but the 38-point outburst against Georgia Tech back on Nov. 27 seemed more like an outlier than a forecast of things to come. After that game, he reached double-digits three times in the next seven games.

When Big East play opened on New Year’s Eve, Carlino went 3-for-14 at DePaul, including 1-for-10 from behind the 3-point line. He followed that up with a 3-for-11 performance against Providence.

"Not to knock the (West Coast Conference), but the Big East is one of the best conferences in the country and it’s definitely different," Carlino said. "The physicality. The size. So, it’s definitely different. But I think it’s good. That’s why I came here. I wanted to play against the best and I think our team does, too."

Then, something clicked.

Over his last five conference games, Carlino is averaging 20.8 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting, and he’s been even better from long range, sinking 51 percent (21-for-41) from behind the 3-point line.

As Carlino hoisted shots in pre-practice warmup Tuesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, Golden Eagles assistant coach Brett Nelson said, "The great thing about Matt, him being a senior, is he’s gotten better throughout the year.

"Matt’s competitive, he’s really tough, and to be a senior, to continue to improve like he has, learning how to play without the ball in his hands as much as he did at BYU, that’s really impressive. That's a testament to him. He works hard."

And now that Carlino has found his way, his teammates are looking to follow suit to help get the Golden Eagles over the hump.

"Matt, he has been tremendous this year, I think, in my point of view," senior guard Derrick Wilson said. "We have to give him, I think all of us, have to give him more help. We have to make the offense easier for him and for us, we have to make other guys more of a threat so all of the focus is not on him and all the pressure is not on him to hit every shot."