2002 Big East men's basketball tournament

The 2002 Big East men's basketball tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the two highest seeds in each division received byes in the first round. The six teams with the best conference records in each division were invited to participate for a total of 12 teams. Teams were seeded by division. Connecticut and Pittsburgh had the best regular season conference records and received the East #1 seed and West #1 seed, respectively.

2002 Big East men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season200102
Teams12
SiteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsConnecticut (5th title)
Winning coachJim Calhoun (5th title)
MVPCaron Butler (Connecticut)
2001–02 Big East men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
East
No. 10 Connecticut133 .813277  .794
No. 21 Miami106 .625248  .750
St. John's97 .5632012  .625
Boston College88 .5002012  .625
Villanova79 .4381913  .594
Providence610 .3751516  .484
Virginia Tech*412 .2501018  .357
West
No. 9 Pittsburgh133 .813296  .829
Notre Dame106 .6252211  .667
Georgetown97 .5631911  .633
Syracuse97 .5632313  .639
Rutgers88 .5001813  .581
Seton Hall511 .3131218  .400
West Virginia*115 .063820  .286
2002 Big East tournament winner
As of April 1, 2002[1]
Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2002 Big East tournament

Connecticut defeated Pittsburgh in the championship game 74–65 in double overtime to win its fifth Big East tournament championship.

Bracket

First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship game
            
W1 #7 Pittsburgh 76
E4 Boston College 62
W5 Rutgers 55
E4 Boston College 60
W1 #7 Pittsburgh 76
E2 #20 Miami 71
E2 #20 Miami 84OT
W3 Georgetown 76
E6 Providence 67
W3 Georgetown 68
W1 #7 Pittsburgh 65
E1 #19 Connecticut 742OT
E1 #19 Connecticut 72
E5 Villanova 70
E5 Villanova 78
W4 Syracuse 64
E1 #19 Connecticut 82
W2 Notre Dame 77
W2 Notre Dame 82
E3 St John's 63
W6 Seton Hall 58
E3 St. John's 64

Note: By finishing in last place during the regular season in their respective divisions, Virginia Tech and West Virginia did not qualify for the tournament.

Championship game

ESPN
Saturday, March 9
8:00 pm
E1 Connecticut Huskies 74, W1 Pittsburgh Panthers 65 (2OT)
Pts: C. Butler 23
Rebs: E. Okafor 10
Asts: T. Brown 5
Pts: O. Lett 17
Rebs: O. Lett 10
Asts: B. Knight 8
Halftime Score: Pittsburgh, 28-27
After Regulation: 52-52
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
Attendance: 19,528
Referees: Jim Burr, Tim Higgins, Mike Kitts

Caron Butler, the tournament MVP, gave Connecticut the lead for good at 66–64 on a turnaround jumper with 1:59 left in the second overtime, and Pittsburgh fell to the Huskies in two overtimes, 74–65. After Ben Gordon was tied up with two seconds left on the shot clock, Taliek Brown put up a desperation heave from about thirty feet away with the shot clock running down to put the Huskies up 69–64, and they never looked back.

Brandin Knight had a chance to win it for Pittsburgh at the end of the first overtime. After slipping and injuring his right knee, just as they tied the game at 52, Knight was clearly in pain. However, with 1.7 seconds left in OT, he checked into the game and put up a 40-foot 3-point attempt that would have won the game. It bounced off the rim and the game went to double OT.

Knight's eight assists tied him at 229 for the school record in a season. He had fifteen points in the loss. Ontario Lett, who tied the game with 23 seconds left in overtime, had 17 in the loss.

Butler finished with 23 points for Uconn in the win, while Brown added 13. It was the fifth Big East tournament championship for the Huskies, their last coming in 1999, when they went on to win the national championship. It was their sixth title game appearance in the last eight years. The game was the second-longest title game in league history. Syracuse beat Villanova 83–80 in three overtimes in 1981.[2]

Awards

Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Caron Butler, Connecticut

All Tournament Team

References

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