1987–88 Big East Conference men's basketball season

American college basketball season March 2025 1987–88 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season #072E67 #EFE3BB NCAA Division I Basketball Big East Conference primary logo 1979-1998.png 250px November 20, 1987through March 13, 1988 9 ESPN Regular Season Pittsburgh (12–4) Champion Charles Smith – Pittsburgh Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year Tournament 1988 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament Syracuse Sherman Douglas – Syracuse Most Valuable Player Basketball 1986–87 1988–89 The 1987–88 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the ninth in conference history, and involved its nine full-time member schools. Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of 12–4. Syracuse won the Big East tournament championship. Connecticut won the 1988 National Invitation Tournament. Season summary & highlights Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of (12–4). It was Pittsburgh's second regular-season championship or co-championship. Syracuse won its second Big East tournament championship. Connecticut won the 1988 National Invitation Tournament. It was the first of two consecutive NIT championships for Big East schools: St. John's won the 1989 NIT the following season. Connecticut junior guard Phil Gamble was named Most Valuable Player of the 1988 NIT. Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Jim O'Brien 2nd Connecticut Jim Calhoun 2nd Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 16th Pittsburgh Paul Evans 2nd Providence Gordon Chiesa 1st Resigned March 21, 1988 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 18th Seton Hall P. J. Carlesimo 6th Big East Coach of the Year Syracuse Jim Boeheim 12th Villanova Rollie Massimino 13th Rankings Syracuse was ranked No. 1 preseason, Pittsburgh and Syracuse were ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for the entire season, and Pittsburgh was in the Top 10 in all but one week. Georgetown was in the Top 20 for most of the season until fading late in the year. St. John's and Villanova also made brief appearances in the Top 20. + 1987–88 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Pollhttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/men/1988.html 1987-88 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary March 29, 2025 sports-reference.com Pre 11/30 12/7 12/14 12/21 12/28 1/4 1/11 1/18 1/25 2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 2/29 3/7 FinalBoston College Connecticut Georgetown 16 17 14 18 19 18 14 11 15 15 14 18 Pittsburgh 4 4 2 3 3 3 2 6 6 11 9 5 8 6 7 5 8 Providence St. John's 20 20 Seton Hall Syracuse 1 3 8 9 7 7 7 9 14 17 12 11 12 10 12 13 9 Villanova 19 20 Regular-season statistical leaders 18em start ScoringNameSchoolPPG Dana Barros BC 21.9 Mark Bryant SHU 20.5 Charles Smith Pitt 18.9 Shelton Jones SJU 18.6 Cliff Robinson Conn 17.6 18em break ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Jerome Lane Pitt 12.2 Derrick Coleman Syr 11.0 Rony Seikaly Syr 9.6 Mark Bryant SHU 9.1 Shelton Jones SJU 8.8 18em break AssistsNameSchoolAPG Sherman Douglas Syr 8.2 Sean Miller Pitt 5.8 Tate George Conn 5.6 Kenny Wilson Vill 4.9 Boo Harvey SJU 4.9 18em break StealsNameSchoolSPG Eric Murdock Prov 3.2 Delray Brooks Prov 2.8 Charles Smith GU 2.4 John Morton SHU 2.1 Sherman Douglas Syr 2.0 18em break BlocksNameSchoolBPG Charles Smith Pitt 3.1 Rony Seikaly Syr 2.4 Tom Greis Vill 2.4 Steve Wright Prov 1.6 Derrick Coleman Syr 1.6 18em break Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Shelton Jones SJU .596 Derrick Coleman Syr .587 Tom Greis Vill .582 Rony Seikaly Syr .568 Mark Bryant SHU .564 18em break 3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG% Dana Barros BC .454(no other qualifiers) 18em break Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Kenny Wilson Vill .866 Delray Brooks Prov .854 Dana Barros BC .850 John Morton SHU .841 Tate George Conn .831 end Postseason Big East tournament 1988 Big East men's basketball tournament Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The eighth- and ninth-seeded teams played a first-round game, and the other seven teams received a bye into the quarterfinals. The tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Pittsburgh, (2) Syracuse, (3) Georgetown, (4) Villanova, (5) St. John's, (6) Seton Hall, (7) Boston College, (8) Providence, (9) Connecticut. Bracket First roundMarch 10, 1988 QuarterfinalsMarch 11, 1988 SemifinalsMarch 12, 1988 Championship gameMarch 13, 1988 8 Providence 62 9 Connecticut 75 1 #5 Pittsburgh 75 9 Connecticut 58 4 Villanova 71 5 St. John's 68 3 Georgetown 58 6 Seton Hall 61 2 #13 Syracuse 67 7 1986-87 Boston College Eagles Boston College Boston College 53 1 #5 Pittsburgh 69 4 Villanova 72 6 Seton Hall 63 2 #13 Syracuse 68 4 Villanova 68 2 #13 Syracuse 85 NCAA tournament 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Six Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. St. John's lost in the first round and Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, and Syracuse in the second round. Villanova finished as the Southeast Region runner-up. School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Villanova Southeast 6 11 Arkansas, W 82–74 3 Illinois, W 66–63 2 Kentucky, W 80–74 1 Oklahoma, L 78–59 Pittsburgh Midwest 2 15 Eastern Michigan, W 93–68 7 Vanderbilt, L 80–74(OT) Syracuse East 3 14 North Carolina A&T, W 69–55 11 Rhode Island, L 97–94 Georgetown East 8 9 LSU, W 66–63 1 Temple, L 74–53 Seton Hall West 8 9 UTEP, W 80–64 1 Arizona, L 84–55 St. John's Midwest 11 6 Florida, L 62–59 National Invitation Tournament 1988 National Invitation Tournament Two Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Playing in two different unnamed brackets, Boston College and Connecticut both advanced to the semifinals, in which Connecticut defeated Boston College. Connecticut then went on to defeat Ohio State for the 1988 NIT championship. Connecticut junior guard Phil Gamble was named Most Valuable Player of the 1988 NIT. School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Connecticut West Virginia, W 62–57 Louisiana Tech, W 65–59 VCU, W 69–60 Boston College, W 73–67 Ohio State, W 69–60 Boston College Siena, W 73–68 Evansville, W 88–81 Middle Tennessee State, W 78–69 Connecticut, L 73–67 Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Charles Smith, Pittsburgh, F, Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Gary Massey, Villanova, G, Jr. Freshman of the Year: Sean Miller, Pittsburgh, G Coach of the Year: P. J. Carlesimo, Seton Hall (6th season) All-Big East First Team Dana Barros, Boston College, G, Jr., 5 ft 11 in cm 0, 163 lb 0, Boston, Mass. Charles Smith, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 250 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Mark Bryant, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 245 lb 0, Glen Ridge, N.J. Derrick Coleman, Syracuse, F, So., 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 258 lb 0, Mobile, Ala. Sherman Douglas, Syracuse, G, Jr., 6 ft 0 in cm 0, 180 lb 0, Washington, D.C. All-Big East Second Team: Charles Smith, Georgetown, G, Jr., 6 ft 1 in cm 0, 160 lb 0, Washington, D.C. Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, F, Jr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 230 lb 0, Akron, Ohio Shelton Jones, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 210 lb 0, Copiague, N.Y. Rony Seikaly, Syracuse, C, Sr. 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 240 lb 0, Athens, Greece Doug West, Villanova, G, Jr. 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 200 lb 0, Altoona, Pa. All-Big East Third Team: Cliff Robinson, Connecticut, C, Jr., 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 245 lb 0, Portland, Ore. Steve Wright, Providence, C, Sr. 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 209 lb 0, Syracuse, N.Y. Michael Porter, St. John's, G, Jr., 6 ft 0 in cm 0, Alexandria, Va. Mark Plansky, Villanova, F, Sr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 210 lb 0, Wakefield, Mass. Tom Greis, Villanova, C, So., 7 ft 5 in cm 0, 236 lb 0, Queens, N.Y. Big East All-Freshman Team: Corey Beasley, Boston College, F, 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 210 lb 0 Bobby Martin, Pittsburgh, C, 6 ft 9 in cm 0, Atlantic City, N.J. Jason Matthews, Pittsburgh, G, 6 ft 3 in cm 0 Sean Miller, Pittsburgh, G, 6 ft 1 in cm 0, Ellwood City, Pa. Eric Murdock, Providence, G, 6 ft 1 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Somerville, N.J. All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1988 Associated Press All-America teams. 1988 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans Consensus All-America Second Team: Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 13.9 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 51.3 FG%, 431 points Rony Seikaly, Syracuse, Key Stats: 16.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 56.6 FG%, 569 points Second Team All-America: Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 13.9 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 51.3 FG%, 431 points Third Team All-America: Sherman Douglas, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 18.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 8.6 apg, 54.6 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 562 points AP Honorable Mention Dana Barros, Boston College Derrick Coleman, Syreacuse Charles Smith, Pittsburgh See also 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1987–88 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1987–88 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1987–88 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1987–88 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team 1987–88 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1987–88 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team References