2002 Big East men's basketball tournament

August 2023 March 2026 2002 Big East Men's 12 Madison Square Garden New York City Connecticut 5th Jim Calhoun 5th Caron Butler Connecticut 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. Connecticut defeated Pittsburgh in the championship game 74–65 in double overtime to win its fifth Big East tournament championship. Bracket Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship game W5 Rutgers 55 E4 Boston College 60 E6 Providence 67 W3 Georgetown 68 E5 Villanova 78 W4 Syracuse 64 W6 Seton Hall 58 E3 St. John's 64 W1 #7 Pittsburgh 76 E4 Boston College 62 E2 #20 Miami 84OT W3 Georgetown 76 E1 #19 Connecticut 72 E5 Villanova 70 W2 Notre Dame 82 E3 St John's 63 W1 #7 Pittsburgh 76 E2 #20 Miami 71 E1 #19 Connecticut 82 W2 Notre Dame 77 W1 #7 Pittsburgh 65 E1 #19 Connecticut 742OT 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 #e3e3e3 Saturday, March 9 8:00 pm Box Score E1 Connecticut Huskies 74 W1 Pittsburgh Panthers 65 (2OT) C. Butler 23 E. Okafor 10 T. Brown 5 O. Lett 17 O. Lett 10 B. Knight 8 Halftime Score: Pittsburgh, 28-27After Regulation: 52-52 Madison Square Garden - New York, NY 19,528 Jim Burr, Tim Higgins, Mike Kitts ESPN 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.http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/030902aaa.html Big East Championship game recap at Pittsburghpanthers.com 2011-01-13 2010-03-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20100328143359/http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/030902aaa.html dead Awards Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Caron Butler, Connecticut All Tournament Team Marcus Barnes, Miami Caron Butler, Connecticut Ben Gordon, Connecticut Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh Ontario Lett, Pittsburgh Chris Thomas, Notre Dame External links Big East website References Tournament Category:Big East men's basketball tournament Category:College basketball tournaments in New York City Category:Sports competitions in Manhattan Big East men's basketball tournament Big East men's basketball tournament Category:2000s in Manhattan