1981–82 Big East Conference men's basketball season

American college basketball season March 2025 1981–82 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season #072E67 #EFE3BB NCAA Division I Basketball Big East Conference primary logo 1979-1998.png 250px November 27, 1981through March 6, 1982 8 ESPN Regular Season Villanova (11–3) Champion Dan Callandrillo – Seton Hall Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year Tournament 1982 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament Georgetown Sleepy Floyd – Georgetown Most Valuable Player Basketball 1980–81 1982–83 The 1981–82 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the third in conference history, and involved its eight full-time member schools. Villanova won the regular season championship with an 11–3 record. Georgetown was the champion of the Big East tournament. Season summary & highlights Villanova won its first regular-season championship, with a record of 11–3. Georgetown won the Big East tournament, giving the Hoyas their second conference tournament championship. The Big East tournament took place at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Georgetown advanced to the final of the NCAA Tournament, losing to North Carolina in the closing seconds. The attendance of 61,612 at the Louisiana Superdome was the largest paid basketball crowd in NCAA history.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 1. Patrick Ewing 2014-01-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064113/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm 2018-07-23 dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Classic Games 2014-01-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064113/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm 2018-07-23 dead history.com Mar 29, 1982: Tar Heels win NCAA basketball championship The Big East awarded its Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time. Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Tom Davis 5th Resigned March 26, 1982 Connecticut Dom Perno 5th Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 10th Providence Joe Mullaney 15th First season of second stint; previously coached Providence 1955–1969 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 14th Seton Hall Hoddy Mahon 1st Acting head coach; replaced April 5, 1982 Syracuse Jim Boeheim 6th Villanova Rollie Massimino 9th Big East Coach of the Year Rankings Georgetown was ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for most of the season. St. John's and Villanova also made appearances in the Top 20 during the season. + 1981–82 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Pollhttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/men/1982.html 1981-82 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary March 25, 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 3/1 FinalBoston College Connecticut Georgetown 5 20 20 19 17 17 13 8 13 20 13 12 8 6 Providence St. John's 20 Seton Hall Syracuse Villanova 18 20 19 Regular-season statistical leaders 18em start ScoringNameSchoolPPG Dan Callandrillo SHU 25.9 John Bagley BC 21.1 David Russell SJU 17.4 John Pinone Vill 17.2 Erich Santifer Syr 17.0 18em break ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Corny Thompson Conn 8.3 Otis Thorpe Prov 8.0 Ed Pinckney Vill 7.8 Patrick Ewing GU 7.5 David Russell SJU 7.0 18em break AssistsNameSchoolAPG Stewart Granger Vill 5.7 Leo Rautins Syr 5.2 Bob Kelly SJU 4.6 Jim Panaggio Prov 4.0 Gene Waldron Syr 3.9 18em break StealsNameSchoolSPG Dan Callandrillo SHU 2.2 Norman Bailey Conn 2.2 Fred Brown GU 2.2 Eric Smith GU 2.0 John Bagley BC 1.9 18em break BlocksNameSchoolBPG Patrick Ewing GU 3.2 Ed Pinckney Vill 2.0 Burnett Adams BC 1.3 Bill Wennington SJU 1.2 John Garris BC 1.1 18em break Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Ed Pinckney Vill .640 John Pinone Vill .565 Erich Santifer Syr .558 Otis Thorpe Prov .541 David Russell SJU .535 18em break Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Dan Callandrillo SHU .825 John Bagley BC .797 Chris Mullin SJU .791 Tony Bruin Syr .771 David Russell SJU .770 end Postseason Big East tournament 1982 Big East men's basketball tournament Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Vilanova, (2) Georgetown, (3) St. John's, (4) Boston College, (5) Syracuse, (6) Connecticut, (7) Providence, (8) Seton Hall. Bracket Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game 1 Villanova 88 8 1981-82 Seton Hall Pirates Seton Hall University Seton Hall 73 4 Boston College 94 5 Syracuse 92 2 #8 Georgetown 62 7 1981-82 Providence Friars Providence College Providence 48 3 St. John's 54 6 Connecticut 52 1 Villanova 74 4 Boston College 71 2 #8 Georgetown 57 3 St. John's 42 1 Villanova 54 2 #8 Georgetown 72 NCAA tournament 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Four Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. St. John's lost in the second round in the East Region, Villanova lost in the East Region finals, and Boston College lost in the Mideast Region finals. Georgetown received a No. 1 seed in the West Region and finished as national runner-up, advancing to the final and losing to North Carolina in the closing seconds. School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final Georgetown West 1 Bye 8 Wyoming,W 51–43 4 Fresno State, W 58–40 2 Oregon State, W 69–45 3ME Louisville, W 50–46 1E North Carolina, L 63–62 Villanova East 3 Bye 11 Northeastern, W 76–72 (3OT) 2 Memphis State, W 70–66 1 North Carolina, L 70–60 Boston College Midwest 8 9 San Francisco, W 70–66 1 DePaul,W 82–75 5 Kansas State, W 69–65 6 Houston, L 99–92 St. John's East 5 12 Penn, W 66–56 4 Alabama, L 69–68 National Invitation Tournament 1982 National Invitation Tournament Two Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in two different unnamed brackets. Connecticut lost in the first round and Syracuse in the second round. School Round 1 Round 2 Syracuse Saint Peter's, W 84–75 Bradley, L 95–81 Connecticut Dayton, L 76–75 Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr. Freshman of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C Coach of the Year: Rollie Massimino, Villanova (9th season) All-Big East First Team John Bagley, Boston College, G, Jr., 6 ft 0 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Corny Thompson, Connecticut, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Middletown, Conn. Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6 ft 3 in cm 0, 172 lb 0, Gastonia, N.C. Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Sr., 6 ft 2 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, Gastonia, North Bergen, N.J. David Russell, St. John's, F, Jr., 6 ft 7 in cm 0, 215 lb 0, New York, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, Jr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 230 lb 0, Hartford, Conn. All-Big East Second Team: Mike McKay, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr., 7 ft 0 in cm 0, 240 lb 0, Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, Fr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Brooklyn, N.Y. Erich Santifer, Syracuse, G, Jr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Ann Arbor, Mich. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, Jr., 6 ft 3 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Montreal, Quebec, Canada All-Big East Third Team: Eric Smith, Georgetown, F, Sr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, Potomac, Md. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, So., 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 248 lb 0, Boynton Beach, Fla. Ron Jackson, Providence, G, Jr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, West Roxbury, Mass. Billy Goodwin, St. John's, F, Jr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 220 lb 0, New York, N.Y. Tony Bruin, Syracuse, F, Jr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 200 lb 0, Astoria, N.Y. Big East All-Freshman Team: Anthony Jones, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 195 lb 0, Washington, D.C. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr., 7 ft 0 in cm 0, 240 lb 0, Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, Fr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Brooklyn, N.Y. Dwayne McClain, Villanova, G, Fr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 195 lb 0, Worcester, Mass. Ed Pinckney, Villanova, F, Fr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Bronx, N.Y. All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1982 Associated Press All-America teams. 1982 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans Consensus All-America team: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 16.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 50.4 FG%, 619 points First Team All-America: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 19.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 46.7 FG%, 607 points AP Honorable Mention John Bagley, Boston College Patrick Ewing, Georgetown John Pinone, Villanova David Russell, St. John's Erich Santifer, Syracuse Corny Thompson, Connecticut See also 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1981–82 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 1981–82 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1981–82 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1981–82 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1981–82 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1981–82 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team References