The annual Big East tournament has provided fans at Madison Square Garden a number of highlights over the last 30 years. Now that the conference is losing some of its best rivalries to the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, we rank here the top 10 moments.
10. Mullin Leads St. John’s to 1983 Title
In the Big East’s first tournament at MSG, two-time All-American and leading scorer Chris Mullin, then a sophomore, led St. John’s to the tournament title with wins over Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Boston College. St. John’s was one of five ranked teams that season in a loaded nine-team conference.
9. Taylor’s Heroics Lead Seton Hall to 1991 Title
Once upon a time, P.J. Carlesimo had Seton Hall rolling. The team made it to the Final Four in 1989, but didn’t win the Big East tournament until two years later—with the help of Oliver Taylor. First in the quarters against Pittsburgh, with time running down and the Pirates down a point, Taylor drove the lane and laid in the game-winner as time ran out. The very next night in the semis against Villanova, with the game tied and time winding down again, Taylor drove the lane for a game-winning turnaround jumper. Seton Hall would then go on to beat Georgetown in the finals.
8. Allen Iverson Versus Ray Allen For 1996 Title
The Big East had two of college basketball’s biggest stars in 1996 with UConn’s Ray Allen and Georgetown’s Allen Iverson. Fittingly, the two stars led their teams to the finals to set up a dream matchup. With UConn down 11 late in the second half, the Huskies rallied to set up an exciting final minute. With seconds remaining, Allen hit a ridiculous, off-balance jumper with Iverson draped all over him to secure a 75–74 win. Iverson finished with 13 points while Ray Allen had 17, with the game-winner his only points after halftime.
7. UConn tops Pittsburgh in 2OT to win 2002 Title
In 2002, the Big East championship game came down to the teams with the two best regular season records: 13–3 Pittsburgh against 13–3 UConn. Fittingly it went beyond regulation, but unfortunately for the Panthers leading scorer Brandin Knight injured his knee late in regulation. He wouldn’t re-emerge until the end of the first overtime where he limped into position to throw up a 40-foot prayer that just missed—hitting off the front of the rim. In the second overtime UConn guard Taliek Brown sealed the 69–64 win with a 30-foot 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key.
6. Butler Leads West Virginia to 2010 Title
The Mountaineers came into the 2010 Big East tournament without having ever won it, but leading scorer Da'Sean Butler changed all that in a matter of three days. Butler hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in the quarterfinals to top Cincinnati. Then he scored 24 in the semis to lead the Mountaineers over Notre Dame. In the finals, he hit another game-winner, this time it was a runner in the lane against the Hoyas, to break a 58–58 tie with four seconds remaining to give West Virginia the title.
5. St. John’s Tops Syracuse in 1986 Thriller
Two of the conference’s biggest stars squared off as St. John’s Walter Berry and Syracuse’s Pearl Washington led their teams to the finals. Syracuse led nearly the entire way. But in the final minute, Washington missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Johnnies trailing by a point, to set up a thrilling ending. On St. John’s ensuing possession, forward Ron Rowan hit a baseline jumper with eight seconds left, to go ahead. The Orange quickly inbounded the ball to Washington who drove the length of the court only to have his shot blocked by Berry as time ran out.
4. Ewing Leads Hoyas to Titles in 1984 and 1985
Three-time All-American Patrick Ewing guided the Hoyas to back-to-back Big East tournament titles in 1984-85—becoming the first team to defend as tournament champions. Only UConn in 1997-98 and then Syracuse in 2005-06 have done it since. Ewing was tournament MVP both years and was especially dominant in the 1984 title game against Syracuse in totaling 27 points and 16 rebounds.
3. McNamara Rallies Struggling Syracuse to Title
In 2006, the normally-great Orangemen limped into the tournament having lost nine of 13 games after a 15–2 start. Needing to win the tournament to get into the Big Dance, senior guard Gerry McNamara made it happen. In the first round against Cincinnati, McNamara hit an amazing running game-winning 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left. The next day in the quarters against UConn, he hit a game-tying three to send the game to overtime, where the Orange prevailed. Not done yet, McNamara found Eric Devendorf under the basket for the game-winning assist with 10 seconds left the next day in the semis against the Hoyas. The eventual tournament MVP then finished it off by leading Syracuse to a win over Pittsburgh in the finals.
2. Walker Leads Uconn to Five Consecutive Wins in 2011
In one of the all-time great performances, Kemba Walker led ninth-seeded Connecticut to five wins in five days (the only team ever to do so) to secure the Big East tournament title and an NCAA tournament bid. UConn, a bubble team at 21–9 entering the tourney, needed a game-winner from Walker just to get past Pittsburgh in the quarters. In the semis against Syracuse, Walker scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead them to a win. All in all, he scored a Big East tournament record 130 points as the red-hot Huskies then raced to an NCAA title three weeks later.
1. Syracuse/UConn 6 OT Thriller in 2009
The second-longest game in Division I history would never have happened had Eric Devendorf’s three-pointer at the end of regulation gotten off 0.1 seconds sooner. Waived off after an officals’ review, the game then proceeded for an amazing six overtimes before the Orange pulled away for a 127–117 win. In all, the game lasted 3 hours and 46 minutes. Syracuse guard Johnny Flynn played an amazing 67 (of a possible 70 minutes) finishing with 34 points and 11 assists.
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