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1987–88 Big East Conference men's basketball season

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1987–88 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 20, 1987
through March 13, 1988
Number of teams9
TV partner(s)ESPN
Regular Season
ChampionPittsburgh (12–4)
Season MVPCharles Smith – Pittsburgh
Tournament
ChampionsSyracuse
Finals MVPSherman Douglas – Syracuse
Basketball seasons
1987–88 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Pittsburgh 12 – 4   .750 24 – 7   .774
No. 9 Syracuse† 11 – 5   .688 26 – 9   .743
Georgetown 9 – 7   .563 20 – 10   .667
Villanova 9 – 7   .563 24 – 13   .649
St. John's 8 – 8   .500 17 – 12   .586
Seton Hall 8 – 8   .500 22 – 13   .629
Boston College 6 – 10   .375 18 – 15   .545
Providence 5 – 11   .313 11 – 17   .393
Connecticut 4 – 12   .250 20 – 14   .588
† 1988 Big East tournament winner
As of April 4, 1988[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

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

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Head coaches

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School Coach Season Notes
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

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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 Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll[2] 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 Final
Boston 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

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Postseason

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Big East tournament

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Main article: 1988 Big East men's basketball tournament

Seeding

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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

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First round
March 10, 1988 		Quarterfinals
March 11, 1988 		Semifinals
March 12, 1988 		Championship game
March 13, 1988
            
1 #5 Pittsburgh 75
9 Connecticut 58
8 Providence 62
9 Connecticut 75
1 #5 Pittsburgh 69
4 Villanova 72
4 Villanova 71
5 St. John's 68
4 Villanova 68
2 #13 Syracuse 85
3 Georgetown 58
6 Seton Hall 61
6 Seton Hall 63
2 #13 Syracuse 68
2 #13 Syracuse 67
7 Boston College 53

NCAA tournament

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Main article: 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

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Main article: 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

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Big East Conference

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Player of the Year:

Defensive Player of the Year:

  • Gary Massey, Villanova, G, Jr.

Freshman of the Year:

Coach of the Year:

All-Big East First Team

All-Big East Second Team:

All-Big East Third Team:

  • Cliff Robinson, Connecticut, C, Jr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 245 lb (111 kg), Portland, Ore.
  • Steve Wright, Providence, C, Sr. 6 ft 9 in (206 cm), 209 lb (95 kg), Syracuse, N.Y.
  • Michael Porter, St. John's, G, Jr., 6 ft 0 in (183 cm), Alexandria, Va.
  • Mark Plansky, Villanova, F, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 210 lb (95 kg), Wakefield, Mass.
  • Tom Greis, Villanova, C, So., 7 ft 5 in (226 cm), 236 lb (107 kg), Queens, N.Y.

Big East All-Freshman Team:

  • Corey Beasley, Boston College, F, 6 ft 9 in (206 cm), 210 lb (95 kg)
  • Bobby Martin, Pittsburgh, C, 6 ft 9 in (206 cm), Atlantic City, N.J.
  • Jason Matthews, Pittsburgh, G, 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
  • Sean Miller, Pittsbugh, G, 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), Ellwood City, Pa.
  • Eric Murdock, Providence, G, 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Somerville, N.J.

All-Americans

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The following players were selected to the 1988 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1987-88 Big East Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1987-88 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
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