Cover photo via George Hathaway
This year marks the 40th season Madison Square Garden has hosted the Big East Tournament and it has been one to remember. The Big East is known for some of the best basketball in March, and it has not disappointed at all.
The tournament started off on Wednesday with #9 Butler upsetting #8 in an Overtime thriller, 89-82. Game number two was between #7 St. John’s who cruised by DePaul 92-73. I was able to speak with Julian Champagnie who had 26 points and 0 turnovers in the game. I asked him about his ball control and being able to not commit any turnovers. His response, “You gotta take care of the basketball if you want to win games. And that's the way to win games.” The last game of the night, #6 Seton Hall beat #11 Georgetown, 57-53. The Hoyas went 0-19 in Big East play after winning the Tournament last season.
Day 2 was a thriller with four games being played. #1 seed Providence beat #9 Butler in a close game 65-61. The Friar Faithful showed out in this outing as Big East Coach of the Year Ed Cooley said, “I felt I was at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Dunkin' Donuts of the South. It's down here in New York. And I can't be more grateful for the fan support and energy they gave our players. It was big time.” #4 Creighton went on to beat #5 Marquette by eleven, 74-63. #7 St John’s blew a 17-point lead to #2 Villanova as the Wildcats got the win by free throws with 2.8 seconds on the game clock, 66-65. Lastly, the UConn Huskies beat #6 Seton Hall by double digits, 62-52. In the post-game press conference, I spoke with UConn Head Coach, Danny Hurley about his team only missing two free throws in the game. He said, “I just thought the greatest barometer for us, free-throw line, obviously you've got to make free throws, especially this time of year.”
Day three was a day for madness. #4 Creighton beat #1 Providence, 85-58. This deficit was the most lopsided defeat by a 1 seed in Big East Tournament history. Ed Cooley, “We picked a bad time to play bad in a great arena. Unbelievable crowd. Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to coach today…our job is to respond.” #2 Villanova beat #3 UConn is a nail biter, 63-60 to advance to their 6th Championship Game since the 2013-2014 season.
On Championship Saturday, #2 Villanova and #4 Creighton faced off; a rematch of the 2017 Big East Championship Game where Nova was able to beat Creighton, 74-60. The first half of this year’s Big East Tournament Championship game between the Wildcats and Bluejays was very slow. The first half was 19-18 with Villanova having the one-point edge on Creighton. No one on either side of the ball scored more than 6 points. The second half came, and Collin Gillespie turned thing around for Villanova scoring all his 17 points in the second half. Gillespie hit two big threes for the Wildcats to put them up 54-48 to win the game. Collin Gillespie was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He said post game, “I think it's a lot of credit to my teammates and my coaches. They push me every day in practice and games to just be the best version of myself. And a lot of that credit goes to those guys because they put me in position to be successful."
The Big East has reemerged as one of the powerhouse conferences in College Basketball. It will be fun to see what the Conference can do come March Madness time. Here is to another 40 years at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden.