The 2005 Big East Tournament
On Wednesday, March 9th, the first round of the Big East Championship opened with West Virginia, Georgetown, and Rutgers advancing to the quarterfinal round. West Virginia defeated Providence by a score of 82-59, Georgetown eliminated Seton Hall by a score of 56-51 and Rutgers outlasted Notre Dame by a score of 72-65.
Thursday’s quarterfinal action was highlighted by #8 seed West Virginia’s upset of Boston College by a score of 78-72. In other quarterfinal action, Villanova advanced with their victory over Pittsburgh (67-58), Connecticut rolled past Georgetown (66-62), and Syracuse easily handled Rutgers (81-57).
Friday’s semifinals matched Syracuse against Connecticut and West Virginia against a hot Villanova team. In the day’s opening game, West Virginia outlasted Villanova by a score of 78-76. Kevin Pittsnogle led West Virginia with 18 points while Mike Gansey made two free throws with two-tenths of a second left to seal the Mountaineers victory. Randy Foye kept the Wildcats in the game with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting and Allan Ray added 17 points. In the other semifinal match-up, Syracuse squeaked by UConn by a score of 67-63. Hakim Warrick led the way for the Orange with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Charlie Villanueva led UConn with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
In the 2005 Big East Championship game, Hakim Warrick scored 20 points and Gerry McNamara added 16 as Syracuse won its fourth Big East Conference championship (their first since 1992) with a 68-59 victory over West Virginia. Warrick, who averaged 23 points and grabbed an average 11.7 rebounds in each tournament game, won tournament MVP honors to go along with his regular-season MVP. Attempting to become the first team in tournament history to win four games in four days, the Mountaineers stayed with the Orange for most of the first half. The Orange opened the second half with a 10-2 spurt to forge a 51-33 lead three minutes in. The Mountaineers responded with a 17-4 run to pull within five points of Syracuse (55-50) with eight minutes to play. But Syracuse refused to let West Virginia become the first eighth seed to win the tournament. The Orange got three free throws from Warrick, a twisting right-handed follow shot by Josh Pace, a basket by Darryl Watkins and a 3-point dagger by McNamara with 90 seconds left for a 65-53 lead. Tyrone Sally led West Virginia with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
| Dates: |
March 9-12, 2005 |
| Place: |
Madison Square Garden |
| Bracket and Scores from the 2005 Big East Championship |
| ROUND 1 |
QUARTERS |
SEMIS |
FINALS |
RESULTS |
| West Virginia 82 |
West Virginia 78
Boston College 72 |
West Virginia 78
Villanova 76 |
West Virginia 59
Syracuse 68 |
Winners:
SYRACUSE |
| Providence 59 |
| Georgetown 56 |
Connecticut 66
Georgetown 62 |
| Seton Hall 51 |
| Rutgers 72 |
Syracuse 81
Rutgers 57 |
Connecticut 63
Syracuse 67 |
| Notre Dame 65 |
| - |
Villanova 67
Pittsburgh 58 |
| - |
Dave Gavitt Trophy Winner: Hakim Warrick (Syracuse)
Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer |
The 2004 Big East Tournament
On Wednesday, March 10th, the first round of the Big East Championship opened with Virginia Tech, Boston College, Notre Dame and Villanova advancing to the quarterfinal round. Virginia Tech defeated Rutgers by a score of 61-58, Boston College eliminated Georgetown by a score of 68-57, Notre Dame outlasted West Virginia by a score of 65-64 and Villanova upset Seton Hall by a score of 61-60.
Thursday’s quarterfinal action was highlighted by #11 seed Villanova’s upset of Providence by a score of 69-66. In other quarterfinal action, Boston College advanced with their victory over Syracuse by a score of 57-54, Pittsburgh rolled past Virginia Tech by a score of 74-61, and Connecticut handled Notre Dame by a score of 66-58.
Friday’s semifinals matched Big East regular season champion Pittsburgh against Boston College and Connecticut against a hot Villanova team. In the day’s opening game, Pittsburgh, led by Carl Krauser’s 18 points, outlasted Boston College by a score of 62-53. Craig Smith’s 20 points and 12 rebounds led Boston College in the loss. In the other semifinal match-up, Connecticut ended Villanova’s run by defeating them by a score of 84-67. UConn was led by Ben Gordon’s second consecutive 29-point effort.
The 2004 Big East Championship game featured Pittsburgh and Connecticut for the third straight season. Despite Connecticut having many heath issues, the outstanding play of guard Ben Gordon led them past Pittsburgh—winning by a score of 61-58. Gordon, whose jump shot with 30 seconds remaining sealed the Huskies’ victory, was named the Tournament MVP. Gordon tallied 23 points in the conference final; setting a new tournament record for total points scored with 81 points over three games (a 27 points/game average). Gordon surpassed Allen Iverson’s mark of 79, set in 1996, while playing for Georgetown. Chris Taft and Mark McCarroll each scored 11 points for the Panthers. With their victory over Pittsburgh, Connecticut earned a record-tying sixth Big East Tournament Championship.
| Dates: |
March 10-13, 2004 |
| Place: |
Madison Square Garden |
| Bracket and Scores from the 2004 Big East Championship |
| ROUND 1 |
QUARTERS |
SEMIS |
FINALS |
RESULTS |
| VT (61) |
VT (61)
Pitt (74) |
Pitt (62)
BC (53) |
Pitt (58)
UConn (61) |
Winners:
UConn |
| Rutgers (58) |
| BC (68) |
BC (57)
Syracuse (54) |
| Georgetown (57) |
| Notre Dame (65) |
Notre Dame (58)
UConn(66) |
UConn (84)
Villanova(67) |
| W. Virginia (64) |
| Villanova (61) |
Villanova (69)
Providence(66) |
| Seton Hall (60) |
| THE BIG EAST BASKETBALL CONFERENCE |
| BROKEN DOWN BY DIVISIONS |
| EAST |
WEST |
| Boston College |
Georgetown |
| Connecticut |
Notre Dame |
| Miami |
Pittsburgh |
| Providence |
Rutgers |
| St. John's |
Seton Hall |
| Villanova |
Syracuse |
| Virginia Tech |
West Virginia |
| |
| Top 12 Teams Advance to Big East Championship Tournament |
| Bracket and Scores from the 2003 Big East Championship |
| ROUND 1 |
QUARTERS |
SEMIS |
FINALS |
RESULTS |
| St. John's (83) |
BC (82)
St. John's (75) |
Pitt (61)
BC (48) |
Pitt (74)
UConn (56) |
Winners:
Pitt |
| Notre Dame (80) |
| Providence (73) |
Pitt (67)
Prov (59) |
| W. Virginia (50) |
| Georgetown (46) |
Syracuse (74)
G-town (69) |
UConn (80)
Syracuse (67) |
| Villanova (41) |
| Seton Hall (67) |
UConn (83)
Seton Hall (70) |
| Miami (52) |
| Bracket and Scores from the 2002 Big East Championship |
| ROUND 1 |
QUARTERS |
SEMIS |
FINALS |
RESULTS |
| BC(60) |
Pitt(76)
BC(62) |
Pitt(76)
Miami(71) |
UConn(74)
Pitt (65)
(2 OT) |
Winners:
UConn |
| Rutgers(55) |
| G-Town(68) |
Miami(84)
G-Town(76) |
| Providence(79) |
| Syracuse(64) |
UConn(72)
Villanova(70) |
UConn(82)
Notre Dame(77) |
| Villanova(64) |
| St. John's(64) |
Notre Dame(83)
St. John's(63) |
| Seton Hall(58) |
To view more information on the Big East Tournament, read the Big East Press Release.
| THE BIG EAST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| WINNERS FROM PAST TOURNAMENTS |
| YEAR |
CHAMPION |
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER |
| 2004 |
Connecticut |
Ben Gordon, Connecticut |
| 2003 |
Pittsburgh |
Julius Page, Pittsburgh |
| 2002 |
Connecticut |
Caron Butler, Connecticut |
| 2001 |
Boston College |
Troy Bell, Boston College |
| 2000 |
St. John's |
Bootsy Thornton, St. John's |
| 1999 |
Connecticut |
Kevin Freeman, Connecticut |
| 1998 |
Connecticut |
Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut |
| 1997 |
Boston College |
Scoonie Penn, Boston College |
| 1996 |
Connecticut |
Victor Page, Georgetown |
| 1995 |
Villanova |
Kerry Kittles, Villanova |
| 1994 |
Providence |
Michael Smith, Providence |
| 1993 |
Seton Hall |
Terry Dehere, Seton Hall |
| 1992 |
Syracuse |
Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown |
Tickets for the Big East Tournament can be purchased at the Madison Square
Garden Box Office. Please call 212-465-6741 for additional ticket information.
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