2001–02 Big East Conference men's basketball season

2001–02 Big East men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 10 Connecticut†	13	–	3		.813			27	–	7		.794
No. 21 Miami	10	–	6		.625			24	–	8		.750
Boston College	8	–	8		.500			20	–	12		.625
Villanova	7	–	9		.438			19	–	13		.594
Providence	6	–	10		.375			15	–	16		.484
Virginia Tech*	4	–	12		.250			10	–	18		.357
St. John's#	0	–	7		.000			7	–	11		.389
West
No. 9 Pittsburgh	13	–	3		.813			29	–	6		.829
Notre Dame	10	–	6		.625			22	–	11		.667
Georgetown	9	–	7		.563			19	–	11		.633
Syracuse	9	–	7		.563			23	–	13		.639
Rutgers	8	–	8		.500			18	–	13		.581
Seton Hall	5	–	11		.313			12	–	18		.400
West Virginia*	1	–	15		.063			8	–	20		.286
† 2002 Big East tournament winner As of April 1, 2002[1] Rankings from AP Poll *Did not qualify for 2002 Big East tournament. #St. John's had 14 regular-season games vacated due to sanctions against the program; the school′s disputed record was 9–7, 20–12.

The 2001–02 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 23rd in conference history, and involved its 14 full-time member schools.

Connecticut was the regular-season champion of the East Division with a record of 13–3, and Pittsburgh won the West Division, also with a record of 13–3. Connecticut won the Big East tournament championship.

• For the second season, the Big East used a divisional structure, with an East Division and a West Division, each composed of seven teams. The divisional structure lasted through the 2002–03 season.
• Connecticut won the East Division regular-season championship with a record of 13–3. It was Connecticut's seventh regular-season championship or co-championship. It also was Connecticut's third division championship or co-championship and second outright division title.^{[note 1]}
• Pittsburgh won the West Division regular-season championship with a record of 13–3. It was Pittsburgh's third conference championship or co-championship and first division title.
• Connecticut won its fifth Big East tournament championship.

School	Coach	Season	Notes
Boston College	Al Skinner	5th
Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	16th
Georgetown	Craig Esherick	4th
Miami	Perry Clark	2nd
Notre Dame	Mike Brey	2nd
Pittsburgh	Ben Howland	3rd	Big East Coach of the Year
Providence	Tim Welsh	4th
Rutgers	Gary Waters	1st
St. John's	Mike Jarvis	4th
Seton Hall	Louis Orr	1st
Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	26th
Villanova	Jay Wright	1st
Virginia Tech	Ricky Stokes	3rd
West Virginia	Gale Catlett	24th	Retired March 2, 2002

Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse spent time in the Associated Press poll Top 25 during the season. Pittsburgh finished at No. 9, Connecticut at No. 10, and Miami at No. 21.

2001–02 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

AP Poll[2]	Pre	11/19	11/26	12/3	12/10	12/17	12/24	12/31	1/7	1/14	1/21	1/28	2/4	2/11	2/18	2/25	3/4	Final
Boston College	17	17	15	13	11	10	11	11	16
Connecticut											25	17				23	19	10
Georgetown	14	16	18	19	18	16	20	24
Miami							24	21	21	24	22	15	12	13	17	22	20	21
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh									23			21		14	11	10	7	9
Providence
Rutgers
St. John's
Seton Hall
Syracuse	21	18	12	9	13	18	18	16	12	8	12	14	23
Villanova
Virginia Tech
West Virginia

Two teams — the seventh-place finishers in each division based on conference record, after the application of tiebreakers as necessary — did not qualify for the Big East Tournament. The remaining six teams in each division were seeded No. 1 through No. 6 by division based on conference record, again applying tiebreakers as necessary. Four teams — the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each division — received a bye into the quarterfinal round. Eight teams — the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds in each division — played in the first round. In the first round the No. 3 East seed played the No. 6 West seed, the No. 4 East seed played the No. 5 West seed, the No. 5 East seed played the No. 4 West seed, and the No. 6 East seed played the No. 3 West seed.

Seeding in the East Division was (1) Connecticut, (2) Miami, (3) St. John's, (4) Boston College, (5) Villanova, and (6) Providence. Seeding in the West Division was (1) Pittsburgh, (2) Notre Dame, (3) Georgetown, (4) Syracuse, (5) Rutgers, and (6) Seton Hall. The two seventh-place finishers that did not qualify for the tournament were Virginia Tech in the East Division and West Virginia in the West Division.

First round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Championship game

W1

#7 Pittsburgh

76

E4

Boston College

62

W5

Rutgers

55

E4

Boston College

60

W1

#7 Pittsburgh

76

E2

#20 Miami

71

E2

#20 Miami

84OT

W3

Georgetown

76

E6

Providence

67

W3

Georgetown

68

W1

#7 Pittsburgh

65

E1

#19 Connecticut

742OT

E1

#19 Connecticut

72

E5

Villanova

70

E5

Villanova

78

W4

Syracuse

64

E1

#19 Connecticut

82

W2

Notre Dame

77

W2

Notre Dame

82

E3

St John's

63

W6

Seton Hall

58

E3

St. John's

64

Six Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Boston College, Miami, and St. John's lost in the first round and Notre Dame in the second round. Pittsburgh lost in the South Region semifinals an Connecticut in the East Region final.

School	Region	Seed	Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16	Elite 8
Connecticut	East	2	15 Hampton, W 78–67	7 NC State, W 77–74	11 Southern Illinois, W 71–59	1 Maryland, L 90–82
Pittsburgh	South	3	14 Central Connecticut State, W 71–54	6 California, W 63–50	10 Kent State, L 78–73(OT)
Notre Dame	South	8	9 Charlotte, W 82–63	1 Duke, L 84–77
Miami	West	5	12 Missouri, L 93–80
St. John's	East	9	8 Wisconsin, L 80–70
Boston College	Midwest	11	6 Texas, L 70–57

Four Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Three teams accepted their bids and played in three of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Rutgers lost in the first round and Villanova in the quarterfinals. Syracuse was defeated in the semifinals.

Georgetown declined its NIT bid. Head coach Craig Esherick explained his controversial decision by saying that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center, was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the western United States for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule during the previous season in the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NCAA Tournament would have been worth it because of the chance to win a national championship, but that missing them to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players.^[3] Georgetown became only the second team in history to turn down an NIT bid, and the first to do so since Louisville turned down an invitation to the 1987 NIT.^[4]

School	Opening round	Round 1	Round 2	Quarterfinals	Semifinals
Syracuse	Bye	St. Bonaventure, W 76–66	Butler, W 66–65	Richmond, W 62–46	South Carolina, L 66–59
Villanova	Bye	Manhattan, W 84–69	Louisiana Tech, W 67–64	Temple, L 63–57
Rutgers	Bye	Yale, L 67–65
Georgetown	Declined bid

Co-Players of the Year:

• Caron Butler, Connecticut, F, So.
• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr.

Defensive Player of the Year:

• John Linehan, Providence, G, Sr.

Rookie of the Year:

• Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr.

Most Improved Player:

• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr.

Coach of the Year:

• Ben Howland, Pittsburgh (3rd season)

All-Big East First Team

• Caron Butler, Connecticut, F, So., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 217 lb (98 kg), Racine, Wis.
• Preston Shumpert, Syracuse, F, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 200 lb (91 kg), Muncie, Ind.
• Marcus Hatten, St. John's, G, Jr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 165 lb (75 kg), Baltimore, Md.
• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr., 6 ft 0 in (183 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), East Orange, N.J.
• Ryan Humphrey, Notre Dame, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), 235 lb (107 kg), Tulsa, Okla.
• Michael Sweetney, Georgetown, F, So., 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), 275 lb (125 kg), Oxon Hill, Md.
• Troy Bell, Boston College, G, Jr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Minneapolis, Minn.

All-Big East Second Team:

• Darius Rice, Miami, F, So., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 222 lb (101 kg), Jackson, Miss.
• John Salmons, Miami, G, Sr., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 210 lb (95 kg), Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
• John Linehan, Providence, G, Sr., 5 ft 9 in (175 cm), 165 lb (75 kg), Chester, Pa.
• Rashod Kent, Rutgers, F, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 265 lb (120 kg), Fairmont, W.Va.
• Ricky Wright, Villanova, F, Jr., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 215 lb (98 kg), East Chicago, Ind.

All-Big East Third Team:

• James Jones, Miami, F, Jr.., 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), 225 lb (102 kg), Miami, Fla.
• Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Indianapolis, Ind.
• Kevin Braswell, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Baltimore, Md.
• Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, Fr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 252 lb (114 kg), Houston, Tex.
• Deshaun Williams, Syracuse, G, Jr., 6 ft 3 in (191 cm), 205 lb (93 kg), Paterson, N.J.
• Chris Moss, West Virginia, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), 225 lb (102 kg), Chesterfield, Va.

Big East All-Rookie Team:

• Ben Gordon, Connecticut, G, Fr., 6 ft 3 in (191 cm), 200 lb (91 kg), Mount Vernon, N.Y.
• Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, Fr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 252 lb (114 kg), Houston, Tex.
• Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Indianapolis, Ind.
• Ryan Gomes, Providence, F, Fr., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 250 lb (113 kg), Waterbury, Conn.
• John Allen, Seton Hall, F, Fr., 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), 207 lb (94 kg), Coatesville, Pa.

The following players were selected to the 2002 Associated Press All-America teams.

Third Team All-America:

• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 15.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 7.2 apg, 2.3 spg, 42.7 FG%, 35.6 3P%, 546 points

AP Honorable Mention

• Troy Bell, Boston College
• Caron Butler, Connecticut
• John Linehan, Providence
• Preston Shumpert, Syracuse

• 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• 2001–02 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team
• 2001–02 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team
• 2001–02 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team