It’s that time of year again, a time when New York City once again becomes the epicenter of college basketball. When thousands of college basketball fans descend on Madison Square Garden to witness the very best college basketball the sport has to offer and when the “hoops flu” sweeps through offices throughout the city. The only remedy: a trip to the Garden for the BIG EAST Tournament.
For coaches, players and fans alike, it’s July 4
th, Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one four-day hoopfest at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“To me, it’s my favorite week of the year,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said Monday. “A lot of the coaches in the BIG EAST have always talked about, I don’t know if it’s the Sweet 16 or Final Eight, but winning the BIG EAST Tournament is comparable for us guys from the Northeast. It’s the Mecca of basketball. I think you can watch any other tournament and I don’t think you see intensity from the crowd or from the teams anywhere like you see in the Garden. It’s just a thrill to be a part of it.”
Kevin Willard’s Seton Hall Pirates knocked off Villanova for the BIG EAST Tournament championship last year and, for him going to the Garden never gets old.
“You’re playing in the greatest college basketball tournament that there is in the greatest arena in the country. It’s a special tournament, it’s a special place,” Willard said. “I’ve always said Madison Square Garden is the heartbeat of New York City. When you’re in New York City there is always a great vibe and I think it all starts with the greatness that is Madison Square Garden. When you walk into the building, I always say, ‘If these walls could talk.’ Well, I think Madison Square Garden talks to you. You can hear the roar, the tradition. It’s just a special place.”
This year the BIG EAST Tournament, now in its 35
th straight season at Madison Square Garden, will tip off Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when No. 8 St. John’s will square off against one of its ancient rivals in No. 9 Georgetown. This season the Johnnies and Hoyas split their season series with each team winning on its home court.
St. John’s, which landed both Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds on the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, has dropped four of its last five games coming into the tournament with the lone victory coming over the Hoyas on Feb. 25 at the Garden. Georgetown head coach John Thompson III is hoping the tournament will provide a clean slate for his team after an inconsistent regular season. But despite some recent struggles, St. John’s vs. Georgetown is still considered must-see basketball.
“It’s Georgetown-St. John’s in the Garden,” Thompson III said. “That matchup has always been part of the fabric of this conference and we’re looking forward to another round of it.”
Wednesday night’s nightcap pits No. 7 Xavier against No. 10 DePaul at approximately 9:30 p.m. The Musketeers swept the season series from the Blue Demons but due to a season-ending knee injury to Edmond Sumner and an ankle injury to Trevon Bluiett that caused him to miss some time, Xavier comes into the Garden with just one win in its last seven games. Still, Musketeers’ head coach Chris Mack is looking forward to taking his best shot in the tournament.
“I don’t think I fully realized when we first entered the league how special the BIG EAST Tournament was going to be,” Mack said. “Until you’re under those bright lights at MSG and just the electricity in the air, you can’t really do it justice. I think for all the fans of all of the programs, whether it’s Butler, Creighton or ourselves, that have had that opportunity to travel to New York City and spend a few days there and go to tournament games, I think they understand what I’m talking about. It’s been a huge deal for our program, our players and our university.”
DePaul, which saw senior guard Billy Garrett Jr. win the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award this year, is looking to stir things up in the tournament now that a difficult regular season is over.
“Everyone across the country has a chance to push the reset button and go into a new season and we have the opportunity to see what can come of it,” DePaul head coach Dave Leitao said. “Madison Square Garden for us is no different than anybody else from that opportunity standpoint.”
Defending national champion Villanova will see its first action in the Thursday quarterfinal opener at noon against the winner of St. John’s-Georgetown. The Wildcats swept the season series from both the Red Storm and the Hoyas.
One of the tournament’s most intriguing matchups will pit No. 4 Marquette vs. No. 5 Seton Hall in Thursday’s second quarterfinal at 2:30 p.m. The two programs split their two regular season games with each contest being decided by three points and one game needing overtime.
Steve Wojciechowski’s Golden Eagles just may be playing their best ball of the season with four wins in their last five games, including a pair of victories over Xavier and one over Creighton. Seton Hall, the defending tournament champions who have posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1992-93, closed out the regular season with five wins in its last six games, including home wins over Creighton and Xavier and a huge road victory at Butler last Saturday.
“It’s been a while since we played them. We played them almost back-to-back in early January and they are playing terrific basketball,” Willard said. “Markus Howard is a tremendous young guard who is going to be a special player in this conference (and) they have two great seniors in (Jajuan) Johnson and (Luke) Fischer who I think are playing the best basketball of their careers.”
Wojciechowski’s main concern may be how to slow down Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado, who logged 23 double-doubles in his last 24 games this season and led the nation in rebounding with 13.1 boards a game. So how will he deal with Delgado?
“I wish I knew. He’s one of the best big guys in the United States,” Wojo said. “I’m not sure there’s any guy his size who plays with more heart and determination. He’s as good a college rebounder as I’ve seen. He’s not a guy you’re going to stop. You’re just hoping to contain him.”
The opener of the night portion of Thursday’s quarterfinal quadruple-header will feature second-seeded Butler, one of the surprise teams in the conference this season, meeting the winner of Xavier-DePaul at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs swept the season series from both the Musketeers and Blue Demons and will be looking to continue their magical season with a few wins at the Garden, a very special place for coach Chris Holtmann and his team to be this time of year.
“Our tournament would be completely different without Madison Square Garden,” Holtmann said. “You’re talking about one of the most iconic venues in the world and obviously a terrific city as a backdrop. To play our tournament there every year is really special. We’re excited to go there. We play in a great arena here in Hinkle (Fieldhouse) and we love going to the BIG EAST Tournament and playing in such a special place there.”
The last matchup in Thursday’s quarterfinals will see No. 3 Providence, another surprise team this season, squaring off against No. 6 Creighton at approximately 9:30 p.m. The Bluejays and Friars split the regular season series with each winning on the other’s home court. Creighton is 5-7 since losing point guard Maurice Watson Jr. for the season with an ACL injury while Providence posted a 6-2 mark in February and March, including winning its last six straight.
“Creighton is a very dangerous offensive team. We’re pretty familiar with them having played them a couple of weeks ago,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “Coach McDermott has done a really good job reshaping his team once they lost Watson and developing (Khyri) Thomas. Man, has he developed over a year’s time. Offensively and defensively, (they’re) one of the best in the country. They are a threat from three (point range), (Marcus) Foster is still one of the top two or three players in our league and (Justin) Patton is a rim protector. So we have our hands full.”
So will the Bluejays, who sported a 10-4 record in road and neutral court games this season.
“We’re going to be playing a team that has won six straight so it’s going to take our best effort,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said.
The FOX broadcast network will carry Saturday’s championship game at 5:30 p.m. ET. All other rounds are on FS1.