By Sean Brennan
Special to BIGEAST.com
For the first time since 2019, normalcy has returned to the BIG EAST Tournament.
For the first time since 2019, school bands will be filling Madison Square Garden with song. Mascots and painted faces will once again make the scene. Rabid fan bases will descend on New York City once again to air their lungs out for their schools. All the sights, sounds and smells that help make the BIG EAST Tournament a can’t-miss annual event will all once again be in place.
It’s all been missed the past two seasons. But finally, normalcy has returned.
“I’m looking forward to walking into the Garden. I’m looking forward to competing, smelling the hot dogs on the street, listening to the noise outside the hotel room,” said Ed Cooley, head coach of the top-seeded Providence Friars. “I’m super, super excited. I’m looking forward to the whole experience of the BIG EAST Tournament.”
When the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament tips off Wednesday, it will mark the 40th consecutive season the tournament will be held at the World’s Most Famous Arena. And Cooley wants people to be reminded who was most responsible for that.
“It’s a credit to the BIG EAST and it’s a credit to (former BIG EAST commissioner Dave) Gavitt’s vision,” Cooley said. “I think that gets lost sometimes. Somebody had to have a vision to get to that arena and keep it there so kudos to the BIG EAST.”
When the tournament gets underway Wednesday, it will be just three days shy of two years to the day that Covid forced the 2020 tournament to be shut down. Which is why players like Seton Hall’s Myles Cale, a fifth-year Pirate, are going to enjoy every minute of his last go around in the tourney.
“I think the tournament is going to be great,” Cale said. “The BIG EAST does a great job of putting it together. And having the fans there this year is really important, especially since our fan base is right here and our fans will all travel to Madison Square Garden. Just having the fans back this whole year has been a blessing. I’m looking forward to that and going out there and trying to win it all.”
Providence is the tournament’s top dog after the Friars captured their first-ever BIG EAST regular-season title. Villanova, the second seed, along with third-seeded UConn, fourth-seeded Creighton and No. 5 Marquette all received first-round byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Seton Hall is the No. 6 seed followed by St. John’s at seven, Xavier at No. 8 and Butler at No. 9 with DePaul and Georgetown rounding out the field.
The tournament will get rolling Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. when Xavier battles Butler. The Musketeers (18-12, 8-11) took down the Bulldogs (13-18, 6-14) twice this season, but that doesn’t mean Xavier coach Travis Steele is comfortable with his first-round matchup.
“I told our guys, listen, we’re 2-0 against Butler this year. Those 80 minutes mean nothing,” Steele told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They don’t mean anything. And I hate (that) people will say it’s hard to beat a team three times in a row. That’s a bunch of bologna as well. It’s about those 40 minutes on the floor. Who’s the tougher, more together team for 40 minutes.”
Wednesday’s middle game of the tripleheader will see St. John’s face off with DePaul at 7 p.m. The Johnnies (16-14, 8-11) took the first encounter against the Blue Demons on January 5 with an 88-84 victory. Julian Champagnie had a monster game, scoring 34 points and pulling down 16 rebounds in the win. But DePaul got its revenge in the February 27th rematch when Javon Freeman-Liberty erupted for 39 points and David Jones added a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-94 Blue Demons’ victory.
This matchup will feature the top two scorers in the conference with Freeman-Liberty’s 21.9 points pacing the BIG EAST, just ahead of second-place finisher Champagnie and his 18.9 ppg.
Wednesday’s nightcap will feature Seton Hall against a Georgetown team still in search of its first conference win this season.
There is no hotter team than the Pirates (20-9, 11-8) right now as they come into the Garden winners of five straight and eight of their last 10, including a huge road win at Creighton. The Pirates defeated Georgetown last Wednesday but it was a struggle as they squeezed out a 73-68 win. But there may be some uncertainty surrounding the health of Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond, who was forced to leave the Pirates’ season-finale at Creighton with a thumb injury.
Once Thursday’s quarterfinal round gets underway, top-seeded Providence will await the Xavier/Butler winner in the noon opener. Providence swept the season series against both the Musketeers and Bulldogs - but none of them were easy. One contest versus Butler went into overtime before the Friars won, 71-70, while a battle with Xavier lasted three OTs before Providence escaped with a 99-92 decision.
And yes, Cooley has already discussed those tight battles with his team.
“I talked to the team about that, four overtimes and a shot at the buzzer in a really close game at home, so whoever we play, the game is going to be close,” Cooley said. “So can we be disciplined, can we continue to improve, can we want it more than anyone else, can we try and advance? We use the motto ‘We have 10 four-minute wars.’ How many of those wars can we win, even if it’s by one? But we’ve got to win the four-minute wars. We’ve got to do the little things that turn into victories and hopefully the players continue to buy into that.”
Thursday’s second quarterfinal will see No. 4 Creighton (20-10, 12-7) face off against No. 5 Marquette (19-11, 11-8). The Bluejays swept the season series from the Golden Eagles and first-year coach Shaka Smart, winning 75-69 in two overtimes on New Year’s Day at Marquette before squeezing out an 83-82 win at Creighton on Feb. 20. This could be the best matchup of the day.
But unlike past seasons, when the Bluejays scored points by the truckload, it’s the Jays’ defense that is doing the trick for them this year. Creighton leads the BIG EAST in both defensive rebounding and field goal percentage defense.
“Our team defense has been at or near the top of the league all year (and) it’s been a big reason why we’ve been able to be so successful,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “Our offensive numbers are not what they’ve been in the past but that’s OK. There’s a lot of different ways to win in this game but defensively we’ve been pretty consistent.”
Creighton’s Ryan Hawkins sees another epic battle forming between the Jays and Golden Eagles come Thursday afternoon.
“I think it will be a physical game,” Hawkins said. “Marquette is a great team and we had two really close games with them and I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of the same.”
And Hawkins hopes his first ever trip to Madison Square Garden will be a memorable one.
“We want to be in New York for a while so we’ve got to make sure that we’re taking care of business,” Hawkins said. “I’ve never been there. It should be a neat experience. Let’s go make some memories.”
Second-seeded Villanova will open the Thursday evening doubleheader when the Wildcats (23-7, 16-4) take on the winner of St. John’s-DePaul. And though Nova took the season series from both the Johnnies and Blue Demons this season, senior guard Collin Gillespie is taking nothing for granted in his final BIG EAST Tournament.
“Both are really great teams and both are playing really good basketball right now at the right time of the year,” Gillespie said. “They both have a lot of pieces, a lot of weapons and they guard and they are tough and physical. We respect every team in the BIG EAST and we know how good both DePaul and St. John’s are, so we’ll expect a battle either way.”
After missing last season’s BIG EAST Tournament with a knee injury, Gillespie said he is just thankful to have one last opportunity to take the Garden floor.
“I’m really excited,” Gillespie said. “Obviously it’s been a while so I’m just excited that I’ll get to be with my teammates and coaches again and be out there after a couple of years.”
Thursday night’s final game will pit No. 3 UConn (22-8, 13-6) against the winner of Seton Hall-Georgetown. The Huskies swept the season series from the Hoyas and split with the Pirates, losing 90-87 in overtime on Jan. 8 before taking a 70-65 decision on Feb. 16.
So who will be this year’s BIG EAST Tournament champion? After Georgetown shocked everyone by coming out of nowhere to win it all as a No. 8 seed last year, it’s anyone’s guess.
“I think anybody can win it,” said Seton Hall’s Myles Cale. “Look at Georgetown last year. I’m pretty sure nobody expected that to happen. Anything can happen, anybody can win and I’m pretty sure everyone else thinks that way also. We’re going to have a chip on our shoulder going into the BIG EAST Tournament and hopefully we can get that tournament win.”
Cale’s coach, Kevin Willard, thinks his Pirates have as good a shot as anyone else.
“I like my team. I think we can beat anybody, we can play with anybody and we proved it with our non-conference schedule,” Willard said. “Right now, I think we’re playing good basketball.”
While Cooley is hoping his top-seeded Friars come away with the crown, he has been around long enough to know that anything can - and usually does - happen in the BIG EAST Tournament.
“I think about seven teams have a legit shot,” Cooley said. “I think St. John’s is a sleeper. I mean, who is playing as well as DePaul and the job Stubbs (Tony Stubblefield) has done? Marquette has beaten just about everybody in the league. I think it’s wide open. I think one of several teams could win this tournament.”
Add St. John’s Julian Champagnie to the chorus who believe the tournament title is truly up for grabs.
“I think there are a lot of teams that are really good and have a good chance of winning it,” Champagnie said. “Providence is really good this year, Marquette has played pretty well and is going along nicely. But the way I look at it is that there are no favorites. Everyone is beatable. We can get beat, everyone can get beat. Things happen. Last year Georgetown won and no one saw that coming. Everyone figured Villanova would win it last year. I just think every year going into the BIG EAST Tournament there is no clear-cut favorite. It just comes down to who wants it more and who is going to fight for it.”
The only sure thing is that normalcy is returning to Madison Square Garden. And not a minute too soon for Gillespie.
“I think it’s a special place, one of the most famous arenas in the country,” Gillespie said. “You’re kind of taken aback by it every time you walk in there. The BIG EAST (tournament) is different from any other game you play in there. Just the environment is super special. It will be a cool environment to play in again.”