The 1981–82 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the third in conference history, and involved its eight full-time member schools.
Villanova won the regular season championship with an 11–3 record. Georgetown was the champion of the Big East tournament.
Season summary & highlights Villanova won its first regular-season championship, with a record of 11–3. Georgetown won the Big East tournament, giving the Hoyas their second conference tournament championship. The Big East tournament took place at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Georgetown advanced to the final of the NCAA Tournament, losing to North Carolina in the closing seconds. The attendance of 61,612 at the Louisiana Superdome was the largest paid basketball crowd in NCAA history.history.com Mar 29, 1982: Tar Heels win NCAA basketball championship The Big East awarded its Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Tom Davis 5th Resigned March 26, 1982 Connecticut Dom Perno 5th Georgetown 10th Providence Joe Mullaney 15th First season of second stint; previously coached Providence 1955–1969 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 14th Seton Hall Hoddy Mahon 1st Acting head coach; replaced April 5, 1982 Syracuse Jim Boeheim 6th Villanova 9th Big East Coach of the Year
Rankings Georgetown was ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for most of the season. St. John's and Villanova also made appearances in the Top 20 during the season.
+ 1981–82 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/30 12/7 12/14 12/21 12/28 1/4 1/11 1/18 1/25 2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 FinalBoston College Connecticut Georgetown 5 20 20 19 17 17 13 8 13 20 13 12 8 6 Providence St. John's 20 Seton Hall Syracuse Villanova 18 20 19
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Dan Callandrillo SHU 25.9 John Bagley BC 21.1 David Russell SJU 17.4 John Pinone Vill 17.2 Erich Santifer Syr 17.0
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Corny Thompson Conn 8.3 Otis Thorpe Prov 8.0 Ed Pinckney Vill 7.8 Patrick Ewing GU 7.5 David Russell SJU 7.0
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Stewart Granger Vill 5.7 Leo Rautins Syr 5.2 Bob Kelly SJU 4.6 Jim Panaggio Prov 4.0 Gene Waldron Syr 3.9
StealsNameSchoolSPG Dan Callandrillo SHU 2.2 Norman Bailey Conn 2.2 Fred Brown GU 2.2 Eric Smith GU 2.0 John Bagley BC 1.9
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Patrick Ewing GU 3.2 Ed Pinckney Vill 2.0 Burnett Adams BC 1.3 Bill Wennington SJU 1.2 John Garris BC 1.1
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Ed Pinckney Vill .640 John Pinone Vill .565 Erich Santifer Syr .558 Otis Thorpe Prov .541 David Russell SJU .535
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Dan Callandrillo SHU .825 John Bagley BC .797 Chris Mullin SJU .791 Tony Bruin Syr .771 David Russell SJU .770
Postseason
Big East tournament
Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The tournament's seeding was as follows:
Bracket
NCAA tournament
Four Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. St. John's lost in the second round in the East Region, Villanova lost in the East Region finals, and Boston College lost in the Mideast Region finals. Georgetown received a No. 1 seed in the West Region and finished as national runner-up, advancing to the final and losing to North Carolina in the closing seconds.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final Georgetown West 1 Bye 8 Wyoming, 4 2 3ME Louisville, 1E Villanova East 3 Bye 11 Northeastern, 2 W 70–66 1 Boston College Midwest 8 9 1 DePaul, 5 6 Houston, St. John's East 5 12 Penn, 4 Alabama,
National Invitation Tournament
Two Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in two different unnamed brackets. Connecticut lost in the first round and Syracuse in the second round.
School Round 1 Round 2 Syracuse Saint Peter's, W 84–75 Bradley, L 95–81 Connecticut Dayton, L 76–75
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr. Freshman of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C Coach of the Year: Rollie Massimino, Villanova (9th season)
All-Big East First Team John Bagley, Boston College, G, Jr., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Corny Thompson, Connecticut, F, Sr., , , Middletown, Conn. Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, G, Sr., , , Gastonia, N.C. Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Sr., , , Gastonia, North Bergen, N.J. David Russell, St. John's, F, Jr., , , New York, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, Jr., , , Hartford, Conn.
All-Big East Second Team: Mike McKay, Connecticut, G, Sr., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr., , , Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, Fr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Erich Santifer, Syracuse, G, Jr., , , Ann Arbor, Mich. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, Jr., , , Montreal, Quebec, Canada
All-Big East Third Team: Eric Smith, Georgetown, F, Sr., , , Potomac, Md. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, So., , , Boynton Beach, Fla. Ron Jackson, Providence, G, Jr., , , West Roxbury, Mass. Billy Goodwin, St. John's, F, Jr., , , New York, N.Y. Tony Bruin, Syracuse, F, Jr., , , Astoria, N.Y.
Big East All-Freshman Team: Anthony Jones, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , Washington, D.C. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, Fr., , , Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, Fr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Dwayne McClain, Villanova, G, Fr., , , Worcester, Mass. Ed Pinckney, Villanova, F, Fr., , , Bronx, N.Y.
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1982 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America team: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 16.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 50.4 FG%, 619 points
First Team All-America: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 19.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 46.7 FG%, 607 points
AP Honorable Mention John Bagley, Boston College Patrick Ewing, Georgetown John Pinone, Villanova David Russell, St. John's Erich Santifer, Syracuse Corny Thompson, Connecticut
See also 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1981–82 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 1981–82 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1981–82 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1981–82 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1981–82 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1981–82 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
References