The 1985–86 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the seventh in conference history, and involved its nine full-time member schools.
St. John's and Syracuse were the regular-season co-champions with identical records of . St. John's won the Big East tournament championship.
Season summary & highlights St. John's and Syracuse were the regular-season co-champions with identical records of . It was the fourth regular-season championship or co-championship for St. John's and the second for Syracuse. St. John's won its second Big East tournament championship.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Gary Williams 4th Resigned March 15, 1986 Connecticut Dom Perno 9th Resigned April 14, 1986 Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 14th Pittsburgh Roy Chipman 6th Resigned March 12, 1986 Providence Rick Pitino 1st St. John's Lou Carnesecca 18th Big East Coach of the Year (3rd award) Seton Hall P. J. Carlesimo 4th Syracuse Jim Boeheim 10th Villanova Rollie Massimino 13th
Rankings Georgetown and Syracuse were ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for the entire season, and St.John's was in the Top 20 in every week except for the preseason poll.
+ 1985–86 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/25 12/2 12/9 12/16 12/23 12/30 1/6 1/13 1/20 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/17 2/24 3/3 FinalBoston College Connecticut Georgetown 8 8 6 5 5 5 11 13 15 12 12 11 9 13 15 14 13 Pittsburgh Providence St. John's 18 15 14 11 11 10 10 9 8 7 10 7 6 8 5 4 Seton Hall Syracuse 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 9 11 8 12 9 6 8 9 Villanova
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Walter Berry SJU 23.0 Earl Kelley Conn 18.6 Roger McCready BC 18.1 Reggie Williams GU 17.6 Pearl Washington Syr 17.3
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Walter Berry SJU 11.1 Harold Pressley Vill 10.1 Tim Coles Conn 9.3 Reggie Williams GU 8.2 Charles Smith Pitt 8.1
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Mark Jackson SJU 8.1 Pearl Washington Syr 7.8 Earl Kelley Conn 6.4 Michael Jackson GU 6.2 Gerald Greene SHU 5.2
StealsNameSchoolSPG Harold Starks Prov 3.2 Pearl Washington Syr 2.6 Harold Pressley Vill 2.2 Dana Barros BC 2.0 Dominic Pressley BC 1.9
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Rony Seikaly Syr 3.0 Charles Smith Pitt 2.8 Harold Pressley Vill 2.2 Walter Berry Vill 2.1 Steve Wright Prov 2.0
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Walter Berry SJU .598 Curtis Aiken Pitt .569 Demetreus Gore Pitt .555 Wendell Alexis Syr .542 Pearl Washington Syr .535
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Earl Kelley Conn .870 Al Roth Prov .847 Wendell Alexis Syr .810 Billy Donovan Prov .792 Andre McCloud SHU .774
Postseason
Big East tournament
Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The eighth- and ninth-seeded teams played a first-round game, and the other seven teams received a bye into the quarterfinals.
The tournament's seeding was as follows:
Bracket Bracket
NCAA tournament
Four Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament, with St. John's seeded No. 1 in the West Region. All four schools lost in the second round.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 St. John's West 1 16 8 Syracuse East 2 15 Brown, 7 Navy, Georgetown Midwest 4 13 , 5 Villanova Southeast 10 7 2
National Invitation Tournament
Two Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Playing in separate unnamed brackets, Pittsburgh lost in the first round and Providence in the quarterfinals.
School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Providence Pittsburgh
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Walter Berry, St. John's, F, Jr. Defensive Player of the Year: Harold Pressley, Villanova, F, Sr. Freshman of the Year: Dana Barros, Boston College, G Coach of the Year: Lou Carnesecca, St. John's (18th season)
All-Big East First Team Reggie Williams, Georgetown, G, Jr., , , Baltimore, Md. Mark Jackson, St. John's, F, Jr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Walter Berry, St. John's, F, Jr., , , New York, N.Y. Pearl Washington, Syracuse, G, Jr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Harold Pressley, Villanova, F, Sr., , , The Bronx, N.Y.
All-Big East Second Team: Earl Kelley, Connecticut, G, Sr., , , New Haven, Conn. David Wingate, Georgetown, G, Sr., , , Baltimore, Md. Rafael Addison, Syracuse, F, Sr., , , Jersey City, N.J. Rony Seikaly, Syracuse, C, So. , , Athens, Greece Wendell Alexis, Syracuse, F, Sr., , , Washington, D.C.
All-Big East Third Team:
Roger McCready, Boston College, F, Sr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Michael Jackson, Georgetown, G, Sr., , , Fairfax, Va. Charles Smith, Pittsburgh, F, So., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Demetreus Gore, Pittsburgh, F, So. , , Detroit, Mich. Billy Donovan, Providence, G, Jr. , , Baltimore, Md.
Big East All-Freshman Team: Dana Barros, Boston College, G, , , Boston, Mass. Phil Gamble, Connecticut, G, , , Washington, D.C. Jonathan Edwards, Georgetown, F, , , New Orleans, La. Doug West, Villanova, G, , , Altoona, Pa. Kenny Wilson, Villanova, G,
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1986 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America First Team: Walter Berry, St. John's, Key Stats: 23.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, 59.8 FG%, 828 points
First Team All-America: Walter Berry, St. John's, Key Stats: 23.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, 59.8 FG%, 828 points
Third Team All-America: Pearl Washington, Syracuse, Key Stats: 17.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 7.8 apg, 53.5 FG%, 554 points
AP Honorable Mention Rafael Addison, Syracuse Wendell Alexis, Syracuse Mark Jackson, St. John's Michael Jackson, Georgetown Earl Kelley, Connecticut Andre McCloud, Seton Hall Roger McCready, Boston College Charles Smith, Pittsburgh Reggie Williams, Georgetown David Wingate, Georgetown
See also 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1985–86 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1985–86 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1985–86 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 1985–86 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1985–86 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1985–86 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
References