The 1987–88 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the ninth in conference history, and involved its nine full-time member schools.
Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of Syracuse won the Big East tournament championship.
Connecticut won the 1988 National Invitation Tournament.
Season summary & highlights Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of . It was Pittsburgh's second regular-season championship or co-championship. Syracuse won its second Big East tournament championship. Connecticut won the 1988 National Invitation Tournament. It was the first of two consecutive NIT championships for Big East schools: St. John's won the 1989 NIT the following season. Connecticut junior guard Phil Gamble was named Most Valuable Player of the 1988 NIT.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Jim O'Brien 2nd Connecticut Jim Calhoun 2nd Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 16th Pittsburgh Paul Evans 2nd Providence Gordon Chiesa 1st Resigned March 21, 1988 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 18th Seton Hall P. J. Carlesimo 6th Big East Coach of the Year Syracuse Jim Boeheim 12th Villanova Rollie Massimino 13th
Rankings Syracuse was ranked No. 1 preseason, Pittsburgh and Syracuse were ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for the entire season, and Pittsburgh was in the Top 10 in all but one week. Georgetown was in the Top 20 for most of the season until fading late in the year. St. John's and Villanova also made brief appearances in the Top 20.
+ 1987–88 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 2/29 3/7 FinalBoston College Connecticut Georgetown 16 17 14 18 19 18 14 11 15 15 14 18 Pittsburgh 4 4 2 3 3 3 2 6 6 11 9 5 8 6 7 5 8 Providence St. John's 20 20 Seton Hall Syracuse 1 3 8 9 7 7 7 9 14 17 12 11 12 10 12 13 9 Villanova 19 20
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Dana Barros BC 21.9 Mark Bryant SHU 20.5 Charles Smith Pitt 18.9 Shelton Jones SJU 18.6 Cliff Robinson Conn 17.6
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Jerome Lane Pitt 12.2 Derrick Coleman Syr 11.0 Rony Seikaly Syr 9.6 Mark Bryant SHU 9.1 Shelton Jones SJU 8.8
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Sherman Douglas Syr 8.2 Sean Miller Pitt 5.8 Tate George Conn 5.6 Kenny Wilson Vill 4.9 Boo Harvey SJU 4.9
StealsNameSchoolSPG Eric Murdock Prov 3.2 Delray Brooks Prov 2.8 Charles Smith GU 2.4 John Morton SHU 2.1 Sherman Douglas Syr 2.0
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Charles Smith Pitt 3.1 Rony Seikaly Syr 2.4 Tom Greis Vill 2.4 Steve Wright Prov 1.6 Derrick Coleman Syr 1.6
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Shelton Jones SJU .596 Derrick Coleman Syr .587 Tom Greis Vill .582 Rony Seikaly Syr .568 Mark Bryant SHU .564
3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG% Dana Barros BC .454(no other qualifiers)
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Kenny Wilson Vill .866 Delray Brooks Prov .854 Dana Barros BC .850 John Morton SHU .841 Tate George Conn .831
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
NCAA tournament
Six Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. St. John's lost in the first round and Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, and Syracuse in the second round. Villanova finished as the Southeast Region runner-up.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Villanova Southeast 6 11 Arkansas, 3 Illinois, 2 Kentucky, 1 Oklahoma, Pittsburgh Midwest 2 15 7 Vanderbilt, Syracuse East 3 14 11 Georgetown East 8 9 LSU, 1 Temple, Seton Hall West 8 9 UTEP, 1 Arizona, St. John's Midwest 11 6 Florida, National Invitation Tournament
Two Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Playing in two different unnamed brackets, Boston College and Connecticut both advanced to the semifinals, in which Connecticut defeated Boston College. Connecticut then went on to defeat Ohio State for the 1988 NIT championship. Connecticut junior guard Phil Gamble was named Most Valuable Player of the 1988 NIT.
School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Connecticut VCU, , Boston College Siena, Evansville, Middle Tennessee State, Connecticut,
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Charles Smith, Pittsburgh, F, Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Gary Massey, Villanova, G, Jr. Freshman of the Year: Sean Miller, Pittsburgh, G Coach of the Year: P. J. Carlesimo, Seton Hall (6th season)
All-Big East First Team Dana Barros, Boston College, G, Jr., , , Boston, Mass. Charles Smith, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Mark Bryant, Seton Hall, F, Sr., , , Glen Ridge, N.J. Derrick Coleman, Syracuse, F, So., , , Mobile, Ala. Sherman Douglas, Syracuse, G, Jr., , , Washington, D.C.
All-Big East Second Team: Charles Smith, Georgetown, G, Jr., , , Washington, D.C. Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, F, Jr., , , Akron, Ohio Shelton Jones, St. John's, F, Sr., , , Copiague, N.Y. Rony Seikaly, Syracuse, C, Sr. , , Athens, Greece Doug West, Villanova, G, Jr. , , Altoona, Pa.
All-Big East Third Team: Cliff Robinson, Connecticut, C, Jr., , , Portland, Ore. Steve Wright, Providence, C, Sr. , , Syracuse, N.Y. Michael Porter, St. John's, G, Jr., , Alexandria, Va. Mark Plansky, Villanova, F, Sr., , , Wakefield, Mass. Tom Greis, Villanova, C, So., , , Queens, N.Y.
Big East All-Freshman Team:
Corey Beasley, Boston College, F, , Bobby Martin, Pittsburgh, C, , Atlantic City, N.J. Jason Matthews, Pittsburgh, G, Sean Miller, Pittsburgh, G, , Ellwood City, Pa. Eric Murdock, Providence, G, , , Somerville, N.J.
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1988 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America Second Team: Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 13.9 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 51.3 FG%, 431 points Rony Seikaly, Syracuse, Key Stats: 16.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 56.6 FG%, 569 points
Second Team All-America: Jerome Lane, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 13.9 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 51.3 FG%, 431 points
Third Team All-America: Sherman Douglas, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 18.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 8.6 apg, 54.6 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 562 points
AP Honorable Mention Dana Barros, Boston College Derrick Coleman, Syreacuse Charles Smith, Pittsburgh
See also 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1987–88 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1987–88 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1987–88 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1987–88 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team 1987–88 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1987–88 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
References