The 1988–89 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 10th in conference history, and involved its nine full-time member schools.
Georgetown was the regular-season champion with a record of . Georgetown also won the Big East tournament championship.
In the 1989 NCAA tournament, Seton Hall reached the national championship game before losing to Michigan, finishing as the national runner-up.
St. John's won the 1989 National Invitation Tournament championship.
Season summary & highlights Georgetown was the regular-season champion with a record of . It was Georgetown's fourth regular-season championship or co-championship and second outright championship. Georgetown won its sixth Big East tournament championship. The 66,144 people who attended the game Georgetown played against LSU at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 28, 1989, set the record for the largest crowd ever to attend a game involving Georgetown. Seton Hall reached the national championship game in the 1989 NCAA tournament before losing to Michigan, finishing as the national runner-up. St. John's won the 1989 National Invitation Tournament championship. It was the second consecutive NIT championship for a Big East school: Connecticut had won the 1988 NIT the previous season. St. John's junior forward Jayson Williams was named Most Valuable Player of the 1989 NIT. The Big East replaced its Freshman of the Year award with a new Rookie of the Year award. Both freshmen and first-year transfers into the Big East were eligible for the new award. Similarly, the conference began to name an annual All-Rookie Team, with the same eligibility criteria, rather than an annual All-Freshman Team. The conference did not retire the Rookie of the Year award and return to giving out a Freshman of the Year award until the 2015–16 season.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Jim O'Brien 3rd Connecticut Jim Calhoun 3rd Georgetown John Thompson Jr. 17th Pittsburgh Paul Evans 3rd Providence Rick Barnes 1st St. John's Lou Carnesecca 19th Seton Hall P. J. Carlesimo 7th Big East Coach of the Year (2nd award) Syracuse Jim Boeheim 13th Villanova Rollie Massimino 14th
Rankings Georgetown was ranked No. 7 or higher in the Associated Press poll all season and spent most of the season at No. 5 or higher, reaching No. 2 in several weeks. Syracuse also was ranked for the entire season, was a Top Ten team for most of the year, and also reached No. 2. Seton Hall also spent much of the season in the Top 20, and Connecticut, Providence, and Villanova also made Top 20 appearances.
+ 1988–89 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/21 11/28 12/5 12/12 12/19 12/26 1/2 1/9 1/16 1/23 1/30 2/6 2/13 2/20 2/27 3/6 FinalBoston College Connecticut 18 Georgetown 2 2 3 4 5 6 5 5 7 3 2 6 2 4 3 2 3 2 Pittsburgh Providence 20 20 St. John's Seton Hall 20 17 15 13 10 13 12 9 10 11 12 15 12 11 11 Syracuse 8 6 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 11 14 14 9 6 6 6 5 7 Villanova 12 11 18 17
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Dana Barros BC 23.9 Cliff Robinson Conn 20.0 Brian Shorter Pitt 19.6 Jayson Williams SJU 19.5 Charles Smith GU 18.7
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Derrick Coleman Syr 11.4 Brian Shorter Pitt 9.6 Jayson Williams SJU 7.9 Bobby Martin Pitt 7.7 Ramón Ramos SHU 7.6
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Sherman Douglas Syr 8.6 Sean Miller Pitt 6.0 Gerald Greene SHU 5.1 Charles Smith GU 5.1 Tate George Conn 4.9
StealsNameSchoolSPG Eric Murdock Prov 3.3 Syr 1.9 Gary Massey Vill 1.8 Sherman Douglas Syr 1.8 Cliff Robinson Conn 1.8
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Alonzo Mourning GU 5.0 Derrick Coleman Syr 3.4 GU 2.3 Tom Greis Vill 1.7 Cliff Robinson Conn 1.4
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Syr .639 Brian Shorter Pitt .600 Derrick Coleman Syr .575 Jayson Williams SJU .573 Sherman Douglas Syr .546
3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG% Dana Barros BC .429(no other qualifiers)
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Jason Matthews Pitt .899 Dana Barros BC .857 Matt Brust SJU .831 John Morton SHU .820 Billy Singleton SJU .802
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
Five Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament, with Georgetown receiving a No. 1 seed in the East Region. Pittsburgh and Providence lost in the first round and Georgetown and Syracuse lost in the regional finals. Seton Hall finished as the national runner-up, losing to Michigan in the national championship game.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final Seton Hall West 3 14 Southwest Missouri State, 11 Evansville, 2 Indiana, 4 UNLV, E2 Duke, SE3 Michigan, Georgetown East 1 16 Princeton, 9 5 2 Duke, Syracuse Midwest 2 15 Bucknell, 10 3 1 Illinois, Pittsburgh Midwest 8 9 Providence Southeast 12 5 Virginia,
National Invitation Tournament
Three Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Playing in three different unnamed brackets, Connecticut and Villanova both lost in the quarterfinals, but St. John's defeated for the 1989 NIT championship. It was the second consecutive NIT championship for a Big East school. St. John's junior forward Jayson Williams was the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final St. John's UAB, Connecticut Charlotte, California, UAB, Villanova
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: * Charles Smith, Georgetown, G Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown, C, Fr. Rookie of the Year: Brian Shorter, Pittsburgh, F, So. Coach of the Year: P. J. Carlesimo, Seton Hall (7th season)
All-Big East First Team Charles Smith, Georgetown, G Sr., , , Washington, D.C. Brian Shorter, Pittsburgh, F, So., , , Philadelphia, Pa. Ramón Ramos, Seton Hall, F Sr., , , Canóvanas, P.R. Derrick Coleman, Syracuse, F Jr., , , Mobile, Ala. Sherman Douglas, Syracuse, G Sr., , , Washington, D.C.
All-Big East Second Team: Dana Barros, Boston College, G Sr., , , Boston, Mass. Cliff Robinson, Connecticut, C Sr., , , Portland, Ore. Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown, C, Fr. , , Chesapeake, Va. Jayson Williams, St. John's, F Jr., , , Ritter, S.C. Stephen Thompson, Syracuse, G Jr., , , Los Angeles, Calif.
All-Big East Third Team: Jason Matthews, Pittsburgh, G, So., Eric Murdock, Providence, G, So., , , Somerville, N.J. Andrew Gaze, Seton Hall, G Jr., , , Melbourne, Australia John Morton, Seton Hall, G Sr., , , The Bronx, N.Y. Doug West, Villanova, G Sr. , , Altoona, Pa.
Big East All-Rookie Team: Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown, C, Fr., , , Chesapeake, Va. Brian Shorter, Pittsburgh, F, So., , , Philadelphia, Pa. Malik Sealy, St. John's, F, Fr., , , The Bronx, N.Y. Billy Owens, Syracuse, F, Fr., , , Carlisle, Pa. Marc Dowdell, Villanova, F, Fr.,
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1989 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America Second Team: Sherman Douglas, Syracuse, Key Stats: 18.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 8.6 apg, 54.6 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 693 points
First Team All-America: Sherman Douglas, Syracuse, Key Stats: 18.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 8.6 apg, 54.6 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 693 points
Second Team All-America: Charles Smith, Georgetown, Key Stats: 18.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 49.8 FG%, 40.4 3P%, 617 points
Third Team All-America: Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown, Key Stats: 13.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.0 bpg, 60.3 FG%, 447 points
AP Honorable Mention Dana Barros, Boston College Derrick Coleman, Syracuse John Morton, Seton Hall Ramón Ramos, Seton Hall Brian Shorter, Pittsburgh Stephen Thompson, Syracuse
See also 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1988–89 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1988–89 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1988–89 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 1988–89 Providence Friars men's basketball team 1988–89 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1988–89 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team 1988–89 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team
References