2018–19 Big East Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 Big East Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. This season marked the 40th year in the conference's history, but the sixth as a non-football conference, which officially formed on July 1, 2013. Conference play began in December 2018.

The 2019 Big East men's basketball tournament was held at Madison Square Garden in New York from March 13 through March 17, 2019. Villanova defeated Seton Hall to win the tournament championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Four Big East schools received bids to the NCAA Tournament (Marquette, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Villanova). Villanova was the only team to make it out of the Round of 64 before losing to Purdue in the Round of 32.

Five Big East schools received bids to the National Invitation Tournament (Creighton, Xavier, Georgetown, Providence, and Butler) with only Creighton and Xavier advancing past the 1st Round, with the Bluejays making to the Quarterfinals before losing to TCU.

Marquette guard Markus Howard was named the Big East Player of the Year after leading the Big East in scoring with 25.0 PPG. Georgetown freshman guard James Akinjo was named Big East Freshman of the Year. Villanova head coach Jay Wright was named Big East coach of the year for the sixth time.

Head coaches

Coaching changes On March 27, 2018, Chris Mack was hired as the new head coach of Louisville, leaving Xavier after nine seasons. Four days later, longtime assistant coach Travis Steele was named the new head coach of the Musketeers.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big East record Big East titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsButlerLaVall JordanMilwaukee221–149–9 0 1 00CreightonGreg McDermottIowa State9187–9447–430 5 00DePaulDave LeitaoTulsa(asst.)787–9939–63 0 0 00GeorgetownPatrick EwingCharlotte Hornets (asst.)234–2914–22 0 0 00MarquetteSteve WojciechowskiDuke(asst.)573–5931–41 0 1 00ProvidenceEd CooleyFairfield8144–9464–62 1 5 00Seton HallKevin Willard Iona9150–11462–82 0 2 00St. John'sChris MullinNone439–6012–42 0 0 00VillanovaJay WrightHofstra18422–165191–1036 13 32XavierTravis SteeleXavier(asst.)10–00–00000 Notes: Years at school includes 2018–19 season. Overall and Big East records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2018–19 season. McDermott's MVC conference records not included since team began play in Big East.

Preseason

Preseason poll Prior to the season, the Big East conducted a poll of Big East coaches, coaches do not place their own team on their ballots. RankTeam 1. Villanova (8) 2. Marquette (1) 3. Providence 4. St. John's 5. Butler (1) 6. Xavier 7. Georgetown 8. Seton Hall 9. Creighton 10. DePaul(first place votes)

Preseason All-Big East teams Source

Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the YearShamorie Ponds, St. John's Preseason All-Big East First TeamShamorie Ponds, St. John'sEric Paschall, VillanovaMarkus Howard, MaquetteKamar Baldwin, ButlerJessie Govan, GeorgetownAlpha Diallo, Providence Preseason All-Big East Second TeamPhil Booth, VillanovaMyles Powell, Seton HallMax Strus, DePaulSam Hauser, MarquetteJustin Simon, St. John's Preseason All-Big East Honorable MentionMartin Krampelj, CreightonNaji Marshall, Xavier

Regular season

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week   () First place votes

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalButler AP C Creighton AP C DePaul AP C Georgetown AP C Marquette AP 24 21 20 18 16 21 15 12 10 10 10 11 10 16 23 RVC 23 20 18 19 13 11 9 9 10 10 9 15 22 T-25Providence AP C Seton Hall AP C St. John's AP 24 C Villanova AP 9 (1) 8 23 21 17 22 18 14 14 13 17 RV 23 25 23C 8 8 23 21 16 21 18 14 13 13 16 RV 23 25 22Xavier AP C

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   ButlerCreightonDePaulGeorgetownMarquetteProvidenceSeton HallSt. John'sVillanovaXaviervs. Butler – 1–10–21–12–02–01–11–12–01–1vs. Creighton1–1 – 0–20–21–10–22–02–02–01–1vs. DePaul2–02–0 – 1–12–01–10–20–22–01–1vs. Georgetown1–12–01–1 – 1–10–21–11–11–11–1vs. Marquette0–21–10–21–1 – 0–21–12–01–10–2vs. Providence0–22–01–12–02–0 – 1–10–22–01–1vs. Seton Hall1–10–22–01–11–11–1 – 1–11–11–1vs. St. John's1–10–22–01–10–22–01–1 – 1–12–0vs. Villanova0–20–20–21–11–10–21–11–1 – 1–1vs. Xavier1–11–11–11–12–01–11–10–21–1 –Total7–119–97–119–912–67–119–98–1013–59–9

Player of the week Throughout the season, the Big East Conference named a player of the week and a freshman of the week each Monday. Week Player of the week Freshman of the week November 12, 2018Markus Howard, MarquetteA. J. Reeves, Providence November 19, 2018Max Strus, DePaulJames Akinjo, Georgetown November 26, 2018Shamorie Ponds, St. John'sA. J. Reeves (2), Providence December 3, 2018Markus Howard (2), MarquetteA. J. Reeves (3), Providence December 10, 2018Myles Powell, Seton HallJoey Hauser, Marquette December 17, 2018Max Strus (2), DePaulMarcus Zegarowski, Creighton December 23, 2018Markus Howard (3), MarquetteMac McClung, Georgetown December 31, 2018Naji Marshall, XavierJosh LeBlanc, Georgetown January 7, 2019Shamorie Ponds (2), St. John'sJoey Hauser (2), Marquette January 14, 2019Markus Howard (4), MarquetteJames Akinjo (2), Georgetown January 21, 2019Sam Hauser, MarquetteJoey Hauser (3), Marquette January 28, 2019Ty-Shon Alexander, CreightonJoey Hauser (4), Marquette February 4, 2019Markus Howard (5), MarquetteJames Akinjo (3), Georgetown February 11, 2019Markus Howard (6), MarquetteMac McClung (2), Georgetown February 18, 2019Mustapha Heron, St. John'sSaddiq Bey, Villanova February 25, 2019Naji Marshall (2), XavierJoey Hauser (5), Marquette March 4, 2019Max Strus (3), DePaulJosh LeBlanc (2), Georgetown March 10, 2019Myles Powell (2), Seton HallJames Akinjo (4), Georgetown

Honors and awards

All-Americans

Consensus All-AmericansFirst TeamSecond TeamNone Markus Howard - Marquette To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team. Associated PressNABCSporting NewsUSBWA First Team None None None None Second Team Markus Howard – Marquette Markus Howard – Marquette Markus Howard – Marquette Markus Howard – MarquetteThird Team None None None None

Big East Awards

2019 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Player of the YearMarkus Howard, G., MarquetteCoach of the YearJay Wright, VillanovaDefensive Player of the YearJustin Simon, G., St. John'sFreshman of the YearJames Akinjo, G., GeorgetownMost Improved Player of the YearPaul Reed, F., DePaulScholar-Athlete of the YearMichael Nzei, F., Seton HallSixth Man AwardPaul Jorgensen, G., ButlerSportsmanship AwardNate Fowler, C., Butler

2019 Big East Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Honorable Mention All-Freshman TeamMarkus Howard† – Marquette Myles Powell† – Seton Hall Phil Booth† – Villanova Eric Paschall† – Villanova Shamorie Ponds – St. John's Jessie Govan – GeorgetownKamar Baldwin – Butler Max Strus – DePaul Sam Hauser – Marquette Alpha Diallo – Providence Naji Marshall – XavierTy-Shon Alexander - Creighton Martin Krampelj - CreightonMarcus Zegarowski† – Creighton James Akinjo† – Georgetown Josh LeBlanc – Georgetown Mac McClung – Georgetown Joey Hauser – Marquette Saddiq Bey - Villanova † - denotes unanimous selection

Postseason

2019 Big East tournament

Bracket

*Indicates number of overtime periods.

2019 NCAA tournament

SeedRegion School First Four 1st Round 2nd Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship 5West Marquette L 64–83 vs. Murray State – (Hartford, CT) 6SouthVillanova W 61–57 vs. Saint Mary's – (Hartford, CT) L 61–87 vs. Purdue – (Hartford, CT) 10MidwestSeton Hall L 68–84 vs. Wofford – (Jacksonville, FL) 11WestSt. John's L 65–74 vs. Arizona State – (Dayton, OH)W–L (%): Total:

2019 NIT

SeedRegion School 1st Round 2nd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship 2TCUCreighton W 70–61 vs. Loyola–Chicago – (Omaha, NE) W 79–67 vs. Memphis – (Omaha, NE) L 58–71 vs. TCU – (Fort Worth, TX) 3AlabamaXavier W 78–64 vs. Toledo – (Cincinnati, OH) L 76–78 (OT) vs. Texas – (Austin, TX) 3UNCGGeorgetown L 68–71 vs. Harvard – (Washington, DC) 4IndianaProvidence L 72–84 vs. Arkansas – (Providence, RI)5TCUButler L 76–80 vs. Nebraska – (Lincoln, NE)W–L (%): Total:

2019 CBI

School 1st Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship DePaul W 100–86 vs. Central Michigan – (Chicago, IL) W 97–89 vs. Longwood – (Chicago, IL) W 92–87 vs. Coastal Carolina – (Chicago, IL) L vs. South Florida – (Tampa, FL/Chicago, IL)W–L (%): Total:

References

External links Big East website