1996 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1996 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. Connecticut, the Big East regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament.

1996 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1995–96
Teams	13
Site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Connecticut (2nd title)
Winning coach	Jim Calhoun (2nd title)
MVP	Victor Page (Georgetown)
Big East Men's Basketball Tournaments

1995–96 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 3 Connecticut†	17	–	1		.944			32	–	3		.914
No. 10 Villanova	14	–	4		.778			26	–	7		.788
Boston College	10	–	8		.556			19	–	11		.633
West Virginia	7	–	11		.389			12	–	15		.444
St. John's	5	–	13		.278			11	–	16		.407
Notre Dame	4	–	14		.222			9	–	18		.333
Big East 7
No. 4 Georgetown	13	–	5		.722			29	–	8		.784
No. 15 Syracuse	12	–	6		.667			29	–	9		.763
Providence	9	–	9		.500			18	–	12		.600
Miami	8	–	10		.444			15	–	13		.536
Seton Hall	7	–	11		.389			12	–	16		.429
Rutgers	6	–	12		.333			9	–	18		.333
Pittsburgh	5	–	13		.278			10	–	17		.370
† 1996 Big East Tournament winner As of April 1, 1996[1][2][3]; Rankings from AP Poll

Connecticut defeated Georgetown, 75-74 to claim its second Big East Tournament championship.

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Championship Game
						1	#3 Connecticut	79
						9	Seton Hall	58
	8	West Virginia	78
	9	Seton Hall	80
											1	#3 Connecticut	85
										4	#13 Syracuse	67
	4	#13 Syracuse	76
	13	Notre Dame	55
						4	#13 Syracuse	69
						5	Boston College	61
	5	Boston College	70
	12	Pittsburgh	66
																1	#3 Connecticut	75
																2	#6 Georgetown	74
						3	#9 Villanova	78
						6	Providence	68
	6	Providence	80
	11	St. John's	72
											3	#9 Villanova	76
										2	#6 Georgetown	84
						2	#6 Georgetown	92
						7	Miami	62
	7	Miami	77
	10	Rutgers	67

Awards

Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): Victor Page, Georgetown

All-Tournament Team

• Ray Allen (Connecticut)
• Allen Iverson (Georgetown)
• Kerry Kittles (Villanova)
• Travis Knight (Connecticut)
• Victor Page (Georgetown)
• John Wallace (Syracuse)

References

1. sports-reference.com 1995-96 Big East Conference Season Summary
2. Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
3. "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.