1998 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1998 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 1998 NCAA Tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All 13 Big East teams were invited to participate. Connecticut finished with the best record in the regular season and was awarded the top seed.

1998 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1997–98
Teams	13
Site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Connecticut (3rd title)
Winning coach	Jim Calhoun (3rd title)
MVP	Khalid El-Amin (Connecticut)
Big East Men's Basketball Tournaments

1997–98 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 6 Connecticut†	15	–	3		.833			32	–	5		.865
St. John's	13	–	5		.722			22	–	10		.688
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			24	–	9		.727
Villanova	8	–	10		.444			12	–	17		.414
Notre Dame	7	–	11		.389			13	–	14		.481
Boston College	6	–	12		.333			15	–	16		.484
Big East 7
No. 21 Syracuse	12	–	6		.667			26	–	9		.743
Miami	11	–	7		.611			18	–	10		.643
Seton Hall	9	–	9		.500			15	–	15		.500
Providence	7	–	11		.389			13	–	16		.448
Pittsburgh	6	–	12		.333			11	–	16		.407
Rutgers	6	–	12		.333			14	–	15		.483
Georgetown	6	–	12		.333			16	–	15		.516
† 1998 Big East Tournament winner As of March 30, 1998[1][2][3]; Rankings from AP Poll

Connecticut defeated Syracuse in the final, 69–64 to earn its third Big East Tournament championship.

Bracket

	First round March 4, 1998					Quarterfinals March 5, 1998					Semifinals March 6, 1998					Championship Game March 7, 1998
						1	#6 Connecticut	64
						8	Providence	55
	8	Providence	72
	9	Notre Dame	55
											1	#6 Connecticut	64
										12	Rutgers	50
	5	#23 West Virginia	65
	12	Rutgers	72
						12	Rutgers	61
						13	Georgetown	60
	4	Miami	56
	13	Georgetown	62
																1	#6 Connecticut	69
																2	#22 Syracuse	64
						3	St. John's	91
						11	Boston College	80
	6	Seton Hall	87
	11	Boston College	97^OT
											3	St. John's	67
										2	#22 Syracuse	69^OT
						2	#22 Syracuse	69
						7	Villanova	66
	7	Villanova	96^2OT
	10	Pittsburgh	93

Championship Game Summary

ESPN

Saturday, March 7 8:00 pm

Box Score

#1 Connecticut Huskies 69, #2 Syracuse Orangemen 64
Pts: R. Jones 17 Rebs: R. Jones 9 Asts: K. El-Amin 6		Pts: T. Burgan 17 Rebs: T. Burgan 9 Asts: J. Hart 5 Halftime Score: Connecticut, 27-23

Madison Square Garden - New York, NY Attendance: 18,521

Awards

Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut

All-Tournament Team

• Ron Artest, St. John's
• Ryan Blackwell, Syracuse
• Todd Burgan, Syracuse
• Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut
• Richard Hamilton, Connecticut
• Rashamel Jones, Connecticut

References

• "2008-09 Big East Media Guide" (PDF). pp. 136–138. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-04.

1. sports-reference.com 1997-98 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.