# 2014–15 Big East Conference men's basketball season

The 2014–15 Big East Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2014, followed by the start of the followed by the start of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. This is the 36th year in the conference's history, but the second as a non-football conference, which officially formed on July 1, 2013. While the first game involving two conference members took place during the Battle 4 Atlantis, it did not count in the Big East standings; conference play officially began on New Year's Eve 2014. The season concluded in March with the 2015 Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

## Preseason

| | Media |
| 1. | Villanova (9) |
| 2. | Georgetown (1) |
| 3. | St. John's |
| 4. | Xavier |
| 5. | Providence |
| 6. | Seton Hall |
| 7t. | Butler |
| 7t. | Marquette |
| 9. | Creighton |
| 10. | DePaul |
 first place votes

### Preseason All-Big East teams

* Media
* Kellen Dunham BUTLER D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera GEORGETOWN D'Angelo Harrison ST. JOHN'S JayVaughn Pinkston VILLANOVA Matt Stainbrook XAVIER
* Coaches select 8 players
* Players in bold are choices for Big East Player of the Year

## Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| Butler | AP | | | | 23 | 15 | 23 | RV | | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 23 |
| Butler | Coaches | | | | RV | 19 | 25 | RV | | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Creighton | AP | | | 23 | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Creighton | C | | | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| DePaul | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| DePaul | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgetown | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 22 | RV |
| Georgetown | C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 24 |
| Marquette | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Marquette | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Providence | AP | | | RV | RV | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | RV | RV | RV |
| Providence | C | RV | | 25 | RV | RV | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | RV | RV |
| Seton Hall | AP | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | | 19 | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | | | | | | | |
| Seton Hall | C | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | 19 | 21 | 24 | | RV | | | | | | |
| St. John's | AP | | | | RV | 24 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 24 | RV | RV | | | | | | RV | RV | | |
| St. John's | C | | | | RV | RV | 23 | 19 | 17 | 24 | RV | RV | | | | | | RV | | |
| Villanova | AP | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Villanova | C | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Xavier | AP | | | RV | | | | | | RV | | | | RV | RV | | | | | RV | 22 |
| Xavier | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV |

## Regular season

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
| | Butler | Creighton | DePaul | Georgetown | Marquette | Providence | Seton Hall | St. John's | Villanova | Xavier |
| vs. Butler | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2-0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Creighton | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. DePaul | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Georgetown | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Marquette | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Providence | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Seton Hall | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. St. John's | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Villanova | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 |
| vs. Xavier | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – |
| Total | 12–6 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 4–14 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 16–2 | 9–9 |

## Honors and awards
### All-Big East awards and teams
#### Coaches

2015 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Ryan Arcidiacono, G., Villanova Kris Dunn, G., Providence |
| Coach of the Year | Jay Wright, Villanova |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Kris Dunn, G., Providence Sir'Dominic Pointer, G/F., St. John's |
| Sixth Man Award | Josh Hart, G., Villanova |
| Most Improved Player the Year | Sir'Dominic Pointer, G/F., St. John's |
| Freshman of the Year | Angel Delgado, F., Seton Hall |
2015 Big East Men's Basketball All–Conference Teams :
| † First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention | All–Rookie Team |
| Kellen Dunham, Sr., G., Butler D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Jr., G., Georgetown ‡ Kris Dunn, So., G., Providence ‡ LaDontae Henton, Sr., F., Providence D'Angelo Harrison, Sr., G., St. John's Ryan Arcidiacono, Jr., G., Villanova ‡ Darrun Hilliard, Sr., G., Villanova | Roosevelt Jones, Jr., F., Butler Matt Carlino, Sr., G., Marquette Sterling Gibbs, Jr., G., Seton Hall Sir'Dominic Pointer, Sr., G/F., St. John's Matt Stainbrook, Sr., C., Xavier | Billy Garrett Jr., So., G., DePaul Daniel Ochefu, Jr., F., Villanova JayVaughn Pinkston, Sr., F., Villanova | Isaac Copeland, Fr., F., Georgetown L. J. Peak, Fr., F., Georgetown Duane Wilson, Fr., G., Marquette ‡ Angel Delgado, Fr., F., Seton Hall Isaiah Whitehead, Fr., G., Seton Hall ‡ Trevon Bluiett, Fr., F., Xavier |
| ‡ – Denotes unanimous selection. † – Due to a tie in the voting, additional positions was named. |||||||

## Postseason
### Big East tournament

* March 11–14, 2015 Big East Conference Basketball Tournament, Madison Square Garden, New York City.
2015 Big East men's basketball tournament seeds and results :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker | First round March 11 | Quarterfinals March 12 | Semifinals March 13 | Championship March 14 |
| 1. | ‡† Villanova | 16–2 | 32–2 | | Bye | #9 Marquette | #4 Providence | #6 Xavier |
| 2. | † Georgetown | 12–6 | 21–10 | 2–0 vs. Butler | Bye | #10 Creighton | #6 Xavier | |
| 3. | † Butler | 12–6 | 22–10 | 0–2 vs. Georgetown | Bye | #6 Xavier | | |
| 4. | † Providence | 11–7 | 22–11 | | Bye | #5 St. John's | #1 Villanova | |
| 5. | † St. John's | 10–8 | 21–11 | | Bye | #4 Providence | | |
| 6. | † Xavier | 9–9 | 21–13 | | Bye | #3 Butler | #2 Georgetown | #1 Villanova |
| 7. | DePaul | 6–12 | 12–20 | 2–0 vs. Seton Hall | #10 Creighton | | | |
| 8. | Seton Hall | 6–12 | 16–15 | 0–2 vs. DePaul | #9 Marquette | | | |
| 9. | Marquette | 4–14 | 13–15 | 1–1 vs. Providence | #8 Seton Hall | #1 Villanova | | |
| 10. | Creighton | 4–14 | 14–19 | 0–2 vs. Providence | #7 DePaul | #2 Georgetown | | |
| ‡ – Big East regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. † – Received a single-bye in the conference tournament. Overall records include all games played in the Big East tournament. ||||||||||

## Bracket

| First Round Wednesday, March 11 | First Round Wednesday, March 11 | First Round Wednesday, March 11 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Championship Saturday, March 14 | Championship Saturday, March 14 | Championship Saturday, March 14 |
| | | | 1 | Villanova | 84 | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Marquette | 49 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Seton Hall | 56 | 9 | Marquette | 49 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Marquette | 78 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Marquette | 78 | | | | 1 | Villanova | 63 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Providence | 61 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Providence | 74 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | St. John's | 57 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Villanova | 69 |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Xavier | 52 |
| | | | 2 | Georgetown | 60 | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Creighton | 55 | | | | | | |
| 7 | DePaul | 63 | 10 | Creighton | 55 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Creighton | 78 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Creighton | 78 | | | | 2 | Georgetown | 63 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Xavier | 65 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Butler | 61 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Xavier | 67* | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime game

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | Second round | Third round | Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 1 | East | Villanova | #16 Lafayette - March 19, Pittsburgh - W, 93–52 | #8 NC State - March 21, Pittsburgh - L, 68–71 | | | | |
| 4 | South | Georgetown | #13 Eastern Washington - March 19, Portland - W, 84–74 | #5 Utah - March 21, Portland - L, 64–75 | | | | |
| 6 | East | Providence | #11 Dayton - March 22, Columbus - L, 53–66 | | | | | |
| 6 | Midwest | Butler | #11 Texas - March 19, Pittsburgh - W, 56–48 | #3 Notre Dame - March 21, Pittsburgh - L, *64–67 | | | | |
| 6 | West | Xavier | #11 Ole Miss - March 19, Jacksonville - W, 76–57 | #14 Georgia State - March 21, Jacksonville - W, 75–67 | #2 Arizona - March 26, Los Angeles - L, 60–68 | | | |
| 9 | South | St. John's | #8 San Diego State - March 20, Charlotte - L, 64–76 | | | | | |
| | 6 Bids | W-L (%): | 4–2 .667 | 1–3 .250 | 0–1 .000 | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | TOTAL: 5–6 .455 |
* denotes overtime game