# 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 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 Championships |
| Butler | LaVall Jordan | Milwaukee | 2 | 21–14 | 9–9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Creighton | Greg McDermott | Iowa State | 9 | 187–94 | 47–43 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| DePaul | Dave Leitao | Tulsa (asst.) | 7 | 87–99 | 39–63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgetown | Patrick Ewing | Charlotte Hornets (asst.) | 2 | 34–29 | 14–22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marquette | Steve Wojciechowski | Duke (asst.) | 5 | 73–59 | 31–41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Providence | Ed Cooley | Fairfield | 8 | 144–94 | 64–62 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Seton Hall | Kevin Willard | Iona | 9 | 150–114 | 62–82 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| St. John's | Chris Mullin | None | 4 | 39–60 | 12–42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Villanova | Jay Wright | Hofstra | 18 | 422–165 | 191–103 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 2 |
| Xavier | Travis Steele | Xavier (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.
| Rank | Team |
| 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 Year | Shamorie Ponds, St. John's |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Shamorie Ponds, St. John's |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Eric Paschall, Villanova |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Markus Howard, Maquette |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Kamar Baldwin, Butler |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Jessie Govan, Georgetown |
| Preseason All-Big East First Team | Alpha Diallo, Providence |
| Preseason All-Big East Second Team | Phil Booth, Villanova |
| Preseason All-Big East Second Team | Myles Powell, Seton Hall |
| Preseason All-Big East Second Team | Max Strus, DePaul |
| Preseason All-Big East Second Team | Sam Hauser, Marquette |
| Preseason All-Big East Second Team | Justin Simon, St. John's |
| Preseason All-Big East Honorable Mention | Martin Krampelj, Creighton |
| Preseason All-Big East Honorable Mention | Naji Marshall, Xavier |

## Regular season
### Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
* First place votes
| | | Pre | Wk 2 | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Butler | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Creighton | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Creighton | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| DePaul | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| DePaul | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgetown | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgetown | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Marquette | AP | | 24 | | | 21 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 23 | RV |
| Marquette | C | | | | | | 23 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 22 | T-25 |
| Providence | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Providence | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seton Hall | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seton Hall | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. John's | AP | | | | | | | | | 24 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. John's | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Villanova | AP | 9 (1) | 8 | 23 | 21 | 17 | | | | | 22 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 17 | RV | 23 | 25 | 23 |
| Villanova | C | 8 | 8 | 23 | 21 | 16 | | | | | 21 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 16 | RV | 23 | 25 | 22 |
| Xavier | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Xavier | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Conference matrix

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 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Creighton | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. DePaul | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Georgetown | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Marquette | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Providence | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Seton Hall | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. St. John's | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Villanova | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 |
| vs. Xavier | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – |
| Total | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 9–9 |

### 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, 2018 | Markus Howard, Marquette | A. J. Reeves, Providence |
| November 19, 2018 | Max Strus, DePaul | James Akinjo, Georgetown |
| November 26, 2018 | Shamorie Ponds, St. John's | A. J. Reeves (2), Providence |
| December 3, 2018 | Markus Howard (2), Marquette | A. J. Reeves (3), Providence |
| December 10, 2018 | Myles Powell, Seton Hall | Joey Hauser, Marquette |
| December 17, 2018 | Max Strus (2), DePaul | Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton |
| December 23, 2018 | Markus Howard (3), Marquette | Mac McClung, Georgetown |
| December 31, 2018 | Naji Marshall, Xavier | Josh LeBlanc, Georgetown |
| January 7, 2019 | Shamorie Ponds (2), St. John's | Joey Hauser (2), Marquette |
| January 14, 2019 | Markus Howard (4), Marquette | James Akinjo (2), Georgetown |
| January 21, 2019 | Sam Hauser, Marquette | Joey Hauser (3), Marquette |
| January 28, 2019 | Ty-Shon Alexander, Creighton | Joey Hauser (4), Marquette |
| February 4, 2019 | Markus Howard (5), Marquette | James Akinjo (3), Georgetown |
| February 11, 2019 | Markus Howard (6), Marquette | Mac McClung (2), Georgetown |
| February 18, 2019 | Mustapha Heron, St. John's | Saddiq Bey, Villanova |
| February 25, 2019 | Naji Marshall (2), Xavier | Joey Hauser (5), Marquette |
| March 4, 2019 | Max Strus (3), DePaul | Josh LeBlanc (2), Georgetown |
| March 10, 2019 | Myles Powell (2), Seton Hall | James Akinjo (4), Georgetown |

## Honors and awards
### All-Americans

Consensus All-Americans :
| First Team | Second Team |
| None | 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 Press | NABC | Sporting News | USBWA |
| First Team ||||
| None | None | None | None |
| Second Team ||||
| Markus Howard – Marquette | Markus Howard – Marquette | Markus Howard – Marquette | Markus Howard – Marquette |
| Third Team ||||
| None | None | None | None |

### Big East Awards

2019 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Markus Howard, G., Marquette |
| Coach of the Year | Jay Wright, Villanova |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Justin Simon, G., St. John's |
| Freshman of the Year | James Akinjo, G., Georgetown |
| Most Improved Player of the Year | Paul Reed, F., DePaul |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Michael Nzei, F., Seton Hall |
| Sixth Man Award | Paul Jorgensen, G., Butler |
| Sportsmanship Award | Nate Fowler, C., Butler |
2019 Big East Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention | All-Freshman Team |
| Markus Howard† – Marquette Myles Powell† – Seton Hall Phil Booth† – Villanova Eric Paschall† – Villanova Shamorie Ponds – St. John's Jessie Govan – Georgetown | Kamar Baldwin – Butler Max Strus – DePaul Sam Hauser – Marquette Alpha Diallo – Providence Naji Marshall – Xavier | Ty-Shon Alexander - Creighton Martin Krampelj - Creighton | Marcus 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

| First round Wednesday, March 13 FS1 | First round Wednesday, March 13 FS1 | First round Wednesday, March 13 FS1 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 FS1 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 FS1 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 FS1 | Semifinals Friday, March 15 FS1 | Semifinals Friday, March 15 FS1 | Semifinals Friday, March 15 FS1 | Championship Saturday, March 16 FOX | Championship Saturday, March 16 FOX | Championship Saturday, March 16 FOX |
| | | | 1 | Villanova | 73 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Providence | 62 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Providence | 80 | 8 | Providence | 62 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Butler | 57 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Butler | 57 | | | | 1 | Villanova | 71* | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Xavier | 67 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Xavier | 63 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Creighton | 61 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Villanova | 74 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Seton Hall | 72 |
| | | | 2 | Marquette | 86 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | St. John's | 54 | | | | | | |
| 7 | St. John's | 82 | 7 | St. John's | 54 | | | | | | |
| 10 | DePaul | 74 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | DePaul | 74 | | | | 2 | Marquette | 79 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Seton Hall | 81 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Seton Hall | 73 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Georgetown | 57 | | | | | | |
*Indicates number of overtime periods.

### 2019 NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 5 | West | Marquette | BYE | L 64–83 vs. Murray State – (Hartford, CT) | | | | | |
| 6 | South | Villanova | BYE | W 61–57 vs. Saint Mary's – (Hartford, CT) | L 61–87 vs. Purdue – (Hartford, CT) | | | | |
| 10 | Midwest | Seton Hall | BYE | L 68–84 vs. Wofford – (Jacksonville, FL) | | | | | |
| 11 | West | St. John's | L 65–74 vs. Arizona State – (Dayton, OH) | | | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 1–2 (.333) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 1–4 (.200) |

### 2019 NIT

| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| 2 | TCU | Creighton | W 70–61 vs. Loyola–Chicago – (Omaha, NE) | W 79–67 vs. Memphis – (Omaha, NE) | L 58–71 vs. TCU – (Fort Worth, TX) | | |
| 3 | Alabama | Xavier | W 78–64 vs. Toledo – (Cincinnati, OH) | L 76–78 (OT) vs. Texas – (Austin, TX) | | | |
| 3 | UNCG | Georgetown | L 68–71 vs. Harvard – (Washington, DC) | | | | |
| 4 | Indiana | Providence | L 72–84 vs. Arkansas – (Providence, RI) | | | | |
| 5 | TCU | Butler | L 76–80 vs. Nebraska – (Lincoln, NE) | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 2–3 (.400) | 1–1 (.500) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 3–5–0 (.375) |

### 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 (%): | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–2 (.333) Total: 4–2 (.667) |