1999–2000 Big East Conference men's basketball season

1999–2000 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
1999–2000 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 11, 1999; through March 11, 2000
Number of teams	13
TV partner(s)	ESPN
Regular Season
Champion	Miami and Syracuse (13–3)
Season MVP	Troy Murphy – Notre Dame
Tournament
Champions	St. John's
Finals MVP	Bootsy Thornton – St. John's

1999–2000 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 16 Syracuse	13	–	3	.813	26	–	6	.813
No. 23 Miami (FL)	13	–	3	.813	23	–	11	.676
No. 9 St. John's†	12	–	4	.750	25	–	8	.758
No. 20 Connecticut	10	–	6	.625	25	–	10	.714
Seton Hall	10	–	6	.625	22	–	10	.688
Villanova	8	–	8	.500	20	–	13	.606
Notre Dame	8	–	8	.500	22	–	15	.595
West Virginia	6	–	10	.375	14	–	14	.500
Georgetown	6	–	10	.375	19	–	15	.559
Rutgers	6	–	10	.375	15	–	16	.484
Pittsburgh	5	–	11	.313	13	–	15	.464
Providence	4	–	12	.250	11	–	19	.367
Boston College	3	–	13	.188	11	–	19	.367

† 2000 Big East tournament winner As of April 3, 2000^[1] Rankings from AP poll

The 1999–2000 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 21st in conference history, and involved its 13 full-time member schools.

Miami and Syracuse were the regular-season co-champions with identical records of 13–3. St. John's won the Big East tournament championship.

Season summary & highlights

Miami and Syracuse were the regular-season co-champions with identical records of 13–3. It was Miami's first and Syracuse's seventh regular-season championship or co-championship.
St. John's won its third Big East tournament championship.
Jim Boeheim of Syracuse received his third Big East Coach of the Year award.

Head coaches

School	Coach	Season	Notes
Boston College	Al Skinner	3rd
Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	14th
Georgetown	Craig Esherick	2nd
Miami	Leonard Hamilton	10th	Resigned June 14, 2000
Notre Dame	Matt Doherty	1st	Resigned July 11, 2000
Pittsburgh	Ben Howland	1st
Providence	Tim Welsh	2nd
Rutgers	Kevin Bannon	3rd
St. John's	Mike Jarvis	2nd
Seton Hall	Tommy Amaker	3rd
Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	24th	Big East Coach of the Year (3rd award)
Villanova	Steve Lappas	8th
West Virginia	Gale Catlett	22nd

Rankings

Ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press poll, Connecticut remained in the Top 25 all season, finishing at No. 20. Syracuse also was in the Top 25 all season. Miami, St. John's, and Seton Hall also appeared in the Top 25.

1999–2000 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
**Key:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll^[2]	Pre	11/15	11/22	11/29	12/6	12/13	12/20	12/27	1/3	1/10	1/17	1/24	1/31	2/7	2/14	2/21	2/28	3/6	Final
Boston College
Connecticut	1	8	7	5	6	3	2	2	2	5	8	6	7	13	18	22	24	21	20
Georgetown
Miami	25																	23	23
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Providence
Rutgers
St. John's	18	15									19	25					18	19	9
Seton Hall															23
Syracuse	17	13	14	14	12	10	9	7	7	7	6	4	4	4	9	13	9	12	16
Villanova
West Virginia

Regular-season statistical leaders

Name	School	PPG
Scoring
Troy Murphy	ND	22.7
Troy Bell	BC	18.8
Ricardo Greer	Pitt	18.8
Johnny Hemsley	Mia	18.1
Erick Barkley	SJU	16.0

Name	School	RPG
Rebounding
Troy Murphy	ND	10.3
Ricardo Greer	Pitt	9.8
Etan Thomas	Syr	9.3
Marcus Goree	WVU	8.2
Erron Maxey	Prov	8.0

Name	School	APG
Assists
Vernon Jennings	Mia	6.8
Jason Hart	Syr	6.5
Jimmy Dillon	ND	5.8
Shaheen Holloway	SHU	5.6
Brandin Knight	Pitt	5.5

Name	School	SPG
Steals
Erick Barkley	SJU	3.0
Brandin Knight	Pitt	2.8
Kevin Braswell	GU	2.6
Bootsy Thornton	SJU	2.4
Vernon Jennings	Mia	2.3

Name	School	BPG
Blocks
Etan Thomas	Syr	3.7
Samuel Dalembert	SHU	3.6
Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje	GU	2.5
Marcus Goree	WVU	2.5
Malik Allen	Vill	1.9

Name	School	FG%
Field Goals
Etan Thomas	Syr	.602
Marcus Goree	WVU	.532
Malik Allen	Vill	.511
Troy Murphy	ND	.492
Bootsy Thornton	SJU	.486

Name	School	3FG%
3-Pt Field Goals
Darius Lane	SHU	.358
(no other qualifiers)

Name	School	FT%
Free Throws
Troy Bell	BC	.894
Khalid El-Amin	Conn	.892
Rimas Kaukenas	SJU	.882
Johnny Hemsley	Mia	.849
Lavor Postell	SJU	.809

Postseason

Big East tournament

Seeding

Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. Teams seeded fourth through thirteenth played a first-round game, and the other three teams received a bye into the second round.

The tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Syracuse, (2) Miami, (3) St. John's, (4) Connecticut, (5) Seton Hall, (6) Villanova, (7) Notre Dame, (8) West Virginia, (9) Georgetown, (10) Rutgers, (11) Pittsburgh, (12) Providence, (13) Boston College.

Bracket

First round March 8, 2000			Quarterfinals March 9, 2000			Semifinals March 10, 2000			Championship Game March 11, 2000

			1	#12 Syracuse	72

			9	Georgetown	76
8	West Virginia	67

9	Georgetown	70
						9	Georgetown	55

						4	#21 Connecticut	70
5	Seton Hall	85

12	Providence	65
			5	Seton Hall	64

			4	#21 Connecticut	79
4	#21 Connecticut	70

13	Boston College	55
									4	#21 Connecticut	70

									3	#19 St. John's	80



			3	#19 St. John's	75

			6	Villanova	70
6	Villanova	65

11	Pittsburgh	55
						3	#19 St. John's	58

						2	#23 Miami	57



			2	#23 Miami	61

			7	Notre Dame	58
7	Notre Dame	74

10	Rutgers	62

NCAA tournament

Five Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Connecticut and St. John's lost in the second round and Miami, Seton Hall, and Syracuse in the regional semifinals.

Ohio State, which Miami defeated in the second round, vacated 16 games, including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1999–2000 season, due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.^[3]^[4]

School	Region	Seed	Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16
Syracuse	Midwest	4	13 Samford, W 79–66	5 Kentucky, W 52–50	1 Michigan State, L 75–58
Miami	South	6	11 Arkansas, W 75–71	3 ~~Ohio State~~, W 75–62	7 Tulsa, L 80–71
Seton Hall	East	10	7 Oregon, W 72–71^{OT)	2 Temple, W 67–65^{OT)	3 Oklahoma State, L 68–66
St. John's	West	2	15 Northern Arizona, W 61–56	10 Gonzaga, L 82–76
Connecticut	South	5	12 Utah State, W 75–67	4 Tennessee, L 65–51

National Invitation Tournament

Four Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in three of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Kent State knocked both Rutgers and Villanova out of the tournament, Rutgers in the first round and Villanova in the second. Georgetown also lost in the second round, but Notre Dame reached the championship game, losing to Wake Forest and finishing as the tournament's runner-up.

Georgetown's grueling three-and-a-half-hour, triple-overtime defeat of Virginia in the first round on March 15, 2000, is considered one of the greatest games in both NIT and Georgetown history.^[5] The game broke a number of Georgetown scoring records, and Georgetown's and Virginia's combined 226 points set a record for total points scored in an NIT game, breaking the previous record of 213 set by Connecticut and Saint Louis in the 1955 NIT.^[5]

School	Round 1	Round 2	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Notre Dame	Michigan, W 75–65	Xavier, W 76–64	BYU, W 64–52	Penn State, W 73–52	Wake Forest, L 71–61
Georgetown	Virginia, W 115–111^3OT	California, L 60–49
Villanova	Delaware, W 72–63	Kent State, L 81–67
Rutgers	Kent State, L 73–62

Awards and honors

Big East Conference

Player of the Year:

Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, So.

Defensive Player of the Year:

Etan Thomas, Syracuse, C, Sr.

Rookie of the Year:

Troy Bell, Boston College, G, Fr.

Co-Most Improved Players:

Ricardo Greer, Pitsburgh, F, Jr.
Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall, G, Sr.

Coach of the Year:

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (24th season)

All-Big East First Team

Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut, G, Jr., 5 ft 10 in (178 cm), 200 lb (91 kg), Minneapolis, Minn.
Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, So., 6 ft 11 in (211 cm), 245 lb (111 kg), Morristown, N.J.
Erick Barkley, St. John's, G, So., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 177 lb (80 kg), Queens, N.Y.
Etan Thomas, St. John's, G, Sr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 260 lb (118 kg), New York, N.Y.
Jason Hart, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6 ft 3 in (191 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Los Angeles, Calif.

All-Big East Second Team:

Johnny Hemsley, Miami, G, Sr., 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), 195 lb (88 kg), Baltimore, Md.
Ricardo Greer, Pittsburgh, F, Jr., 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), 200 lb (91 kg), New York, N.Y.
Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall, G, Sr., 5 ft 10 in (178 cm), 173 lb (78 kg), Queens, N.Y.
Lavor Postell, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 215 lb (98 kg), Albany, Ga.
Malik Allen, Villanova, C, Sr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 255 lb (116 kg), Willingboro Township, N.J.

All-Big East Third Team:

Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Georgetown, C, Jr., 7 ft 0 in (213 cm), 257 lb (117 kg), Edéa, Cameroon
Mario Bland, Miami, C, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 265 lb (120 kg), Jackson, Miss.
Bootsy Thornton, St. John's, G, Sr., 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), 195 lb (88 kg), Baltimore, Md.
Ryan Blackwell, Syracuse, F, Sr., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 243 lb (110 kg), Champagne, Ill..
Marcus Goree, West Virginia, F, Sr., 6 ft 9 in (206 cm), 255 lb (116 kg), Dallas, Tex.

Big East All-Rookie Team:

Troy Bell, Boston College, G, Fr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Minneapolis, Minn.
Darius Lane, Seton Hall, G, Fr., 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), 208 lb (94 kg), Fridley, Minn.
Samuel Dalembert, Seton Hall, C, Fr., 6 ft 11 in (211 cm), 250 lb (113 kg), Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Anthony Glover, St. John's, F, Fr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 231 lb (105 kg), The Bronx, N.Y.
Gary Buchanan, Villanova, G, Fr., 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), 205 lb (93 kg), St. Louis, Mo.

All-Americans

The following players were selected to the 2000 Associated Press All-America teams.

Consensus All-America First Team:

Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, Key Stats: 22.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.0 bpg, 49.2 FG%, 32.6 3P%, 839 points

First Team All-America:

Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, Key Stats: 22.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.0 bpg, 49.2 FG%, 32.6 3P%, 839 points

AP Honorable Mention

Erick Barkley, St. John's
Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut
Etan Thomas, Syracuse

References

^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/2000.html
^ "1999-2000 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
^ "OSU gets probation". ESPN.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Longest Games". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.

[1] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/2000.html

[2] "1999-2000 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2025.

[3] "OSU gets probation". ESPN.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2017.

[4] "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.

[longest-5] "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Longest Games". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.

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Big East Conference men's basketball
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