2020 Big East men's basketball tournament

The 2020 Big East men's basketball tournament was the postseason tournament men's basketball tournament for the Big East Conference. It was to have been held from March 11 through March 14, 2020, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the two first-round games were played on March 11.

2020 Big East men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2019–20
Teams10
SiteMadison Square Garden
New York City
TelevisionFS1, Fox
← 2019
2021 →
2019–20 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Creighton 13 5   .722 24 7   .774
No. 11 Villanova 13 5   .722 24 7   .774
No. 16 Seton Hall 13 5   .722 21 9   .700
Providence 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
No. 24 Butler 10 8   .556 22 9   .710
Marquette 8 10   .444 18 12   .600
Xavier 8 10   .444 19 13   .594
Georgetown 5 13   .278 15 17   .469
St. John's 5 13   .278 17 15   .531
DePaul 3 15   .167 16 16   .500
Note: The 2020 Big East tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game of the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rankings from AP poll

Early on March 12, amid concerns over the spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Big East Conference issued a statement that it would limit attendance during the rest of the tournament to student-athletes, coaches, team staff, event staff, essential media, and immediate family members [1] The first quarterfinal game, with Creighton facing St. John's, began on March 12, but during halftime, with St. John's leading 38–35,[2] the Big East Conference cancelled the rest of the game and all remaining tournament games in order to further reduce the possibility of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for cases of COVID-19. It was the first cancellation of the tournament since its foundation in 1980. Despite the cancellation of the tournament, the conference was able to receive an insurance payout of $10.5 million as a result of the tournament's insurance policy.[3]

The winner was to have received the conference's bid to the 2020 NCAA tournament, which also was cancelled on March 12, 2020.

Seeds

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All 10 Big East schools were slated to participate in the tournament. Teams were seeded by the conference record with tie-breaking procedures to determine the seeds for teams with identical conference records. The top six teams received first-round byes. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season.

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker 1
1 Creighton 13–5 3–1 vs. Villanova/Seton Hall
2 Villanova 13–5 2–2 vs. Creighton/Seton Hall
3 Seton Hall 13–5 1–3 vs. Creighton/Villanova
4 Providence 12–6
5 Butler 10–8
6 Marquette 8–10 2–0 vs. Xavier
7 Xavier 8–10 0–2 vs. Marquette
8 Georgetown 5–13 2–0 vs. St. John's
9 St. John's 5–13 0–2 vs. Georgetown
10 DePaul 3–15

Schedule

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Game Time Matchup Score Television Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 11
1 7:00 pm No. 8 Georgetown vs. No. 9 St. John's 62–75 FS1 17,534
2 9:30 pm No. 7 Xavier vs. No. 10 DePaul 67–71
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12
3 12:00 pm No. 1 Creighton vs. No. 9 St. John's
(cancelled at halftime)
35–38
(halftime)
FS1 N/A*
4 2:30 pm No. 4 Providence vs. No. 5 Butler cancelled
5 7:00 pm No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 10 DePaul
6 9:30 pm No. 3 Seton Hall vs. No. 6 Marquette
Semifinals – Friday, March 13
7 6:30 pm Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner cancelled
8 9:00 pm Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner
Championship – Saturday, March 14
9 6:30 pm Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner cancelled
Game times in Eastern Time. Rankings denote tournament seed.[4]

*Attendance by the general public was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Bracket

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First round
Wednesday, March 11
FS1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 12
FS1
Semifinals
Friday, March 13
FS1
Championship
Saturday, March 14
Fox
            
1 #7 Creighton 35
9 St. John's 38
(canceled
halftime)
8 Georgetown 62
9 St. John's 75
cancelled
 
4 Providence cancelled
5 #24 Butler
cancelled
 
2 #11 Villanova cancelled
10 DePaul
7 Xavier 67
10 DePaul 71
cancelled
 
3 #16 Seton Hall cancelled
6 Marquette

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "BIG EAST Announced Restricted Attendance Policy". Big East Conference. October 29, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. ^ St. John's vs. Creighton Box Score — March 12, 2020 https://theathletic.com/ The Athletic Retrieved May 19, 2020
  3. ^ Caron, Emily (December 2, 2020). "Big East recoups $10.5 million from men's basketball tournament insurance policy". Sportico. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  4. ^ "Big East Conference". Bigeast.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.