2020–21 Big East Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 Big East Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2021.

2020–21 Big East Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)CBS, CBSSN, FOX, FS1, FSN
Regular Season
Season championsVillanova
Season MVPCollin Gillespie, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Sandro Mamukelashvili
Tournament
ChampionsGeorgetown
  Runners-upCreighton
Finals MVPDante Harris
Basketball seasons
2020–21 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 18 Villanova 11 4   .733 18 7   .720
No. 19 Creighton 14 6   .700 22 9   .710
UConn 11 6   .647 15 8   .652
St. John's 10 9   .526 16 11   .593
Seton Hall 10 9   .526 14 13   .519
Providence 9 10   .474 13 13   .500
Xavier 6 7   .462 13 8   .619
Georgetown 7 9   .438 13 13   .500
Marquette 8 11   .421 13 14   .481
Butler 8 12   .400 10 15   .400
DePaul 2 13   .133 5 14   .263
2021 Big East tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Head coaches

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Coaching changes

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Coaches

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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 4 50–32 17–20 0 1 0 0
UConn Dan Hurley Rhode Island 3 42–30 0–0 0 0 0 0
Creighton Greg McDermott Iowa State 10 217–111 56–52 0 5 0 0
DePaul Dave Leitao Tulsa
(asst.)
8 118–117 46–74 0 0 0 0
Georgetown Patrick Ewing Charlotte Hornets (asst.) 3 49–46 19–35 0 0 0 0
Marquette Steve Wojciechowski Duke
(asst.)
6 107–72 43–48 0 2 0 0
Providence Ed Cooley Fairfield 9 170–116 72–73 1 5 0 0
Seton Hall Kevin Willard Iona 10 179–131 70–90 0 3 0 0
St. John's Mike Anderson Arkansas 1 11–3 0–0 0 0 0 0
Villanova Jay Wright Hofstra 19 457–177 203–105 7 14 3 2
Xavier Travis Steele Xavier
(asst.)
2 29–18 9–9 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Years at school includes 2020–21 season.
  • Overall and Big East records are from time at current school and are through week nine of the 2019–20 season.
  • McDermott's MVC conference records and Hurley's AAC records not included since team began play in the Big East.

Preseason

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Preseason poll

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Prior to the season, the Big East conducted a poll of Big East coaches. Coaches do not place their own team on their ballots.[1]

Rank Team
1. Villanova (9)
2. Creighton (2)
3. Providence
4. UConn
5. Seton Hall
6. Marquette
7. Xavier
8. Butler
9. St. John's
10. DePaul
11. Georgetown
(first place votes)

Preseason All-Big East teams

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Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton
Preseason Freshman of the Year Dawson Garcia, Marquette
Preseason All-Big East First Team Charlie Moore, DePaul
David Duke, Providence
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
Preseason All-Big East Second Team Bryce Nze, Butler
James Bouknight, UConn
Mitch Ballock, Creighton
Nate Watson, Providence
Justin Moore, Villanova
Paul Scruggs, Xavier
Preseason All-Big East Honorable Mention D. J. Carton, Marquette
Bryce Aiken, Seton Hall

*Schedule Source:[2]

Regular season

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Rankings

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Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  () First place votes
  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
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14
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15
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16
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17
Wk
18
Wk
19
Final
Butler AP
C
Creighton AP
C
DePaul AP
C
Georgetown AP
C
Marquette AP
C
Providence AP
C
Seton Hall AP
C
St. John's AP
C
Villanova AP
C
Xavier AP
C

Conference matrix

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This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Butler UConn Creighton DePaul Georgetown Marquette Providence Seton Hall St. John's Villanova Xavier
vs. Butler 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. UConn 0–2 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1
vs. Creighton 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1
vs. DePaul 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–1
vs. Georgetown 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–0
vs. Marquette 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1
vs. Providence 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1
vs. Seton Hall 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–1
vs. St. John's 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Villanova 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–0
vs. Xavier 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–0
Total 8–12 11–6 14–6 2–13 7–9 8–11 9–10 10–9 10–9 11–4 6–7

Player of the week

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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 30, 2020 Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova Dawson Garcia, Marquette
December 7, 2020 Zach Freemantle, Xavier Justin Lewis, Marquette
December 14, 2020 David Duke, Providence Dante Harris, Georgetown
December 21, 2020 Paul Scruggs, Xavier Posh Alexander, St. John's
December 28, 2020 Myles Cale, Seton Hall Chuck Harris, Butler
January 4, 2021 Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall Dawson Garcia (2), Marquette
January 11, 2021 Tyler Polley, Connecticut Colby Jones, Xavier
January 18, 2021 Julian Champagnie, St. John's Dawson Garcia (3), Marquette
January 25, 2021 Jermaine Samuels, Villanova Posh Alexander (2), St. John's
February 1, 2021 Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton Posh Alexander (3), St. John's
February 8, 2021 Sandro Mamukelashvili (2), Seton Hall Posh Alexander (4), St. John's
February 15, 2021 David Duke (2), Providence Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
February 22, 2021 Charlie Moore Colby Jones (2), Xavier
March 1, 2021 R. J. Cole, Connecticut Chuck Harris (2), Butler
March 7, 2021 Julian Champagnie (2), St. John's Adama Sanogo (2), Connecticut

Honors and awards

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Big East Awards

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2021 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards[3]
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Sandro Mamukelashvili, F., Seton Hall
Collin Gillespie, G., Villanova
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, F., Villanova
Coach of the Year Mike Anderson, St. John's
Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Whaley, F., Connecticut
Posh Alexander, G., St. John's
Freshman of the Year Posh Alexander, G., St. John's
Most Improved Player of the Year Julian Champagnie, G./F., St. John's
Zach Freemantle, F., Xavier
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Ike Obiagu, C., Seton Hall
Sixth Man Award Tyler Polley, F., Connecticut
Sportsmanship Award Mitch Ballock, G., Creighton
2021 Big East Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams[4]
First Team Second Team Honorable Mention All-Freshman Team

Marcus Zegarowski – Creighton
James Bouknight – Connecticut
Julian Champagnie – St. John's
Sandro Mamukelashvili* – Seton Hall
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl* – Villanova
Collin Gillespie – Villanova

Damien Jefferson – Creighton
David Duke – Providence
Nate Watson – Providence
Zach Freemantle – Xavier
Paul Scruggs – Xavier

Denzel Mahoney - Creighton
Jahvon Blair - Georgetown
Jermaine Samuels - Villanova

Chuck Harris* – Butler
Adama Sanogo – Connecticut
Dawson Garcia* – Marquette
Posh Alexander* – St. John's
Colby Jones – Xavier

* - denotes unanimous selection
- Due to a tie in the voting, an additional position was added

References

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  1. ^ "Villanova Selected For First Place in Coaches' Preseason Poll". Big East Conference. October 28, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Creighton's Zegarowski Named Big East Preseason Player of the Year". Big East Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  3. ^ "Mamukelashvili, Robinson-Earl, Gillespie Share BIG EAST Player of the Year" (Press release). Big East Conference. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  4. ^ "Seton Hall's Mamukelashvili, Villanova's Robinson-Earl Named Unanimously To All-BIG EAST First Team". Big East Conference. March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
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