The 2009 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place in March 2009 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Louisville Cardinals defeated the Syracuse Orange 76–66 in the tournament finals to earn the Big East Tournament championship for the first time, and received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
This was the first Big East tournament to include all 16 of the conference's teams. The teams finishing 9 through 16 in the regular season standings played first round games, while teams 5 through 8 received byes to the second round. The top 4 teams during the regular season received double-byes to the quarterfinals. The 2009 tournament featured a conference record six-overtime quarterfinals game (the second longest game in NCAA history) in which Syracuse defeated UConn 127–117.
Read more about 2009 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Bracket, Syracuse Vs. Connecticut
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