Georgetown defeated Creighton, 73-48, on Saturday night in the Big East tournament championship game. The Hoyas (13-12) now advance to the NCAA tournament, which begins on Thursday in Indiana.
Midway through the second half of Thursday’s opening Big East tournament quarterfinal game, Georgetown trailed Villanova by 10 points. The margin wasn’t surprising considering the Wildcats were the No.1 seed and three-time reigning champions, while the Hoyas were the No.8 seed and had a below-.500 record. Still, Georgetown wasn’t about to let up and see its season end in disappointing fashion, as had become customary since former All-American center and Naismith Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing was named the coach in April 2017. The Hoyas battled back and took the lead with five minutes left, only to fall behind again by five points with 1:30 remaining. But they turned things around and clinched a 72-71 victory when freshman guard Dante Harris made two free throws with five seconds remaining. The comeback was, at the time, a big upset for Georgetown and a nice achievement in an otherwise mediocre year. But now, with the benefit of hindsight, it represented much more than that. It was the start of an unlikely run that culminated on Saturday night with the Hoyas crushing No.2 seed Creighton,73-48, in the tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden. The victory means Georgetown (13-12) will receive the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, which begins on Thursday in Indiana. It is the Hoyas’ 31st NCAA tournament appearance but first since 2015, and perhaps the most unlikely. The Big East’s coaches picked Georgetown to finish last in the preseason poll. The Hoyas, with nine new players on the roster, then lost eight of their first 11 games before dealing with coronavirus issues in January that forced them to go three weeks between games. Ewing now says that delay helped the Hoyas regroup and rest. Georgetown won six of its final 10 Big East games heading into the conference tournament, but it ended the regular season losing,98-82, at Connecticut on March 6, prompting Ewing to proclaim, “We got a royal ass-kicking.
