NEW YORK – – Patrick Ewing went up the stairs – just a few steps needed for the 7 feet – he fastened the last rope and held the net high.
Georgetown is the Big East champion again, with the biggest Hoya of them all leading the way.
Ewing is taking his team back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, after eighth Hoyas completed an astonishing run for the Big East crown on Saturday night with an impressive 73-48 rout against No. 17 Creighton .
On the 49th anniversary of the day Georgetown hired John Thompson, the late Hall of Fame coach who transformed the program into a national powerhouse and one of the most iconic brands in college basketball, the Hoyas won their eighth Big East tournament title, the first since 2007
Was it fate? Destiny? Maybe Big John, who died in August at the age of 78, smiling at the now coach Ewing and his Hoyas?
“I think so,” said Ewing.
Georgetown won with a dominant performance inside Madison Square Garden, reminiscent of Ewing’s game days at school.
Hoyas (13-12) closed the first half with a series of 23-2 that put them 18 on the counterattack against Creighton (20-8). Then they started the second half with a 16-3 spurt. Chudier Bile dropped a 3-point basket – holding the follow through for a hit – with 14:58 to go, which increased to 52-21.
Ewing considered this a big step for a program that struggles to regain its former glory and started this season chosen to finish last in the Grand Orient.
“A lot of people have discredited it. They spoke ill of us. We believe in ourselves. We work hard. We fought a lot, ”he said.
Ewing wondered out loud earlier this week if they had forgotten about him at MSG. He complained that the security guard asked to see his credentials as he moved through the building where he starred for the New York Knicks and his shirt # 33 was hanging from the rafters.
Ewing said that this championship was “up there” with its best moments at The Garden.
“Chapter different from my life,” he said.
Bile equaled a record of the season with 19 points and Jahvon Blair had 18 for Georgetown. After missing 12 of the first 14 shots, the Hoyas finished 46.6% of the ground.
Marcus Zegarowski scored 17 points to lead Creighton, who is 0-3 in the Big East title games since joining the 2013-14 season conference.
Georgetown fans, the few dozen who were in the building nearly empty because of COVID-19 restrictions, shouted “This is our home!” while the Hoyas were preparing to receive the championship trophy. Ewing was carrying a T-shirt with the image of Thompson, his former coach’s fist raised.
“Just seeing how happy he is, I’m happy,” said Blair of Ewing. “I am so happy for him.”
Ewing and Thompson combined for three Big East Tournament championships, three appearances in the Four Finals and a national title in 1984, during their time together in Georgetown.
Ewing aspired to be a head coach as his mentor. He spent 15 years as an assistant in the NBA, never having a chance to be the head coach – until his alma mater called him.
“I’m here where a lot of people thought I didn’t have the ability to (be),” said Ewing. “And I am proving that everyone is wrong.”
58-year-old Ewing is in his fourth season with the Hoyas and until this week there was not much to look forward to. The only participation in the post-season tournament was the permanence of a game at NIT 2019. At the beginning of this tournament, Ewing’s record was 58-58 as head coach.
Now he is the first person in Big East history to be the most notable player in a Big East Tournament champion and to coach a team for the Big East Tournament title.
BIG PICTURE
Georgetown: It became the first No. 8 seed to win the Big East Tournament and the worst seed since Connecticut as No. 9 in 2011. Georgetown’s eighth title broke a tie with UConn for most of any school.
These 2011 Huskies won a national title. This seems unlikely for these Hoyas, who entered the Big East Tournament with a losing record. But Georgetown has been 10-4 since returning from a break at COVID-19 in mid-January, a race that coincided with Ewing’s Bile insertion into the starting lineup.
“After arriving at the NCAA Tournament, anything is possible,” said Ewing.
Creighton: Bluejays scored 48 points, the worst of the season, and hit 29% of the field.
“We have a mature group and I think they understand that this has not happened to us often over the past two years,” said coach Greg McDermott. “Occasionally it happens, but you hope it doesn’t happen on a night like this.”
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Freshman Dante Harris scored 10 points, with eight rebounds and five assists, to end a strong week that earned him the tournament MVP.
Blair and his teammate Qudus Wahab were also part of the team for the entire tournament along with Zegarowski, Adama Sanogo from Connecticut and Jared Rhoden from Seton Hall.
NEXT
The Hoyas are likely to give Big East four teams at the NCAA Tournament along with Creighton, Villanova and UConn.
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