Georgetown is back in the NCAA tournament. And this time with program legend Patrick Ewing as the head coach.
Hoyas, eighth in the Big East tournament, faced 17th Creighton in the championship game Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, an arena that Ewing lived for 15 years as a member of the New York Knicks.
Ewing’s team also seemed at home.
The Hoyas started slowly, missing 12 of the first 14 strokes. From there, however, they emerged from an initial deficit and embarked on a series of 18-0 to enter the interval with a 36-18 lead.
The Hoyas kept their foot on the pedal in the second half and were comfortably ahead by double digits the rest of the way, ending up with an impressive 73-48 victory.
Chudier Bile led all the top scorers, with 19 points and eight rebounds for Hoyas, while Jahvon Blair added 18 points off the bench. Qudus Wahab double-double with 11 points and 12 bags and Dante Harris reinforced the statistics sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
With the victory, Georgetown won the Big East automatic slot for the NCAA tournament, the first since 2015. It also marks the first Big East tournament title since 2007.
What does this mean for Georgetown?
Ewing took over as head coach of his alma mater in 2017, succeeding John Thompson III, son of the inimitable John Thompson. Old Thompson, who died last year, brought Ewing to Georgetown in the early 1980s and the 2.13 meter Ewing was the main gear that brought the Hoyas their first and only national championship in 1984.
After decades as a player and coach in the NBA, Ewing was drafted back to Georgetown with the hope of revitalizing an average program. The Hoyas arrived at the NCAA tournament eight times under Thompson III, including a race for the Final Four in 2007, but the program’s last trip to the NCAA tournament came in 2015.
Since then, there has been a lot of mediocrity. This continued mainly under Ewing. Hoyas played at a NIT and never finished above 0.500 at Big East in their four seasons. They ended the regular season of 2020-21 with an overall record of 9-12 lackluster, with a mark of 7-9 in conference games.
But things can change quickly in the month of March. The Hoyas caught fire in the postseason, having four consecutive wins to win an automatic seat for the NCAA tournament.
It all started with a 19 point win over Marquette in the first round. Then came a big surprise, a 72-71 victory over No. 1 seed Villanova in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Georgetown survived Seton Hall, 66-58, to prepare for Saturday night’s clash against Creighton.
It remains to be seen whether Georgetown’s momentum will be brought to the NCAA tournament. Regardless, a Big East title is big business for Ewing as he tries to rebuild the program into a candidate for the NCAA tournament perennial title and participant. Recruitment has been somewhat discouraging under Ewing, but his 2021 squad is currently ranked 6th nationally by Rivals.com.
Some of the leaders of the veterans on this current team will certainly move on, but guys like Wahab (a sophomore) and Harris (a freshman) are legitimate building blocks for the future. Aminu Mohammed, Ewing’s first five-star recruit, is expected to provide a jolt of energy for the program that is advancing as well.
Georgetown, the bid thief
The only way for Georgetown to reach the NCAA tournament this season would be to win the Big East tournament. He did just that. In the process, Georgetown will steal an offer from one of the teams hovering over the bubble, longing for a free spot.
This could include former Big East rival Syracuse, who lost to Virginia in a horn in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
Other teams that may be affected by Georgetown’s place in the tournament include midfielders like Colorado State, St. Louis, Drake and Utah State. Ole Miss, Boise State and Memphis are also in the mix for an at-large.
Like Georgetown, Oregon State on Pac-12 and Cincinnati on AAC, they can steal bids if they win their respective conference tournaments.
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