Coming into the BIG EAST Tournament both Seton Hall and Georgetown had considerable work to do in order to shine up their respective resumes if they hoped to land a coveted ticket to the NCAA Tournament next week.
After four straight losses to close the regular season, the Pirates’ ship was most definitely taking on water and they desperately needed some wins at the Garden this week. Thursday night’s overtime victory over St. John’s in the quarterfinals was a good start, but in order to solidify that NCAA invite, a win over the Hoyas in the tournament semifinals and a trip to the championship game Saturday night would certainly make Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard sleep a little easier.
The case was a bit more cut and dried for Georgetown. All the Hoyas had to do was win Wednesday, win Thursday, win Friday and win Saturday. That’s right, four wins in four days. The Hoyas came into Madison Square Garden toting just a 9-12 overall record so there was no other way for Georgetown to snag an invite to the Big Dance other than running the table in the BIG EAST Tournament.
And thanks to some smothering defensive play by the Hoyas, particularly the work turned in by Jamorko Pickett, who rendered Sandro Mamukelashvili a non-factor for Seton Hall, the Hoyas headed to their first BIG EAST Tournament championship game since 2010, when they were also an eighth seed, as they knocked out the PIrates 66-58 for their third win in three days.
The Hoyas (12-12) will be looking to claim their first tournament title since 2007 when they face the winner of Creighton/UConn Saturday night at 6 p.m. on FOX.
“We showed that we have a lot of heart,” Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said after the win. “We have a lot of heart, we have a lot of tenacity and we’re just taking it one step at a time. What I keep talking to the guys about is taking each step. Each game is a step. We’ve taken three steps now and the final one will be to get it done tomorrow.”
If the Hoyas get another defensive effort like they did against Seton Hall they may very well claim their first championship hardware in 14 years. Pickett did a masterful job on locking down Mamukelashvili, the BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year as the Pirates big man shot just 3-of-16 and just 1-of-5 from three point range as he settled for eight points on the night. The only PIrate showing any signs of life against the Hoyas relentless defense was Jared Rhoden, who finished with a game-high 22 points. But it simply wasn’t enough to take out Georgetown.
Ewing had high praise for Pickett’s work on shutting down Mamukelashvili.
“He did a fantastic job,” Ewing said. “He fought hard, he competed hard. Sometimes he was talking trash a little too much but he did a fantastic job. He’s come a long way in terms of his growth. He started as a freshman and played a lot (but) in his sophomore year he had to take a back seat to some guys and he didn’t complain. He kept working and kept persevering and here he is now.”
Ewing said one of the things currently motivating the Hoyas was the preseason conference rankings in which Georgetown didn’t fare all that well.
“One of the things we talked about is when the preseason rankings came out, they had us last and now we’re playing in the championship game tomorrow,” Ewing said. ”So it’s not what other people think about you, it’s what you think of yourselves and my guys think very highly of themselves and I think highly of them as well.”
The Hoyas are the first team to advance to the championship final after being picked last in the preseason poll.
After a first half that saw Georgetown open up leads as large as 11 points before settling for a 36-34 lead at halftime, the second half remained close throughout. There were six ties in the final 20 minutes with the last one coming at 57-57 after Mamukelashvili converted a layup with 1:58 to play. That’s when the Hoyas put the game on ice when they closed out regulation on a 9-1 run to clinch the win.
The victory was particularly satisfying for Pickett, a senior, who had never won a BIG EAST Tournament game before this year and now has three under his belt in as many days.
“It means a lot,” said Pickett, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds. “We haven’t been to the championship since 2010. So we’re long overdue, especially with all the adversity we overcame this year.”
And what of the lockdown job you did on Mamukelashvili?
“I just wanted to make everything tough for him,” Pickett said. “He’s a great player and he (affects) the game in a lot of ways for them, scoring, rebounding, passing. So I just wanted to make every look that he got tonight tough.”
Ewing, who won three BIG EAST Tournament championships as a player, now stands just one win away from snagging his first as a coach. A Hoya victory on Saturday would also lock up a fourth spot in the NCAA Tournament for the BIG EAST with Villanova, Creighton and UConn already locked in.
So whatever Ewing has cooking with the Hoyas these days, it’s working. Now he just needs to whip up something special for one more night.
“The gumbo is working,” Ewing said. “As a chef it takes some time. I’m stirring the pot and the gumbo is coming together. I’m putting in the right ingredients for it to come out and for me to be top chef.”