Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Jason Clark, Chris Wright & Greg Monroe:
Dominique Jones is going to get his.
The high-scoring South Florida guard, who is averaging 21.3 points per game this season, went for 29 when the Bulls upset Georgetown at the Verizon Center in early February.
In the mind of Hoyas head coach John Thompson III, it wasn't Jones that hurt his team five weeks ago as much as the ancillary USF players did.
Jones scored 29. His teammates combined for 43. The Hoyas lost by eight.
Facing the Bulls a second time to start the second day of the Big East Tournament, Georgetown clamped down on the rest of the South Florida roster and defended Jones as best they could.
Jones got his - 21 points on 6-18 shooting, but he also had six turnovers.
This time the rest of the lineup only added up to 28, 10-37 from the floor (27.0%).
"We wanted him to make tough, difficult shots, which he did. Which he's been doing all year," Thompson said.
Establishing Chris Wright's dribble penetration early, the Hoyas were able to get in the lane repeatedly. Wright had eight points in the opening seven minutes. When Wright wasn't lowering his shoulder and driving to the rack he was pulling up outside for smooth jumpers.
Wright would finish with 15, one of three Georgetown players in double figures right behind Greg Monroe and Jason Clark with 16 each.
USF shot 8-30 in the first half (26.7%), missed all five of their threes and trailed 31-19 at the break.
In DC, South Florida rallied from a nine point second half deficit. The Bulls blocked Georgetown's first two shots after intermission at Madison Square Garden and had three far too easy dunks as they cut the Hoyas' lead down to 37-31. It looked like Georgetown was in for a second stiff challenge.
"It feels like first 10 possessions of the second half we got fouls called against us," Thompson said. "It is easy to get frustrated at that point, but I thought our guys did a good job of just weathering the storm and understanding that its tournament basketball - things may or may not be called a little differently. We didn't get frustrated when they made a run."
With Greg Monroe nursing four personals after an illegal screen, Hollis Thompson picking up his fourth on a reach and starting center Julian Vaughn fouling out after a moving pick with 9:10 left to play, the Hoyas went to reserve center Henry Sims.
Playing extended periods of zone with Sims at the bottom of the defense, Georgetown began a 21-7 run that extended a tenuous nine point lead to a 69-46 edge in the final minute.
"Henry came in and gave us some very good minutes," Thompson said of his sophomore center. "We were in foul trouble. I felt like everyone on our team had four. That's what a team is about. They know what they're supposed it do. They know that's their responsibility and they came in and stepped when and how they were supposed to. It was good."
Consecutive baskets and subsequent free throws by Monroe inside, the latter a nifty spin to the baseline and reverse, set up a 17 point edge with four minutes showing.
South Florida finished 16-55 on the afternoon (29.1%) and trailed by double digits for the last 9:38.
"Our defense got better as the second half went on," said Thompson. "It took us longer than it normally does to figure out the rhythm of their offense, but I think our guys eventually figured it out."
Georgetown's reward for figuring it out is a meeting against number one seed Syracuse at high noon on Thursday. The two schools have squared off 12 times in the Big East Tournament, more than any other pair, with the programs splitting these decisions even. They last faced off in the 2006 BET semis, with the Orange rallying for the 67-66 win.
