Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright & Greg Monroe:
Locker room audio - Coach John Thompson III:
Marquette 62 Georgetown 59.
Syracuse 73 Georgetown 56.
South Florida 72 Georgetown 64
Syracuse 75 Georgetown 71.
If you thought the trio of Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Greg Monroe had put these four regular season conference losses behind them, you should have seen their faces light up when asked if playing these schools again in the Big East Tournament was providing Georgetown with extra motivation to get back at those teams.
Ten different versions of "yes!" overlapping one another followed from the Hoyas' big three, leaning into their microphones on the podium for emphasis.
Now Georgetown gets a chance to complete its 2010 Revenge Tour on Saturday night in the BET finals against either Notre Dame or West Virginia, two more teams who toppled the Hoyas when they played earlier this season.
"A good friend of mine, after yesterday's game, said 'there's nothing better than Friday night in New York City other than Saturday night in New York City,'" Hoya head man John Thompson III said.
"We're going to show up in New York City on Saturday night."
To secure that date on date night, Georgetown third appearance in the Big East Tournament finals since 2007, the Hoyas turned a 48-47 lead with 13:34 left in regulation into a 78-55 edge by the final two minutes.
Georgetown's last two buckets of this incredible stretch came on feeds by big man Greg Monroe. First Monroe found Jason Clark on a lob cut, then bounced a backdoor pass to Chris Wright to cap off a 23 point, 13 rebound seven assist line.
These three games in three days have been lessons in learning from past mistakes.
A win over South Florida allowed Georgetown a second chance to stop South Florida's ancillary offensive weapons. A victory against Syracuse was the Hoyas' third opportunity to solve the Syracuse zone. Versus Marquette, the focus for Georgetown in this second meeting was limiting the Golden Eagles' open looks on the perimeter.
"We really wanted to protect the three point line and not let them get threes off and then just show a lot of support and help back behind whoever was guarding the ball," said Thompson. "The threes that they got for the most part tonight were tough contested hand-in-the-face threes as compared to the wide open 'Sunday shots' as Coach Carril used to say."
The Golden Eagles didn't get many 'Sunday shots' on Friday night and Marquette was 4-12 from three in the first half, 2-8 in the second half - compared to 12-26 on a January evening in Milwaukee.
The Hoyas raced to a 7-0 lead 76 seconds in on a Chris Wright catch-and-shoot three from the top of the arc, a Monroe drive and dish to Julian Vaughn and a steal by Jason Clark feeding Monroe on his left for a two-handed slam.
Those late to find a seat looked up to see Georgetown up 15-4 at the first media time out as Monroe drove to his left in the lane.
Marquette answered with seven straight, and caught the Hoyas at 29 with a 12-2 run, capped off by a Lazar Hayward three from the near corner. Hayward was jut 5-16 from the floor before fouling out with 3:47 left and his team down 17.
The Golden Eagles, who had played six games decided by four points or less the previous seven times they'd stepped on a basketball court, were worn down by the Hoyas, who responded to Marquette's 10-0 run that closed them within one with the 30-8 stretch across 11 minutes that put the game away.
Monroe's showcase was complimented by a 15 point Wright effort, 15 from Jason Clark and 12 by Austin Freeman.
Georgetown finished the game 30-56 from the field (53.6%) and outrebounded Marquette 44-24, with 11 offensive boards.
For the third time in four years the Hoyas have a date at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Asked if this path to the finals felt any different, Thompson had to think for a second.
"Yeah it does," he confessed.
"It still feels good though. Playing Saturday night in New York this time of year in the Garden, Big East championship, That's something that's very special."
