box score
audio - coach john thompson, jeff green, jonathan wallace, jeff green, roy hibbert & dajuan summers
audio - jeff green : audio - coach john thompson (second interview)
Trailing by nine points with six minutes to play against North Carolina in the NCAA East Regional final, Georgetown never wavered from who they were.
"We wanted to stick with our stuff [on offense] because we knew it worked." said guard Jessie Saap. "We didn't want to go into anything different because it's been working all year."
The Hoyas rallied from a 75-66 deficit, sending the game to overtime and the Continental Airlines Arena into bedlam on a soft Jonathan Wallace three point short with thirty seconds to play in regulation.
"I call Jon 'Buckets' because to me, Jon doesn't miss." said Georgetown co-captain Tyler Crawford after the game. "That's Jon Wallace. He played with tremendous confidence."
The Hoyas switched to a 2-3 zone defense down double figures midway through the second half and North Carolina was unable to get the second chance opportunities and the points in the paint they had used to build their lead. The Tarheels finished the evening in a 2-23 shooting slide.
From the start of overtime the Hoyas knocked North Carolina out with an incredible 14-0 run. On Georgetown's first possession Jeff Green passed diagonally from the wing to a cutting Jonathan Wallace for a backdoor layup. Wallace faked coming up top behind a Roy Hibbert screen, then slashed fed to the basket as Ty Lawson spun in the wrong direction, laying the ball in as it reached him in stride.
An errant backdoor bounce pass by Green in traffic deflected to DaJuan Summers for a two-handed throwdown that doubled the Georgetown lead. Following a Tyler Hansbrough traveling violation Jeff Green drove to his left and used the glass to send the Hoyas out to their biggest advantage of the night. Six straight Georgetown free throws opened the lead up to 93-81 and the champions of the east were crowned on a breakaway throwdown from Summers.
Summers finished with 20 points, and East regional Most Outstanding Player Jeff Green appeared genuinely surprised after the game upon learning that he and not Summers had received this honor.
As the Georgetown band chanted "JT3! JT3!" Coach Thompson strolled across the court to reach his father, who was broadcasting the game for Westwood One. Thompson stopped along the way to embrace the small grey-haired man with the Georgetown hat sitting on the sidelines. It was his collegiate coach, Pete Carril.
"[Coach Carril] is a part of what we're doing." explained Thompson. "I just wanted to go over and give him a hug." Coach Carril and Thompson shared an embrace and a high five. They both went over to press row where they were guests on Thompson's father's broadcast. The two iconic figures of Princeton basketball and Georgetown basketball standing proudly alongside the man they had both been such strong influences on.
When Coach Thompson climbed the ladder to cut down the final strand of the net, he led the crowd in his favorite cheer.
We are...
Georgetown!
We are...
Georgetown!
We are...
Georgetown!
The Hoyas were heading to the Final Four, and Georgetown had proved that they knew who they were all along.
Pete Carril (in Hoyas hat) holds an impromptu press conference after the game.
