Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Julian Vaughn, Austin Freeman & Chris Wright:
Georgetown was unable to stop Seton Hall on 11 consecutive defensive possessions, yet the Hoyas put the ball in the basket often enough themselves to stay within striking distance of the Pirates throughout the second half of Tuesday's second half in Newark.
Seton Hall either scored or went to the free throw line every time they had the ball from the 8:53 mark until the final two minutes.
"At our next practice, I don't know if we're going to do anything else than play one-on-one," said Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. "We did a very poor job at the defensive end."
Having led 43-33, surrendered a 19-2 blitz full of run outs and transition baskets and then behind by six with three minutes to go, the Hoyas closed on a decisive 13-2 stretch.
Julian Vaughn answered a Jeff Robinson three point play with a bucket deep in the lane to bring Georgetown back within four, 73-69.
Jordan Theodore went right at the Hoyas' Hollis Thompson and drew a foul, but missed the front end of his one-and-one opportunity.
At the other end of The Rock, Austin Freeman drove, was nearly tied up by the Pirates' Herb Pope and then muscled up an attempt that led to two Georgetown free throws and fouled Pope out of the contest.
Trailing by two, the long-awaited stop finally came. Jordan Theodore's open three point shot on the right wing rattled halfway in and popped out into the hands of Jason Clark.
Vaughn, who had been quiet since the first half of the first half, went around Robinson for the tying basket with 1:25 to go.
Senior sniper Jeremy Hazell, making his return to his home floor after being shot in a botched robbery attempt almost two months ago, could not hit from outside - Seton Hall's second straight empty possession. An advancing Chris Wright was fouled going up in transition as he tried to give Georgetown the lead for the first time since the 14:54 mark of the second half. Wright made one of two.
A scoop from Theodore as he went around Vaughn came up short and Freeman rebounded with the shot clock off, fouled by Theodore in the front court. Both tries were good and Georgetown was back up 76-73.
Theodore looked to have tied the game after a pair of offensive rebounds, but his jumper from the left corner departed his hands with a foot on the arc.
Wright made two for the Hoyas with eight seconds remaining, then for the first time in his coaching career, John Thompson III opted to foul instead of guarding a three pointer to tie.
Before the ball could reach Hazell's hands in the right corner a dribbling Keon Lawrence was fouled on the floor by Freeman.
In the huddle, Vaughn promised his coach he would get the rebound if Georgetown fouled and Vaughn was a man of his word, passing to Wright as soon as he controlled Lawrence's miss.
As nearly the entire arena threw on their coats and ran up the aisles to go home like someone had suddenly pulled the fire alarm, Wright put the decision away with two from the line.
Freeman finished with 28 points on 10-13 marksmanship, making his first seven tries. The Hoyas made 55.7% of their tries from the field for the game and nine of their last 11, enough to overcome 55.6% shooting by Seton Hall in the second half.
