Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright & Julian Vaughn:
Trailing 61-53 and time running low, it took 51 seconds for Villanova to cut an eight point Georgetown lead down to one.
Running, jumping, trapping, tripling and tackling - the Wildcats swarmed the entirety of the floor for 94 feet as they attempted to salvage victory in a game they were almost out of with 2:59 left.
A pair of unforgivable long passes by the Hoyas' Jason Clark and Chris Wright into Antonio Pena's hands led swiftly to a Corey Stokes three point jumper from the left arc and two Maalik Wayns free throws as the Hoyas struggled to break the Wildcats' full court pressure.
Through it all, senior Austin Freeman remained unflappable.
Freeman scored 10 of Georgetown's final 12, part of a sensational 30 point afternoon.
Wright was trapped on the left baseline far from the basket with both teams out of time outs and the Hoyas up one, 63-62. Wright muscled through three defenders and diagonally dished to Freeman in the left wing.
The shot clock well into single digits, Freeman took two dribbles to his left and rose up from deep on the baseline and a hand in his face to carry his team up three.
"I looked at the shot clock and saw there were four seconds left. When Chris passed me the ball I just wanted at least try to get it up to the rim," Freeman said with his usual sheepish reserve.
Following two more Wayns free throws, Freeman under duress just across half court spotted freshman forward Nate Lubick beneath the Georgetown basket for a two-handed slam.
Wayns drove for two with :16.9 to go and Freeman was fouled coming up the left baseline, his two free throws completing an 8-8 showing from the line.
Corey Fischer brought the ball down for Villanova and could not get a clean look to tie, passing to Pena stepping back behind the NBA arc. Pena's shot came off the rim and Dominic Cheek's turnaround wild try did not make it as close.
Stokes, the top three point threat for the Wildcats (61-147, 41.5%), did not touch the ball on Villanova's final possession.
Freeman was embraced by his teammates seconds after Georgetown's fourth straight win, raising the Hoyas to 5-4 in Big East action.
10-19 today, Freeman has scored 78 points in his last three games versus Villanova on 26-46 shooting (56.2%).
