“I think we’ve learned how to win now,” said Georgetown Head Coach Craig Esherick following last night’s exhilarating 79-74 victory in front of a raucous crowd at North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
Up 68-60 with 4:09 remaining, Georgetown (18-14), like so many previous times this year began to let the game slip away, allowing the Tar Heels (19-16) to go on a 10-2 run in the next two minutes and tie the game at 70. This time, Georgetown came through in the clutch. Sophomore guard Drew Hall drained an open three-pointer with one-minute left to put the Hoyas on top 73-70. Georgetown hit all six of its free throws in the last minute to hold off North Carolina.
“We came up short against a very good team,” said North Carolina Head Coach Matt Doherty.
Because the MCI Center cannot be scheduled on short notice and McDonough Arena is too small, Georgetown has been forced to play all three of its NIT games on the road. At the beginning of the game last night, it looked for the first time that the crowd would get the best of the Hoyas. Behind 7-10 shooting in the first eight minutes including 3-3 from first-year forward Rashad McCants and four assists from first-year guard Raymond Felton, North Carolina took a 20-12 lead and the crowd reached a frenzy. After a timeout at the 12-minute mark, the Hoyas switched to a 2-3 zone that stifled the Tar Heels offensively and the crowd for the remainder of the half. Georgetown battled back to take a 34-32 lead at the break.
“Early on I was worried that we were going to be blown out,” said Esherick. “The crowd was involved in the game and they hit some tough shots so really out of desperation I decided, let’s start trapping them and see if we can disrupt some of their shooting, and I think we did that.”
In the first five minutes of the second half, the Tar Heels again built an eight-point lead, 48-40, this time due to sophomore forward Jawad Williams’ shooting touch. Williams scored 10 of his 19 points during the span.
Then the Tar Heels got cold and Georgetown junior swingman Gerald Riley got hot. Riley, who up to that point only had five points, scored 11 during Georgetown’s subsequent 22-4 run, which put the Hoyas up 62-52. During the eight-minute run the Hoyas’ zone smothered North Carolina, only allowing one field goal.
The zone defense “has been our problem all year,” said North Carolina first-year forward David Noel. “We haven’t been able to penetrate a zone and make shots.”
McCants, however, would not let the Tar Heels go down quietly and the Hoyas almost let him steal the game. McCants scored 14 of the Tar Heels’ next 18 points, including a one-handed leaner in the lane that tied it. He finished with a game-high 26.
After McCants missed a free throw, Georgetown tried to win the game with a strategy it rarely used in clutch-time during the season: feeding the ball to its leader, junior forward Mike Sweetney. Sweetney bricked an awkward shot, but McCants was unable to answer on the other end. On the next play, Sweetney, just outside the lane, calmly received a pass from sophomore guard Tony Bethel, passed it back to Bethel, who hit Sweetney back. Sweetney waited for the subsequent Carolina double-team and whipped it to Hall, who nailed the open three.
“I was real proud of our guys making plays,” said Esherick. “Drew is not a bad shooter, and he was so wide open that he should have shot the ball.”
Noel tried to tie it for Carolina on the other end, but missed the three. Riley, Hall and Bethel all hit both ends of one-and-ones to seal the victory for the Hoyas. Riley and Sweetney each finished the game with 22 points, with many of Sweetney’s points coming off double- and triple-teams.
Equally impressive was the Hoyas’ defense. The zone was at times impenetrable, and Georgetown forced 18 turnovers for a Carolina team that had only eight in its 2nd round NIT victory over Wyoming.
Georgetown will play the winner of tonight’s Minnesota-Temple game Tuesday at 7p.m. in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
