The Big East Tournament, like any other bracket-based affair, is designed to give the top seed the easiest road to victory—a right that team has presumably earned throughout the season. This might have been difficult to stomach for Hoya fans when the conference tournament bracket was finalized earlier this week. Top-seeded Georgetown (25-4, 15-3 BE) would face the winner of the 8/9 game between the Syracuse Orange (19-13, 9-9 BE) and the Villanova Wildcats (20-11, 9-9 BE). Both teams step up their game against longtime conference rival Georgetown, and the Orange had already defeated the Hoyas at the Carrier Dome earlier in the season.
Any illusion of a second-round cakewalk was further shattered by the way the Wildcats dismantled the Orange 82-63 behind 22 points from sophomore guard and bona fide Hoya-slayer Scottie Reynolds. Villanova punished Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3 zone, shooting 11-21 (52 percent) from behind the arc and 27-56 (48 percent) from the floor.
Georgetown hardly needs more reason to fear the Cats, but just for kicks there is this whole matter of revenge. Earlier this year, senior guard Jonathan Wallace’s game-winning free-throws helped the Hoyas squeak by Villanova after a controversial last-second foul call against freshman guard Corey Stokes. Stokes has played well since then, and recorded a career-high 18 points against Syracuse.
This is the second straight year that the Hoyas have drawn Villanova in the second round of the Big East tournament. Last season, Georgetown opened up a 19-point halftime lead, only to watch Reynolds and company storm back in the second half. The Hoyas won the game 62-57.
If there is any good news for the Hoya faithful, it is that Georgetown has needed a game to figure out Villanova in each of the last two seasons. Georgetown’s first meeting against the Wildcats last season was a disaster. Jeff Green and the Hoyas were stopped by Villanova’s 2-2-1 three-quarter press, turning the ball over 22 times en route to a 56-52 defeat at the Verizon Center. Georgetown would go on to defeat the Cats at the Wachovia Center and again at the Garden.
Earlier this season, Georgetown had similar difficulty with the Villanova press, but broke it at will by the end of the game. After playing the Wildcats four times in the last two seasons, coach John Thompson III and the Hoyas should have the press pretty well figured out. But if not, Thompson has a press-killing option that he has lacked throughout conference play: speedy freshman guard Chris Wright.
Georgetown students and fans may be smiling now, knowing that their archrivals Syracuse are in danger of getting the NCAA shaft for the second year in a row. But the streaky-shooting Wildcats caught fire on Wednesday afternoon, so be very careful what you wish for.
