It’s that time of year again.
Selection Sunday saw the Georgetown men’s basketball team (21-10, 12-6 Big East) slotted into the four seed in the South Region, with their opening round matchup against Eastern Washington University (26-8, 14-4 Big Sky) scheduled for Thursday in Portland, Ore.
The Hoyas ended the season with a strong run of games, winning six of their last eight. Last week, however, their momentum faltered as they fell to Xavier in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. But even in that game, the team could find something positive to take away, as Georgetown rallied from a 20-point deficit to cut the Musketeer’s lead to one point before running out of time.
“I think the loss the other day is difficult, but I do like overall the way we are playing,” Thompson said. “As a coach you sit there and wonder how we got in that hole [against Xavier]. But we could have packed it in. And that we didn’t is a positive sign.”
Hoya fans should get to know Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington’s sophomore combo guard who leads the nation in scoring average at 22.9 points per game. If the underdogs are to have any chance of pulling off an opening round upset, Harvey will need to erupt against the Hoyas.
“[Harvey] puts the ball in the basket in an assortment of ways from all over the court. You don’t score as many points as he did without being very, very good. Every game that he’s played this year, [the opponent] has said, ‘we need to stop this guy,’ and nobody has done it yet,” Thompson said.
As a team, the Eagles have the third-best scoring average in the nation at 80.9 points per game while shooting .480 from the field—19th best in the country.
“They can score. They have the leading scorer in the nation. It will be a tough challenge just trying to contain them,” junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera said.
Portland is a long way from the District, but only a five-hour drive from Eastern Washington’s campus, raising the question of whether the Eagles will get to play a de facto home game.
“We’ll probably be more worried about the [other] team than the fans. Hopefully we’ll have some people in the stands cheering for us also,” Thompson said. “There are other people that have long trips too. I would much rather be taking this long trip than not taking it.”
The selection committee’s decision to award the Hoyas with a four seed raised a few eyebrows, with the team itself even admitting to a little bit of surprise given that they were expected to be a five, six, or seven seed.
“Quite honestly, I was surprised that we were a four [seed]. And thinking about it, maybe I shouldn’t have been. I think it speaks to the strength of our schedule, I think it speaks to the strength of our league, and I think it speaks to the strength of our team,” Thompson said.
The Big East saw six of its ten teams make it to the tournament, with Villanova taking a one seed, Butler, Providence, and Xavier each earning six seeds, and St. John’s rounding out the group with a nine seed.
“I think if you look at the conference RPI, which we’ve been talking about all year, I think we’ve shown that we are one of the, if not the strongest conference in college basketball,” Thompson said. “This conference is not only surviving, but it’s thriving.”
Much has been made of the Hoyas’ tournament failures in the past five years, and there’s no denying the record. Before missing out on the madness entirely last year, the Hoyas made it past the first round only once in their previous four trips to the tournament—when they beat Belmont in 2008 before falling in the second round to North Carolina State. But the team will not shy away from its history.
“We will absolutely talk about the past,” Thompson said. “Making it to the tournament is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s special. It does feel good after missing out last year. It’s something that we’re used to doing. Making it back definitely feels good.”
Should the Hoyas win their first game, they will face either five-seed Utah (24-8, 13-5 Pac 12) or 12-seed Stephen F. Austin (29-4, 17-1 Southland). If they manage to win again, they will likely go up against Duke (29-4, 15-3 ACC), the top seed of the South Region, in a Sweet Sixteen matchup in Houston. But while fans may be imagining the possibility of a Final Four trip to Indianapolis, the coaching staff will try to keep the team’s attention on Eastern Washington.
“All your buddies are going to fill out their pools. We’re not,” Thompson said. “All the chatter will be, ‘Well, if this happens, we can do that,’ and then you see Indianapolis sitting there. Forget that, it’s Eastern Washington, nothing else. It’s Thursday night, that’s all we need to focus on.”
