Georgetown blows out Creighton to win Big East tournament, earn NCAA tournament berth
Georgetown is back in the NCAA tournament. And this time it’s with program legend Patrick Ewing as its head coach.
The Hoyas, the No. 8 seed in the Big East tournament, squared off with No. 17 Creighton in the championship game on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, an arena Ewing called home for 15 years as a member of the New York Knicks.
Ewing’s team looked at home, too.
The Hoyas started slow, missing 12 of their first 14 shots. From there, though, they climbed out of an early deficit and embarked on an 18-0 run to go into halftime with a commanding 36-18 lead.
The Hoyas kept their foot on the pedal in the second half and were comfortably ahead by double digits the rest of the way, eventually emerging with an impressive 73-48 victory.
Chudier Bile led all scorers, pouring in 19 points and eight rebounds for the Hoyas while Jahvon Blair added 18 points off the bench. Qudus Wahab posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards and Dante Harris padded the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
With the victory, Georgetown earned the Big East’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, its first since 2015. It also marks the program’s first Big East tournament title since 2007.
Who Is Patrick Ewing? HE’S A GREAT MAN.
CHECK OUT THE INFORMATION BELOW.
Ewing played center for Georgetown for four years—in three of which the team reached the NCAA Championship Game. ESPN in 2008 designated him the 16th-greatest college basketball player of all time. He had a seventeen-year NBA career, predominantly playing for the New York Knicks, where he was an eleven-time all-star and named to seven All-NBA teams. The Knicks appeared in the NBA Finals twice (1994 and 1999) during his tenure. He won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA, Ewing was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts (in 2008 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team). Additionally he was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the “Dream Team” in 2009. His number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003.
Ewing was born August 6, 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica. As a child, he excelled at cricket and soccer. In 1975, 12-year-old Ewing moved to the United States and joined his family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He learned to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with the help of John Fountain. With only a few years of playing experience, Ewing developed into one of best high school players in the country, and among the most intimidating forces ever seen at the level given his size and athleticism. Due to his stature and the team’s dominance, Ewing was subject to taunts and jeers from hostile away crowds. Once rival fans even rocked the team bus when Ewing’s squad arrived to play an away game. In order to prepare for college, Ewing joined the MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program.
THE REST IS HISTORY
Men’s basketball | ||
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Representing United States | ||
Olympic Games | ||
1984 Los Angeles | ||
1992 Barcelona | ||
Americas Championship | ||
1992 Portland |