Teams

Georgetown:
Entering the 2010 edition of the Big East Tournament, the Georgetown Hoyas had played in 28 of the previous 30 quarterfinals. They made it 29 out of 31 with a convincing performance, defeating a pesky and unpredictable South Florida team. The Hoyas were sharp on defense and efficient on offense to methodically pull away from the Bulls.

South Florida:
Even though they defeated the Hoyas in February, the Bulls were a long-shot to win the rematch in a game of this magnitude. South Florida was absolutely atrocious shooting the ball from the perimeter. Some credit may go to the Georgetown defense, but the Bulls couldn’t throw it in the ocean, which made the upset bid impossible.

Players

Georgetown:
Chris Wright was the hero today for Georgetown. His numbers were impressive (16 points, 2-2 3PT, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 turnovers), but he made big plays at the right time. Greg Monroe picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 10:31 to play in the game; the Hoyas were up by 10 at that point. South Florida made a free throw to cut the lead to nine, and on the ensuing possession Wright made a three-pointer to stretch the lead back to 12. The Hoyas never let the Bulls get any closer.

South Florida:
Dominique Jones is the best player for the Bulls, and he led all scorers with 21 points. The Hoyas held him to a low percentage from the field (6-18 FG), but as always he got to the line a bunch of times to pad his point total. After 12 points in the first half, Jones tried to get his teammates involved to start the second half, collecting four assists on the Bulls’ first four baskets to get South Florida within six points of the Hoyas. Jones is a great scorer who excels when driving to the hoop, and occasionally making three-pointers. On this day his game was totally one-dimensional today, as he finished 0-5 from downtown.

Quality Not Quantity

A lot has been made of the lack of point production off the bench for the Hoyas, but the reserves made key contributions in the second half against South Florida. When the Georgetown lead was cut to six, Hollis Thompson made a three-pointer to stretch it back to nine. Jerrelle Benimon grabbed an offensive rebound and then collected an assist as Austin Freeman pushed the lead to 14. When Vaughn fouled out, Henry Sims came in and immediately forced a turnover. Then he collected a defensive board, drew a foul, and hit the front end of a one-and-one.

Number of the Game

79:39: That’s how long it took South Florida to make their first three-point basket in the 2010 Big East Tournament. They were 0-8 from long range in the 40 minutes of their opening win over DePaul, and they started 0-8 against the Hoyas, before reserve Shaun Noriega hit from beyond the arc with 21 seconds remaining.

Best Served Cold

When the buzzer sounded in South Florida’s upset win over Georgetown on February 3, Dominique Jones ran over to the student section and flexed his biceps directly at the Hoya fans. Now he will get a chance to make the same obnoxious gesture on the road in the N.I.T.