For the first time in four years, the Georgetown Hoyas have won an NCAA Tournament game, defeating the Belmont Bruins 74-59. The Hoyas used their standard efficient offense and tight defense to methodically pull away for what ended up being a comfortable win. Georgetown was led by Jason Clark’s game-high 21 points while Otto Porter added 16 points and 8 rebounds. In his final NCAA Tournament, Clark made sure that the Hoyas got off to a good start going 5-6 to open the game with 13 points in the opening 11:06. The Bruins, Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament champions, stayed competitive by making timely threes to stay within striking distance. They were led by sophomore Blake Jenkins who had 17 points in the defeat.

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Georgetown’s NCAA Tournament is scheduled to start at 3:10 PM today against Belmont. The last time the Hoyas met the Bruins, Georgetown stormed past them en route to the Final Four. But since then, things have not been nearly as rosy. When tip-off comes, the Hoyas will have to overcome more than just the Bruins; they will have to overcome their past.
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Team Stats
Belmont		Georgetown
27-7	Record	23-8
Atlantic Sun	Conference	Big East
16-2	Conference Record	12-6
13-1	Home Record	15-1
10-6	Away Record	5-5
81.5	Points / Game	69.1
67.3	Points Allowed / Game	59.2
36.3	Rebounds / Game	36.4
11.5	Offensive Rebounds / Game	11.4
17.4	Assists / Game	13.7
12.4	Turnovers / Game	12.7
2.3	Blocks / Game	4.8

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Before Georgetown’s double overtime loss to Cincinnati, we asked you to predict how many points and rebounds Henry Sims would amass. Henry had another great performance, 22 points and 15 rebounds to get a double-double for the second straight game. Unfortunately, the Hoyas fell just a little short on the day. Amanda cox was the closest again with her guess of 19 and 12, so she adds another two points to her t-shirt total. Let’s see how the standings look after the Big East Tournament:

Winner	# of Wins
Bobby cox	6
Amanda cox	5
Bob from Columbia	4
Julien	4
Blark	3
Billy cox	2
Bobby in NC	2
Hoya Chris	2
Emily	1
Roy 55	1
Zo	1

The Big East Tournament catapulted Amanda cox into second place. But with each win now worth two points, if the Hoyas can get a few wins, everyone still has a chance.

Georgetown tips off against Belmont Friday afternoon, around 3 PM. Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson were relatively quiet in the Big East Tournament scoring a total of 32 points in the two games. In the team’s last NCAA Tournament appearance, the two combined to score 35 points. They will have to step up their games entering March Madness.

How many points will Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson combine to score?

We think Clark understands these will be his final games in the blue and gray, and his play will reflect that. He will put up 18 and Thompson will chip in 16 to combine for 34 points. Give us your pregame prediction in the comments. And don’t forget to get your Pick 8 teams in before Thursday at noon.

This Thursday, the NCAA Tournament gets underway in true, and we at Hoya Hoops are hosting the third annual NCAA Pick 8, the “Intelligent Alternative” to the standard bracket that most people will be filling out in offices around the country.

For those of you unfamiliar with the rules, they are fairly simple. You select eight teams, and we calculate the winning percentage of your eight teams combined. Whoever has the highest winning percentage is declared the winner, and brings home a Hoya Hoops T-shirt.

But, before you go start selecting your eight teams, there is one catch. You can only choose one team of each seed. In other words, your eight teams can only contain at most one #1 seed, at most one #2 seed, and so on. You do not have to choose seeds 1-8; it’s acceptable to have a #9 seed or a #10 seed, or even a #16 if you’re feeling lucky (or overvaluing Fab Melo’s importance). But, you can only choose one team of each seed!

We also need one more bit of information in the event of a tie. You must choose one player (any player in the tournament) who you think will score the most total points in the NCAA Tournament. If two or more contestants finish with the same winning percentage, the player with the most points will be break the tie.

So, there you have it. Submit your eight teams in the comments, and good luck! (Unless you choose Syracuse or Duke. Then we hope you lose. Big time.)

As we did last year, we will be picking all Big East teams. And our picks are:

• #1 – Syracuse
• #3 – Georgetown
• #4 – Louisville
• #6 – Cincinnati
• #7 – Notre Dame
• #9 – Connecticut
• #10 – West Virginia
• #12 – South Florida

Just to clarify, we are choosing South Florida, but the games played Tuesday and Wednesday do not factor in to winning percentages. So that one is a risky pick for us.

As for our tiebreaker, we will pick the Big East player who should have made the All-Tournament team last week, Henry Sims.

Be sure to get us your picks by noon on Thursday, just before Colorado State and Murray State tip off on CBS at 12:15 PM. Good luck!

Georgetown: 70, Cincinnati: 72 (2OT)

Georgetown
			SHOOTING			REBOUNDS
		MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
1	* Thompson	45	4-13	1-4	1-2	3	5	8	1	1	0	3	2	10
14	* Sims	46	11-20	0-1	0-2	3	12	15	3	2	0	4	2	22
21	* Clark	48	4-8	0-1	4-4	1	3	4	2	3	1	1	0	12
22	* Porter	47	6-11	0-1	2-3	3	4	7	4	4	2	4	2	14
34	* Lubick	6	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	0
2	Whittington	24	1-2	0-1	0-0	1	0	1	0	2	0	2	2	2
3	Hopkins	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
5	Starks	29	4-6	1-1	0-2	0	3	3	2	1	1	0	0	9
55	Trawick	2	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	TEAM					1	4	5
	Totals	250	30-62	2-10	8-15	12	33	45	13	15	4	14	8	70
			48.4%	20.0%	53.3%

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The Georgetown Hoyas squandered a double-digit second half lead and were eliminated from the Big East Tournament in double overtime by the Cincinnati Bearcats 70-72. In a match-up of two of the toughest defensive teams in the nation, neither team established much of a rhythm offensively. During the latter portion of the first half, the Hoyas began to create a little bit of separation on the scoreboard, as Cincinnati had a lot of trouble with the Hoyas’ zone defense. Georgetown led by six, 30-24, at the half.

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Team Stats
Georgetown		Cincinnati
23-7	Record	22-9
Big East	Conference	Big East
12-6	Conference Record	12-6
15-1	Home Record	14-4
5-5	Away Record	7-5
69.0	Points / Game	69.1
58.7	Points Allowed / Game	61.0
36.1	Rebounds / Game	36.3
11.3	Offensive Rebounds / Game	13.5
13.7	Assists / Game	13.1
12.6	Turnovers / Game	10.5
4.7	Blocks / Game	4.6

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Teams

Georgetown:
The Hoyas overcame a sluggish start to earn a relatively easy victory over Pittsburgh 64-52. The Hoyas were behind by six points with six and a half minutes to go in the first half, but then closed out the half on a 16-2 run that set the tone for the rest of the game. From that point on, Georgetown was in control, running the offense through Henry Sims and getting quality looks, and using another strong defensive performance to hold Pittsburgh in check for most of the second half.

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The Hoyas opened up their 2012 Big East Tournament run with an impressive 64-52 win over Pittsburgh. Before the game, we asked how freshman Otto Porter would perform in his first tournament game at Madison Square Garden. He did not disappoint, putting up a game-high 20 points and grabbing six rebounds. Amanda cox’s prediction of 18 points and seven rebounds was pretty close and good enough to earn her two points. Nice job!

Next up for Georgetown is Cincinnati, who beat the Hoyas at Verizon Center back in January. Henry Sims is coming off one of the best performances of his career, matching Porter’s 20 points, but also pulling down 13 rebounds and dishing out five assists. We wonder if he can repeat his performance against the Bearcats.

How many points will Henry Sims score against Cincinnati, and how many rebounds will he collect?

We will say he has another stellar game, 22 points and nine rebounds. Give us your guesses in the comments.