NCAA Tournament First Round: Ohio tops Georgetown 97-83
Thursday, March 18th, 2010(14) Ohio 97, (3) Georgetown 83
Cinderella is alive and well and she’s dressed as a Bobcat.
The 14th-seeded Ohio Bobcats seized control of the game midway through the first half and stunned the third-seeded Georgetown Hoyas, 97-83, in a first-round NCAA tournament matchup in Providence, R.I.
Junior guard Armon Bassett scored 32 points and his freshman backcourt mate D. J. Cooper chipped in 23 for the champions of the Mid-American Conference. The duo combined for 10 of Ohio’s 13 successful three-point shots. The Bobcats shot 58 % from the field including 56 % (12 of 23) from three-point range.
The win was Ohio’s (22-14) first in the NCAA Tournament since 1983. The win continues the Bobcats’ postseason roll. They finished 7-9 in the MAC and they had to win four straight games to win the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAAs.
This was the first time that a 14 seed has beaten a three seed in the NCAA Tournament since Northwestern State beat Iowa in 2006.
For Georgetown, it was a disappointing end to an up-and-down season. It appeared that the Hoyas had gained some momentum after reaching the finals of the Big East tournament, but the run came apart amidst a torrent of three-pointers by Ohio, which was compounded by GU’s own lethargic defense and sloppy play.
Guard Chris Wright posted 28 points for the Hoyas and center Greg Monroe scored 19, but 18 turnovers and an inability to come up with a stop when they needed one ultimately did in the Hoyas.
The 90 points surrendered was the most the Hoyas ever have given up in an NCAA Tournament game, a history covering 70 games.
Ohio took control starting midway through the first half. With the game tied 15-15, the Bobcats outscored the Hoyas 33-21 the rest of the first half and led 48-36 at halftime.
Georgetown just couldn’t work its way back into it. The Hoyas did manage to cut the lead down to nine with 6:38 left when Wright made a layup while getting fouled to make the score 77-68. However, Wright missed the free throw and Cooper hit a bucket at the other end to re-establish control for Ohio.
A little later the Hoyas got with seven on a Monroe basket and had a possession with a chance to cut it to five. But GU’s Jerrelle Benimon missed the front end of a one-and-one, Cooper made a three-pointer, and the Bobcats put the game away.
In the early going, it looked like the Hoyas were going to assert themselves on a few occasions. Monroe was five for six from the field but the fact that he had only four attempts shows that his teammates didn’t go to him often enough.
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Each time it looked like Georgetown might start to take control, Ohio responded with a mini-run. Midway through the first half, the game was tied at 15. The rest of the half they outscored the Hoyas 33-21. The Bobcats did it the way that many underdogs get it done, by getting hot beyond the three-point line. In the last ten minutes of the half they scored six three-point baskets with Armon Bassett and Tommy Freeman both draining shots from long range.
At intermission, Ohio was shooting 53 % from the field and 50 % (8 of 16) from 3-point range. The Hoyas weren’t awful from the field, shooting 45 % in the first half, but they couldn’t keep pace with the torrid Bobcats. Ohio also was able to scoop up some offensive rebounds off a number of missed threes and held a 17-16 advantage on the boards at the break.
Rich Tandler
DFN Sports Guest Writer