Georgetown @ Seton Hall preview
Madison Square Garden
Last Meeting ( Feb 20, 2021 ) Seton Hall 75, Georgetown 81
Georgetown will look to continue its surprising run through the Big East tournament when it faces fifth-seeded Seton Hall in the semifinals Friday night in New York City.
The eighth-seeded Hoyas (11-12) defeated Marquette and then stunned top-seeded Villanova 72-71 in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Dante Harris' two free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining pushed Georgetown into the semifinal round for the first time since 2015.
The Hoyas hadn't won one Big East tournament game since '16. Now they're searching for their third in a row.
"We took a huge step to be able to knock them (Villanova) off," Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said. "I think it shows that Georgetown is up and coming."
Harris led the way with 18 points, Qudus Wahab added 17, Jahvon Blair had 14 and Jamorko Pickett 12 for Georgetown, which made all 23 free throws against Villanova, which had won the last three Big East tournament titles.
Georgetown took one more step in the direction of winning its first conference tournament title since '07.
"We played against the Cadillac, the Bentley, whatever you want to call them, of the Big East -- the class of the Big East," Ewing said in a postgame television interview on FS1. "And once upon a time that was us. But we took a huge step to be able to knock them off."
Defeating the Pirates will be far from easy as the Hoyas will enter this matchup as the underdog once again.
"We've taken the first steps in our journey this season," Ewing said. "We have more steps that we want to take."
Seton Hall snapped a season-long four-game losing streak to stay alive in the Big East tournament with a hard-fought 77-69 victory over fourth-seeded St. John's 77-69 in overtime.
The Pirates (14-12) are still in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth and will avoid Villanova in the semifinals.
But the challenge of advancing again will certainly be difficult against the surging Hoyas.
"We can beat anybody," Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said in a postgame television interview on FS1. "We feel like this is our second home. We definitely have that vibe."
Seton Hall received balanced production in its eight-point overtime win anchored by Sandro Mamukelashvili's 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jared Rhoden added a double-double of 19 points and a career-best 16 rebounds.
Myles Cale scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Ike Obiagu contributed seven points, seven blocked shots and five rebounds.
Despite a late-season collapse, the Pirates bounced back in the quarterfinal round. One more victory and they'll be in the finals with a chance to keep playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"We've had a really good season," Willard told FS1. "We've just had a tough two-week stretch where our second halves hurt us. We've never given up."
Rhoden's performance, maybe more than any other player, helped to lift the Pirates to the semifinals. That effort certainly was noticed by his coach.
"Jared's our emotional leader," Willard said. "As a coach, you need someone to bring energy every day."
Seton Hall, which has appeared in the Big East tournament final four times in program history, split a pair of regular-season games against Georgetown this season.
--Field Level Media