Articles by Kevin Wessel

The third-seeded Hoyas should benefit from a new opponent that has not seen the intricate offense run by John Thompson III, but that may not be the case in their first round game against Ohio. The reason is that the 14th-seeded Bobcats are coached by John Groce, a former Ohio State assistant that has prepared for Thompson’s hybrid Princeton offense twice in the past five NCAA tournaments.

A day after its run through the Big East tournament ended in a last-second title game loss, Georgetown was awarded a three seed in the Midwest Regional for the NCAA tournament. Sitting with a crowd of fans in O’Donovan Hall, the Hoyas learned that they will play Ohio on Thursday in Providence, R.I.

Chris Wright hit a runner on a spinning drive to tie the game with 17 seconds to play, but Da'Sean Butler hit a contested layup in the waning seconds to give No. 3 seed West Virginia a 60-58 win over eighth-seeded Georgetown

NEW YORK — There are only two players remaining from the Hoyas’ 2008 run to the Big East tournament championship, but the similarities between the two teams have been unmistakable at Madison Square Garden. The 2010 version has now knocked off three teams that beat them during the regular season in convincing fashion, harkening back to the dominance of the 2007-2008 Hoyas when Austin Freeman and Chris Wright were freshmen role players.

NEW YORK — In a roller coaster season of lofty peaks and deflating valleys, Georgetown recorded perhaps its best win of the year Thursday afternoon in the Big East Tournament. Behind junior point guard Chris Wright’s 27 points, the eighth-seeded Hoyas (22-9) beat the top-seeded Orange (28-4) 91-84 in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.

NEW YORK — Georgetown was as different as night and day at times in their two losses to rival Syracuse this year. The eighth-seeded Hoyas earned a rematch with the top-seeded Orange Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals, and the key will be consistency.

Back at full strength, No. 19 Georgetown (20-9, 10-8 Big East) secured a first-round bye in the Big East tournament with a convincing 74-47 win over Cincinnati (16-14, 4-11). Junior guard Austin Freeman, playing in his first game since being diagnosed with diabetes, scored a game-high 24 points, and sophomore center Greg Monroe had 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Georgetown’s leading scorer Austin Freeman spoke with the media Thursday afternoon to discuss his diagnosis of diabetes. “To hear that, it was tough at first, but I know that I can deal with something like this,” Freeman said. “It’s something I have to deal with, and I’ll be able to take care of it.”

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Just a sophomore in 2008, forward Da’Sean Butler thought he had upset the Hoyas with a buzzer beater the last time Georgetown visited the WVU Coliseum.

Notre Dame’s Mike Brey had little sympathy for Georgetown with leading-scorer Austin Freeman battling a stomach virus. The Irish coach was without his top scorer and rebounder Luke Harangody for the fourth game in a row but notched his second-straight win over a top-15 opponent as Notre Dame upended No. 11 Georgetown, 78-64.