Georgetown holds off trendy upset pick Eastern Washington to advance

On a day where nothing made sense, the trendiest upset pick of the tournament falling behind by 23 points and eventually losing 84-74 made perfect sense.

Author:
Ryan Krasnoo
Publish date:
Mar 20, 2015

On a day where nothing made sense, the trendiest upset pick of the tournament falling behind by 23 points and eventually losing 84-74 made perfect sense.

No. 13 Eastern Washington was favored by many to advance past No. 4 Georgetown. After trailing 29-25 with 5:47 left in the first half, Georgetown went on a 33-6 run over the next 12 minutes. Eastern Washington went on an 18-5 run late in the game to close the final gap.

[daily_cut.college basketball] Georgetown shot 52 percent for the game (including 57 percent in the first half) and lit it up behind the three-point line, shooting 11 for 23 (47 percent). The largest Georgetown contributions came from the bench, with 45 of its 84 points coming from non-starters.

Starters L.J. Peak and Isaac Copeland were held scoreless, while Joshua Smith and JabrilTrawick combined for only 12 points. All-Big East First Team performer D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera was the only Hoyas starter to do damage offensively, scoring 25 points on 6-for-12 shooting and icing the game at the free-throw line with six free throws in the final 1:03.

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The biggest problem for Eastern Washington was its inability to shoot consistently. Tyler Harvey, the nation’s leading scorer, had 27 points, but 11 of them came in the final 1:38. The Eagles by that point had fallen too far behind and the deficit was too great to overcome. Harvey shot 9 for 20 from the floor, including 6-for-12 from deep.

Forward Venky Jois had 19 points and eight rebounds, but the Eagles got little production elsewhere as their other three starters combined for just seven points.

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Georgetown will take on No. 5 Utah, which defeated No. 12 Stephen F. Austin 57-50, in the Round of 32.

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