Bubble teams rejoice!
Georgetown is gone from the Big East Tournament and without any realistic hope of making the NCAA Tournament after falling to lowly DePaul, 60-56, in the first round Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The 10th-seeded Blue Demons (12-20) won their second-ever tournament game (the first was 2009 over Cincinnati) and broke a 14-game, 20-year losing streak against seventh-seeded Georgetown (17-14). DePaul will move on to play No. 2 Creighton in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“Tonight’s loss is disappointing,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “Postseason, the tournament, we’ll see. It’s kind of hard to sit and talk about following this loss. We’ll see. I don’t know thing how things look after today or going into today.”
Things now look hopeless for a Georgetown team that had defeated Michigan State, Creighton and VCU this season, while a DePaul team with no reason to have any hope won for just the second time in the past 14 games.
DePaul had lost both meetings with the Hoyas this season, but Forrest Robinson (14 points) sparked the unthinkable upset, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to break a tie at 45 with six minutes remaining, putting the Blue Demons ahead for good.
Big East Rookie of the Year Billy Garrett Jr. (17 points) clinched the win with two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining.