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NEW YORK – Patrick Ewing climbed the ladder – it only took a few steps for the 7ft – cut the last rope and held the net high.
Georgetown is the Big East champion again, with the tallest Hoya of all in the lead.
Ewing brings Georgetown back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015 after eighth-seeded Hoyas completed a surprising run to a Big East crown on Saturday night with a stunning 73-48 rout of No.17 Creighton.
On the 49th anniversary of Georgetown hiring John Thompson, the late Hall of Fame coach who turned the program into a national powerhouse and one of the most iconic brands in basketball history varsity, the Hoyas won their record-breaking eighth Big East tournament title and the first since 2007.
Was it fate? Destiny? Maybe Big John, who passed away in August at age 78, smiling at Ewing and his Hoyas?
“I think so,” Ewing said.
His team won with a dominant performance inside Madison Square Garden reminiscent of current Coach Ewing’s playing days in Georgetown.
The Hoyas (13-12) closed the first half with a 23-2 run that placed them 18 at the break against second-seeded Creighton (20-8). Then they resumed at the start of the second period with a 16-3 surge. Chudier Bile knocked down a 3 point – holding the call for one beat – with 14:58 to go that went 52-21.
Ewing called it a huge milestone for a program that has struggled to regain its former glory, and started this season chosen to finish last in the Big East.
“A lot of people have discredited. We have been spoken of badly. We believed in ourselves. We worked hard. We fought hard,” he said.
Ewing wondered aloud earlier this week if they had forgotten him at MSG. He complained that security demanded to see his credentials as he moved into the building where he played for the New York Knicks and his No.33 jersey was hanging from the rafters.
Ewing said this championship was “right up there” with his greatest moments at the Garden.
“Another chapter in my life,” he says.
Bile tied a season high with 19 points and Jahvon Blair had 18 and went 4 for 7 from 3 points for Georgetown. After missing 12 of their first 14 shots, the Hoyas finished 46.6% off the ground.
Marcus Zegarowski scored 17 points to lead Creighton, who is 0-3 in Big East title games since joining conference for the 2013-14 season.
Georgetown fans, the few dozen who were in the mostly empty building due to COVID-19 restrictions, chanted, “This is our home!” as the Hoyas prepared to accept the championship trophy. Ewing wore a T-shirt with the image of Thompson on it, his former trainer’s fist raised high.
“Just to see how happy he is, it makes me happy,” Blair said of Ewing. “I’m so happy for him.”
Ewing and Thompson combined for three Big East Tournament championships, three Final Four appearances and a national title in 1984 during their time together in Georgetown.
Ewing aspired to be a head coach as his mentor. He spent 15 years as an assistant in the NBA, never having the right to be a head coach – until his alma mater called him.
“I’m here where a lot of people didn’t think I had the capacity to (be),” Ewing said. “And I’m proving everyone wrong.”
Ewing, 58, is in his fourth season with the Hoyas, and until this week there wasn’t much to get excited about. The only appearance at the postseason tournament was a one-game stint in NIT 2019. At the start of that tournament, Ewing’s record was 58-58 as a head coach.
He is now the first person in Big East history to be a Big East Tournament Champion’s Most Outstanding Player and coach a team to a Big East Tournament title.
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