East Rutherford, N.J. – Twenty-five years later, Georgetown got even for a coach named Thompson and a player named Ewing.
In an NCAA Tournament full of tremendous rallies, it was the Hoyas’ turn – against North Carolina, of all teams.
Georgetown overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half, then ripped off 14 straight points in overtime to stun the top-seeded Tar Heels 96-84 in the East Regional final Sunday for their first trip to the Final Four since 1985, when the coach was John Thompson Jr. and the star was Patrick Ewing.
The Hoyas (30-6) did it this time with coach John Thompson III calling the backdoor plays he learned at Princeton and Patrick Ewing Jr. making key contributions.
“You want the best for your kids. I’m proud of both John and my son,” Ewing Sr. said. “I’m happy, I’m very proud. I think Georgetown is back.”
The Hoyas were helped by an amazing collapse from North Carolina (31-7), which made only one of 23 field-goal attempts, including its first 12 in overtime, over a 15-minute span.
After Georgetown’s Jonathan Wallace hit a 3 that tied it at 81 with 31 seconds left in regulation, the Tar Heels had a chance to win it, but freshman Wayne Ellington missed an open jumper from the wing right before the buzzer and Ewing grabbed the rebound.
There would be no game-winning shot for the Tar Heels a la 1982, when freshman Michael Jordan’s 17-foot jumper with 17 seconds left lifted North Carolina over Georgetown 63-62 for the national championship.
The Hoyas waited a long time to avenge that defeat. When they did, it made the Thompsons the first father- son duo to coach a team to the Final Four, much less at the same school, and they enjoyed a huge embrace at courtside.
“You’ve been complaining about the bus being rickety, but the ride home is going to be good tonight,” Thompson the father told his son. “Isn’t it?” Thompson the son said.
The Hoyas will play Ohio State (34-3) in the national semifinals next Saturday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. UCLA takes on defending champion Florida in the other game.
When this one ended, every Georgetown player crossed the court to hug the elder Thompson, who did the national radio broadcast of the game.
Later, the old coach squeezed Ewing Sr. and pulled out his cellphone to dial Jordan, his old nemesis, and rub it in.
“Yeah, I tried to call Michael,” Big John said, “but he wasn’t accepting any of my calls.”
While the Hoyas celebrated, North Carolina coach Roy Williams could only sit in disbelief. Because in overtime, it was over in a hurry.
Wallace scored inside, freshman DaJuan Summers dunked a minute later and Jeff Green added a layup to make it 87-81. With North Carolina rushing bad shots, Georgetown jammed it inside and got fouled – Summers made four free throws and Jessie Sapp added a pair.
Summers’ dunk extended the lead to 95-81 before Ty Lawson broke the streak with a meaningless 3 in the closing seconds.
The Tar Heels had won seven straight regional finals and were trying to reach their 17th Final Four, which would have tied UCLA’s record.
After overcoming a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat Southern California on Friday night, they seemed to be on their way this time, too, leading 69-58 with 12:22 to go and still up 75-65 with 6:02 to play.
That’s when Georgetown took over.
A foul shot by Green, a layup by Sapp, another layup by Green and a dunk by 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert, and it was 75-72 – and a game again.
“They have some tough players, and down the stretch they hit shots and we didn’t,” Tar Heels star Tyler Hansbrough said with red, swollen eyes.
GEORGETOWN (30-6)
Summers 7-10 4-4 20, Green 10-17 1-3 22, Hibbert 6-10 1-1 13, Wallace 7-11 2-2 19, Sapp 5-9 3-5 15, Macklin 1-3 0-1 2, Rivers 0-1 1-2 1, Ewing Jr. 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 38-66 12-18 96.
NORTH CAROLINA (31-7)
Wright 4-8 6-6 14, Hansbrough 6-15 14-16 26, Ginyard 0-0 2-2 2, Ellington 2-11 0-0 5, Lawson 2-9 0-0 5, Terry 4-13 0-0 10, Frasor 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Green 0-6 3-4 3, Thompson 6-7 2-2 14, Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Stepheson 0-1 2-4 2. Totals 25-71 29-34 84.
Halftime – North Carolina 50-44. End of regulation – Tied 81. 3-point goals – Georgetown 8-14 (Wallace 3-4, Summers 2-3, Sapp 2-4, Green 1-1, Ewing Jr. 0-2); North Carolina 5-20 (Terry 2-5, Miller 1-1, Lawson 1-4, Ellington 1-6, Green 0-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Georgetown 38 (Hibbert 11), North Carolina 43 (Hansbrough 11). Assists – Georgetown 26 (Sapp 8), North Carolina 15 (Lawson 6). Total fouls – Georgetown 18, North Carolina 19. A – 19,557.
