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RECAP
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Long before Georgetown took the court for
warmups, fans were cheering for Hampton. Ruben Boumtje Boumtje and
the Hoyas made it a priority to douse that kind of spirit.
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Saturday, March 17
No. 15 seed Hampton was a Cinderella all the way after its big win over Iowa State. But Marseilles Brown, Tarvis Williams and company did not have enough to offset the depth and athletic ability of Georgetown.
The Hoyas had three people in double figures, led by point guard Kevin Braswell. He played an outstanding game and also rebounded well for a little guy, pulling down eight rebounds to go with his six assists. Georgetown's defense and depth wore down Hampton, and the game was Blowout City.
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Kevin Braswell scored 15 points and Nat Burton had 13 as
Georgetown beat Hampton 76-57 on Saturday, putting the 10th-seeded
Hoyas (25-7) into the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 for the first
time since 1996.
Fifteenth-seeded Hampton (25-7) wrecked office pools and became
a sentimental favorite after shocking No. 2 Iowa State in the first
round.
The Pirates knew they'd have Boise fans supporting them. The
crowd even cheered when Hampton's band arrived six minutes before
halftime of the contest between Georgia State and Maryland.
"We knew before the game that the crowd would be pulling for
Hampton," Boumtje Boumtje said. "We talked about it and knew we
needed to make a run early to quiet the crowd down."
It took longer than they'd hoped, but the Hoyas used their
superior size and deeper bench to bury overachieving Hampton with
26-6 run over the last 10 minutes of the first half.
"They wanted to do it so hard, they tried to do it as
individuals and you can't do that against a team like Georgetown,"
said Hampton coach Steve Merfeld. "They were a pretty big team. We
haven't faced that in the past."
The Hoyas advanced to meet Maryland in next week's West Regional
semifinals in Anaheim, Calif. The Terrapins beat Georgia State
79-60.
Tarvis Williams, who hit the game-winner against Iowa State,
scored 16 and blocked eight shots to lead Hampton, but he was
smothered all day by Georgetown's centers, the 7-foot Boumtje
Boumtje and 6-11 Wesley Wilson.
"Ruben established the tone early in the game, contesting
Tarvis' shots," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick said. "That
caused them to not give him the ball as much as they usually do."
LaSean Howard scored 14 and Marseilles Brown had 12 for Pirates.
Williams, Howard and Brown each got a long hug from Merfeld when
they left in the closing minutes.
|  | | LeSean Howard, center, and Hampton are smothered by the Hoyas. |
"What a great experience," Merfeld said. "There were a lot of
tears in the locker room after the game, but they tears of joy, not
tears of sadness."
Hampton's upset of Iowa State was the fourth time a 15th-seeded
team has beaten a No. 2 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams
in 1985, but none of those first-round winners made it beyond the
second round.
The Pirates tried to recapture their first-round magic, and with
the Boise fans embracing the team, its jazzy band and cheerleaders,
another upset didn't seem impossible.
"The fans were remarkable," Williams said. "We appreciated
it, not just for us for the fans at home. Even when we made
slip-ups like before the half, the crowd was still with us. It was
a great way to leave."
After the first round, Hampton was another word for upset.
In the second, Georgetown reminded everyone that Hampton is
where the Hoyas found Allen Iverson, demonstrating the difference
between a Big East school and the champions of the Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference.
"Georgetown is huge," Merfeld said. "Their massive size
played a big part in wearing us down."
The Pavilion was rocking after Williams dunked on a feed from
Brown with 10:53 remaining in the first half, tying it at 16. But
the gym went silent after the Hoyas went inside to their big men to
spark the big run.
"We were getting yelled at because we weren't getting the ball
inside enough," Braswell said. "Once we spread the floor, things
opened up and we turned up the defensive pressure."
Georgetown allowed only one field goal over that span, extending
a 24-20 lead with a 14-0 run that featured 3-pointers by Braswell
and 6-11 Lee Scruggs.
Burton, whose dramatic game-winner withstood an instant-replay
review in the first-round win over Arkansas, got free underneath
for two easy layups in the last minute and Georgetown led 42-22 at
halftime.
The Pirates used a 9-4 run over the first 3:17 of the second
half to make it interesting.
It was 50-35 after Williams hit two free throws, and the crowd
got energized again. Just as quickly, the Hoyas put out the fire
when Wilson sprinted down for a dunk that silenced the fans.
"We've played some of our best games this season when the crowd
was against us," Boumtje Boumtje said. "It gives us incentive to
play harder."
The Hoyas are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since
1943 without John Thompson as coach.
He rode the team bus and then watched from the first row behind
the bench after traveling from New Orleans, where on Friday he saw
North Carolina's 70-48 win over Princeton. His son, John Thompson
III, coaches the Tigers.
"It was important that coach Thompson was here," Esherick
said. "He was at his son's game, and he should have been there.
I'm glad he made it here."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Hampton Clubhouse
Georgetown Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Hoyas set the tone with defense, according to coach Craig Esherick (Courtesy: NCAA Productions).
avi: 990 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Coach Steve Merfeld said there were tears of joy in the Hampton locker room (Courtesy: NCAA Productions).
wav: 121 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Coach Craig Esherick tries to downplay Georgetown's next matchup with Maryland (Courtesy: NCAA Productions).
wav: 245 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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