#20 PC 88 (24-8) – #4 Georgetown (29-4) 73

Southeast Regional Finals
March 22, 1987

 

What the F---'s A Hoya

ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING PARTS OF THE EARLY POST-GAVITT YEARS for Friar fans was the emergence of a new Beast of the East - Georgetown.  The two schools had many similarities - both were Catholic schools (one Jesuit the other Dominican) and its coach, John Thompson, was the center of Providence's 1963 NIT Championship team.  Prior to the formation of the Big East, the two schools had not played each other since 1959.  During the Big East's first 8 seasons, Georgetown not only won 5 conference championships but won a national championship and was runner up twice (with star recruit Patrick Ewing who grew up in nearby Cambridge).  

In contrast, Providence did not win a Big East game until mid-way through the second season (a 61-58 win over Georgetown).  PC would finish last or next to last its first six years and had only one winning season posting a 15-14 record in 1984 with future first-round draft pick Otis Thorpe.  In his first year with Providence, Rick Pitino not only went 17-14 but he took the Friars to their first post-season birth as the Friars advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Combine the fact that the success of the Hoya Saxus (which means "What Rocks") continually reminded us that the glory days of the Gavitt years were over, the brashness of Hoya Paranoia and the fact that going into the 1987 season Georgetown had won 11 straight games against Providence by an average of 19 points per game that include wins of 41 points and 31 points (during the first Pitino-Thompson match up) -- you can see why Friar fans had no love for Georgetown.  I mean, name another college team that goes abroad for good-will games and gets in a brawl.
 

 Clockwise above  - Coach Thompson, Patrick Ewing with President Reagan on Georgetown being the pre-season #1 (they would eventually lose to Villanova in the finals); Patrick Ewing; the Hoyas brawling in China; Reggie Williams star of the 1987 Hoyas with the Big East championship trophy and Hoya Paranoia.

Billy D and the Miracles

The 1986-87 Friars posted a 20-7 regular season record and the school's first winning record in Big East play, led by point guard Billy Donovan (20.6 ppg), Delray Brooks (11.8), Ernie Lewis (11.8) and Dave Kipfter (11.7).   

The season was the first season for the three-point basket and Providence average over 8 three's per game (still a school record) - with some calling the outer zone "the Friar patch". Lewis sank a three with two-seconds left to end the Friars losing streak to Georgetown, but the Hoyas got revenge beating Providence by 11 at home and then by 18 in the Big-East semi-finals.

In 1987 was actually attending Georgetown Law School and Hoya Freddy Brown of the famous pass to James Worthy (see below) was in my class no less.  But one year of law school can’t replace years of loathing the Hoyas — first as they surpassed my beloved Friars as the Beast of the East and then as I attended crosstown basketball also-ran American University as an undergraduate (although we did beat Patrick Ewing's Hoyas in 1982).  Watching the game, I could not contain myself as Cinderella gave the Hoyas a 40-minute ass-whooping. 

Making their first NCAA appearance in nine years, the 6th seeded Friars would have one of the top Cinderella runs in NCAA history.

O, Providence was seeded 6th in the Southeast  and opened in Birmingham against University of Alabama-Birmingham.  PC cruised by UAB 90-68 (coached by Gene Bartow who coached the 1973 Memphis State team),  Providence needed a record 19 steals and a 15-4 run to catch Austin Peay in regulation before beating them in overtime 90-87.   Then it was on to Louisville and their first Sweet 16 since 1974. In the semifinal, Providence shot 14-22 from the Friar Patch and stunned 9th-ranked Alabama 103-82, setting up a rematch against Georgetown who had a 10-game winning streak.

The Hoyas were led by Big East Player of the Year Reggie Williams who average 23.6 points per game and 8.7 rebounds.  With Providence ahead by 6, Williams picked up this third foul with 3:56 in the first half and would sit on the bench while the Friars extended their lead to 17 by half-time.

Steve Wright hit all six shots including four from the Friar Patch and Billy Donovan hit 16-18 from the foul line to each score 20 points in the rout.  Georgetown got as close as ten points in the second half, but that's where the Friars front line (Kipfer, Steve Wright, Marty Conlon, Darryl Wright, Abdul Shamsid-Deen and Jacek Duda) combined to block 10 shots and score 52 points to close the door on the Hoyas.

 
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