LINKS: Georgetown Closes in 2OT Win Over Providence

The Georgetown Hoyas (12-5, 2-2) defeated the Providence Friars (10-6, 0-3) in double overtime on Saturday at Capital One Arena, to snap an eight game losing streak against Ed Cooley’s squad. Jessie Govan led the way with a terrific two-way second-half, and freshmen Mac McClung and James Akinjo nailed big shots to close regulation and overtime, respectively.

The great writers and contributors of Casual Hoya have memorialized the instant-classic via a recap, a view from press row, a view from the students’ section, and the infamous Casual Awards, but here are some thoughts and insights from other media.

Here are the links:

The legend of Mac McClung grows in Georgetown’s double-OT win over Providence | The Washington Post

Not only had Ewing’s Hoyas finally pulled out a close win after losing two Big East games in heartbreaking fashion, but Georgetown also notched its first win against Coach Ed Cooley’s Friars since 2014. The Hoyas’ win in front of 10,113 boisterous fans was their first victory over Providence in nine tries...

“I can’t worry about what happened in the past,” Ewing said. “All I know is it was a great win to get, and we had to go into double-overtime to be able to come away with it, and I’m proud of the guys.”

“It feels good. Me personally, it’s my first win over Providence, so that was definitely something that I was looking forward to. Mac is now undefeated against Providence, so that’s cool,” Govan said with a smile.

Govan’s Career Night Helps Men’s Basketball Past Providence in Double OT | The Georgetown Voice

The game was a back-and-forth battle, highlighted by freshman guard Mac McClung’s buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime and senior center Jessie Govan’s career-high 33 points…

The Hoyas continued to fight back and Govan’s third three coupled with a pair of Malinowski free throws tied it again 68. A Govan dunk put the Hoyas up two, but a Diallo three gave the lead right back to the Friars with 21 seconds left…

Out of the timeout, McClung caught a long pass from junior guard Jagan Mosely and collected the ball near the half court line. After a quick head fake he turned up the court and fired a contested thirty-foot heave. The shot banked off the glass and in to send the Hoyas to overtime.

Georgetown 96, PC 90, 2 OT: Friars fumble away a win in D.C. | providencejournal.com

The question is how did the two youngsters shake free for the chance to become heroes? Cooley said in regulation the plan was to foul.

”We were 100 percent trying to foul,” he said. “Credit (McClung) for getting open and avoiding our player.” …

”We ran that play a few times in the past but that’s the first time it worked,” said Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing.

Georgetown defeats Providence in double OT | Reuters U.S.

Georgetown tied the game late in regulation and again in overtime before going on to defeat visiting Providence 96-90 in double overtime in Big East play on Saturday.

Georgetown freshman Mac McClung, back after missing four games with an ankle injury, banked in a 3-pointer from half-way between half court and the arc to knot the score at 73 at the regulation buzzer.

Then James Akinjo made a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie it 86 with 3.4 seconds left in the first overtime and Isaiah Jackson of Providence missed at the buzzer.

Jessie Govan led the Hoyas (12-5, 2-2 Big East) with a season-high 33 points and added 14 rebounds. Akinjo added 20 points and McClung finished with 16.

Georgetown’s Mac McClung sinks deep buzzer-beater to force OT in win | For The Win

Freshman guard Mac McClung was … the Hoyas’ hero because he gave them a chance as the clock counted down in regulation as they trailed the Friars by three points. With three seconds left, McClung got the ball, dribbled just past half court and sank a very deep shot to send the game into overtime with a 73-73 tie, giving Georgetown a chance to come back…

And then a similar shot in the first overtime saved the Hoyas again. This time, it was from freshman guard James Akinjo, who had a little more time to work with coming out of a timeout. But his shot to tie the game and force another overtime was stunning.

Georgetown Freshmen Mac McClung And James Akinjo Come Up Clutch Against Providence | Deadspin

The first shot came courtesy of the high-flying Mac McClung. The freshman proved that he could do more than just dunk when, with 3.9 seconds remaining, he caught the inbounds pass and made it just pass the Georgetown logo at center court before banking in his three-point heave that would send his team into the first overtime tied 73-73…

The second savior opportunity fell to James Akinjo. The freshman guard was fortunate enough to not have to force up a desperate heave like his teammate. Instead, he received the inbounds pass and dribbled around for about five seconds before shooting a long three of his own at the top of the arc. This time, the Hoyas didn’t have to hope the backboard would give them a fortunate bounce…

The Hoyas might not make any national headlines with the wins they get this year, but they’ve been fun as hell to watch.

Govan clutch as Georgetown trips Providence 96-90 in 2OT | WTOP (AP)

Jessie Govan scored a career-high 33 points with 14 rebounds and Georgetown got two clutch 3-pointers before beating Providence 96-90 in double overtime Saturday. He had two free throws early in the second overtime to put Georgetown ahead and added three in the final minute to help seal the game.

James Akinjo added 20 points and nine assists for the Hoyas (12-5, 2-2 Big East). Akinjo made three free throws with 15.6 seconds left in the first overtime before knocking down a long 3-pointer at 3.4 seconds to tie it at 86, forcing the second OT…

There were 26 ties and 13 lead changes.

Friars Lose (2OT): Providence 90, Georgetown 96 | pcbb1917.com – Providence College Basketball

Providence was led by Alpha Diallo with 24 points and 13 rebounds for his 12th career double-double. Drew Edwards gave Ed Cooley some great minutes off the bench and scored 19 points. The other Friars in double figures were Nate Watson 21 points and Isaiah Jackson with 13 points.

Georgetown was led by Jessie Govan with 33 points and 14 rebounds.

Mac McClung Drilled A Three To Force Overtime Against Providence | UPROXX

Patrick Ewing is working to get Georgetown back to the heights the program was at back during his tenure as a player for the Hoyas. After going 15-15 with a 5-13 conference mark in his first year on the bench at his alma mater, the Hoyas sit at 11-5 and 1-2 in Big East play during his second season.

There are signs of progress at Georgetown, but on Saturday afternoon, the team was looking to avoid dropping its third straight conference home game in a row. The Hoyas played hosts to Providence, and it looked like the Friars were in line to pick up a 73-70 win in regulation. However, Georgetown had one last chance to force an extra period, as the team inbounded the ball from under their own basket with 1.3 seconds remaining…

Heartbreak in DC – Friar Basketball | Friar Basketball

Last season’s Big East Tournament came to mind as Providence pushed ahead by three points at the end of regulation against Georgetown. Then the unthinkable happened…

Unlike in last year’s Big East Tournament, Cooley said his team was “100 percent trying to foul” at the end of regulation, according to the Providence Journal’s Kevin McNamara…

PC led by three with ten seconds left, but did not want to foul in overtime, according to McNamara. They simply blew a defensive assignment and gave a wide-open top-of-the-key 3 to Hoya freshman James Akinjo before Georgetown prevailed in double overtime.

Friars Journal: Edwards’ unexpected contribution wasted – Sports – providencejournal.com | providencejournal.com

His career-best 19 points off the bench came at just the right time but weren’t enough to prevent another Friar loss, this one a painful 96-90 defeat in double overtime to Georgetown… “It’s hard, it’s really hard,” Edwards said. “To make the same mistake twice, it just hurts.” [] Edwards was referring to his team’s inability to close out three-point leads at both the end of regulation and the first overtime. Those errors allowed Mac McClung and James Akinjo to fire in 3-point daggers that left the Friars stunned and still in search of their first conference victory (0-3)

”We could be 3-0 right now,” Edwards said, “but we came up short three times. We have to move forward and keep on pushing. The thing is we feel we’re one of the best teams in the league, if not the best team. It stinks.”

Georgetown vs. Providence final score: Hoyas win in 2OT thriller | Big East Coast Bias

Theatrical is one way to describe the game between the Hoyas and Friars on Saturday. Eventful and others as well, your mileage may vary...

The aforementioned Govan was the leader in points today as he had 33. Granted, he took 26 field goal attempts, over a third of the shots that the Hoyas attempted (75) on the afternoon. But it was still a pretty stellar showing for him, in which he also pulled down 14 rebounds in 42 minutes of action. The heroes Akinjo and McClung had 20 and 16 points respectively, as this trio were the only ones to get into double figures on the day for Georgetown.

McClung banks in regulation buzzer-beater; Georgetown wins in OT | Sports | HeraldCourier.com

The return of Mac was memorable. Georgetown University freshman Mac McClung scored 16 points and knocked down a long buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game at the end of regulation in Georgetown’s 96-90 double-overtime win over Providence on Saturday afternoon...

He picked up where he left off, connecting on 7-of-13 shots from the field, while also finishing with four rebounds, one assist and three turnovers in 16 minutes. The freshman guard is averaging 12.6 points per game.

Already fast, young and fun, now Georgetown needs some stops | The Athletic (subscription)

Ewing wants to play fast as a rule, to put defenses under immediate and constant pressure. This is much harder to pull off when you have to inbound the ball from the baseline first, of course, but on a miss? No excuse. Yet here the Hoyas were, on one of the first possessions of the game, having just collected an early Providence miss, and for some strange reason they were not careening up the floor at the agreed-upon (read: breakneck) [pace]…