LINKS: Georgetown Faces Seton Hall in BIG EAST Tournament

The Georgetown Hoyas (9-9) face the Seton Hall Pirates (9-9) in the second round of the BIG EAST tournament in Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

Defending Myles Powell is task numero uno, and that should primarily be up to Jagan Mosely and Jamorko Pickett.

On Wednesday night Providence walloped Butler and St. John’s dispatched DePaul.

Here are the links:

Quiet Jessie Govan and Georgetown want to finally ‘make some noise’ in Big East tournament | Washington Post

“He definitely made an impact on my decision to return, to get to play with a guard like that,” Govan said. “He just wrote, ‘If you come back, we’re going to make some noise.’ ”

Akinjo’s promise was hard to ignore for a player who’d never won more than one game in the Big East tournament.

Hoyas enter Big East Tournament trying to jump off NCAA bubble | The Washington Times

“If we don’t come with the energy and effort both mentally and physically that we need, then Thursday will be our last game in the tournament,” Ewing said...

Take freshman James Akinjo when he spoke about how to build off last Saturday’s upset win at Marquette entering the conference tournament.

“We’re in a great conference,” he said. “We may not play as good, we may not make a lot of shots, but we’re just focused on having our energy and our effort the same going into the Seton Hall game.”

It’s not all about Villanova this time | New York Post

Strength: Tempo. Jump-started by strong rebounding, the Hoyas play at the fastest-pace in the Big East and lead the league with 80.6 points per game.

Weakness: Second-half stops. Georgetown’s defense noticeably slips after halftime, ranking 323rd in the nation in points allowed (41.2).

Big East Coast Bias Big East Player of the Year: Myles Powell Seton Hall Pirates | Big East Coast Bias

This season, Powell averaged 22.6 points (second in the Big East), 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals (second in the Big East). He also led his team to an 18-12 overall record, 9-9 in conference play, third place in the league and essentially clinched a fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance for his school after his team lost four three-year starters to the pros.

Georgetown vs. Seton Hall Prediction, Preview, and Odds | winnersandwhiners.com

The Georgetown Hoyas finished the regular season strong, and as a result, they finished third in the Big East standings. The Hoyas have won three out of their last four games with the lone loss in that span occurring on the road to DePaul. Hoyas’ top scorer Jessie Govan wasn’t at his best in his last three games, shooting below 34% in all three games... Govan posted an average of 20.5 points in two games against the Pirates this season.

Seton Hall To Cap Big East Quarters With Win Over Georgetown | sportsbookreview.com

Talk about finishing the regular season on a high note. Seton Hall took down the top two teams in the Big East, Villanova and Marquette, to close the conference slate and, in doing so, the Pirates went from potentially being the 10th and final seed in the tournament into a 4-way deadlock for third and the No. 3 seed via the tiebreaker.

Big East basketball tournament preview: Fan’s guide | Asbury Park Press

Most likely to throw down a viral dunk: If Georgetown’s Mac McClung gets loose in the open court, look out. The freshman guard, a former Rutgers commit, crushed a backward jam against DePaul two weeks ago. He’s only 6-foot-2, which is part of the charm.

Can Seton Hall basketball win the Big East Tournament? | Asbury Park Press

They’re just scratching the surface... Of the nine guys in Willard’s rotation, six of them essentially are going through this for the first time. The tantalizing ceiling was on display Saturday, when Villanova did everything it could to slow down Powell, yet he still posted 20 points, seven rebounds, five boards and three steals — and his teammates did the rest.

“We’re most dangerous when we play together,” Hall forward Sandro Mamukelashvili said.

The Big East Tourney Is Gonna Be A Big Mess Too | Thompson’s Towel

Of course, the Big East Tournament is going to be wildly unpredictable, with nine teams out of ten (sorry DePaul) having some potential to make some noise. Who knows what will happen in the Garden over the next four days?

Big East regular season awards revealed | Big East Coast Bias

Meanwhile, it’s James Akinjo who takes home Big East Freshman of the Year honors. The Georgetown Hoyas point guard was second in the conference among freshmen in PPG, 0.1 behind his teammate Mac McClung. He led all freshmen in assists per game with 5.4, a full 2.1 assists ahead of Creighton Bluejays freshman Marcus Zegarowski, who was a finalist for the award. Akinjo was certainly worthy of the honor and distinction and it should come as no surprise that he comes away with the hardware here.