Georgetown blew a 17 point lead and was upset by Davidson in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After a season of building big leads, blowing those leads, and then winning in the final minutes, Georgetown was not able to make big plays at the end of the game.
Certainly, I had no illusions of Georgetown winning a national title this year. But seeing your team get outscored 45-24 in the final 17:20, after winning 28 games hurts.
The odd thing was, I really felt Georgetown played terrific, despite the loss. Georgetown shot 64%, including 56% on 3's, but was outdone by 20 turnovers. (This was 16 more than Davidson.) Most of these were on offensive fouls and for whatever reason Georgetown could not figure out the way the game was being called. Playing in North Carolina against Davidson, you had to expect that Georgetown would not get the benefit of the doubt, but I wish the team could have adjusted to the way the game was being called.
I hope that the non-Georgetown fans were able to enjoy the upset and the great win by a Davidson team that proves that you don't need to play in a major conference to put together a good team.
But I'm still in shock, mostly driven by the fact that Georgetown seemed to play very well in the game. I've seen the team lose when they've thrown the ball away, when they've been out-rebounded, but never by simply fouling their way out of the game.
The truth is it is very hard to get to the Final Four. You need some plays to go your way. Last year Georgetown made all the plays and came back to defeat North Carolina. This year, Davidson made the plays and came back to end Georgetown's season. I'm not going to say these things even out. Sometimes they do, but often they don't. But I will say this. Anytime your team wins in the tournament, enjoy it. An opportunity can slip away in a few seconds.