March 8, 2006

Notre Dame vs Georgetown BIG EAST First Round Box Score

NEW YORK (AP) – Brandon Bowman scored a season-high 25 points and No. 23 Georgetown overcame a terrible start to beat Notre Dame 67-63 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big East tournament.

The fifth-seeded Hoyas (20-8), who missed their first 12 shots from the field, advanced to the quarterfinals and will face fourth-seeded Marquette (20-9) on Thursday.

Bowman, whose previous best this season was 23 points in the Hoyas’ victory over then-No. 1 Duke on Jan. 21, scored six of Georgetown’s final nine points. The 6-foot-8 senior forward’s biggest play came when he drove and scored on a left-handed flip off the glass – he’s right-handed – with 22 seconds left to give Georgetown a 66-63 lead.

Colin Falls hit six 3-pointers and had 21 points for the 12th-seeded Irish (15-13), who managed to qualify for the tournament despite getting off to a 1-8 start in league play.

Jon Wallace hit the ninth and last of Georgetown’s 3-pointers to break the game’s final tie and give the Hoyas a 58-55 lead with 3:57 to play.

Chris Quinn scored on a drive for Notre Dame, but Bowman then scored four straight points to make it a five-point game.

Russell Carter hit the 11th and last of the Irish’s 3-pointers to make it 62-60 with 1:38 left. Ashanti Cook took a pass down low from 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert and scored as he was falling to give Georgetown a 64-60 lead with 1:14 left. Torin Francis’ three-point play 20 seconds later made it a one-point game and Bowman sealed it with his left-handed drive.

The Hoyas won the only regular-season meeting between the teams, 85-82 in double overtime.

Cook was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and had 14 points for Georgetown, while Green had 13 points and nine rebounds. Hibbert had four points and 11 rebounds for the Hoyas, who finished with a 41-31 advantage on the boards.

Carter had 12 points for Notre Dame and Rob Kurz had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Notre Dame, which led the conference this season by shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point range, was 11-for-23 from behind the arc, with Falls going 6-for-11.

Georgetown, which entered the game shooting 36.3 percent on 3s, was 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) against Notre Dame’s 2-3 zone.

Notre Dame took an 11-0 lead as the Hoyas missed their first 12 shots, finally connecting on a 3 by Wallace 6:26 into the game. Georgetown led the conference in field goal percentage at 47.6 and finished the game at 41.4 (24-for-58).