Ohio stuns Georgetown in tournament opener

2060 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — How about a standing O for Ohio!

The MAC champion Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.

Georgetown might want to skip the tourney next time it’s in Providence.

Armon Bassett scored 32 points to lead the 14th-seeded Bobcats to a convincing 97-83 win over the Hoyas in the Midwest Regional.

In early March, no one expected Ohio (22-14) to be in this position. The team had just finished a 7-9 season in Mid-American Conference play and entered the conference tournament as the ninth seed.

Four wins later, Ohio was in the 65-team field.

Forty minutes later, the Bobcats are in the second round.

Coach John Groce wouldn’t call it the biggest win in team history.

“I certainly think it’s one of them,” he said. “What it does more than anything is it gives belief in our guys in what we’re doing.”

Ohio seized the lead early on its 3-point shooting and never had a serious letdown the rest of the way. The Hoyas (23-11) made a small run in the second half that cut a 19-point lead down to seven.

No worries. D.J. Cooper, who scored 23 points, nailed a 3 to the delight of all those green-clad fans who made the trip and cheered them on the whole way. The Bobcats cruised from there and now have won six straight games.

Ohio joined Murray State, which knocked off Vanderbilt 66-65 at the buzzer, as the two big upset winners Thursday.

“There were some times when the only people that believed in what we were doing and where we were going where the guys in the locker room and the administration,” Groce said.

Chris Wright led the third-seeded Hoyas (23-11) with 28 points. Georgetown coach John Thompson III said a day earlier his team was playing their best basketball of the season. It certainly didn’t extend into the tournament opener.

The Hoyas looked sensational in winning the first three games of the Big East tournament, before losing to West Virginia in the championship, and appeared to have positioned themselves as a legitimate Final Four threat.

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