NEW YORK  – Tied at 57 with less than two minutes remaining, the eighth-seeded Georgetown University men's basketball team closed the game on a 9-1 run to upset the fifth-seeded Seton Hall Pirates 66-58 in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament Presented by Jeep at Madison Square Garden. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 12-12 on the season and advance to their first BIG EAST Championship Game since 2010, while Seton Hall falls to 14-13.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I think everybody did something positive to help us. Last night we shot it great from the free-throw line. Tonight we were 18 for 25. But we made some big ones down the stretch. Q did a fantastic job ... Chudi's toughness, the 3-point play he made at the end to put us up three, that was a big-time play, big-boy play. Jamorko's defense and his offense, Jahvon, everybody. Dante, he made some key plays." - Head Coach Patrick Ewing on his team's performance
 
"They asked me after the game what I think Coach Thompson is doing right now. I said both he and Mary Fenlon are smiling down on us right now. They're very happy and they're probably dancing a jig, like he always says." - Ewing on Coach Thompson looking down
 
"Yeah, I mean, the first game and the second game we played them in the regular season, I just wanted to make everything tough for him. He's a great player. He touches the game in a lot of ways for them -- scoring, rebounding, passing. I just wanted to make every look he got tonight just tough." - Jamorko Pickett on shutting down BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year Sandro Mamukelashvili
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Jamorko Pickett led the Hoyas with 19 points, hitting both of his 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. 
• Dante Harris finished with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, including going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
• Qudus Wahab was also in double figures with 10 points while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
• Pickett, Wahab and Chudier Bile all finished with two blocks apiece.
• The Hoyas shot 43.8 percent (21-48) from the floor and 50.0 percent (6-12) from 3-point range. A day after going a perfect 23-of-23 from the free throw line, GU went 18-for-25 from the charity stripe, including going 7-of-8 in the final two minutes.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown hit its first three shots from beyond the arc, including a pair from Pickett, to jump out to an early 11-4 advantage.
• Seton Hall cut the lead to two, but the Hoyas answered back with a 7-0 run over a 1:08 span - on buckets from Bile and Harris and a Jahvon Blair 3-pointer - to extend the lead to 22-13.
• The Hoyas led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Seton Hall closed the period on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to 36-34 at the midway point.
• The two teams traded baskets to open the second half, with the Pirates tying the score at 39 before a Blair jumper and Harris trey moved GU's lead back to five at 44-39.
• The Blue & Gray maintained a small lead until Seton Hall tied the game again at 50 with eight minutes remaining.
• The score was still knotted at 57-57 when Bile converted a traditional three-point play with 1:38 left to put GU up by three.
• Both squads traded free throws before Harris drew a foul behind the arc and drained three-straight free throws to double the lead to six with just 21 seconds left.
• After a defensive stand, Pickett sealed the victory with two more free throws to give Georgetown its third win in three days.

 
OF NOTE

• Georgetown is the first team in league history to be picked last in the preseason poll and play in the tournament's title game.
• Blair connected on a 3-pointer in the 36th-consecutive game he has appeared in, and his trey now gives him 205 for his career which is third all-time at Georgetown, trailing only D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (250) and Jonathan Wallace (240).
• Pickett's six rebounds give him 613 for his career, which sits 22nd all-time in the GU record books.
• Georgetown will be making its 14th appearance in the BIG EAST Championship Game, and first since 2010 when the Hoyas were also the #8 seed.
• The Blue & Gray are 7-6 all-time in the championship game, tied for the most titles in league history.

 
UP NEXT FOR THE HOYAS
The Hoyas advance to the BIG EAST Championship for the first time since 2010 and will play the #2 Creighton on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FOX with Gus Johnson handling the play-by-play and Jim Jackson providing analysis.