Green Leads Georgetown to the Final Four

For a while Sunday night, it looked as if Georgetown's run through the NCAA tournament would end at the hands of the powerful North Carolina Tarheels. With just over five minutes remaining, the Hoyas trailed by double digits and North Carolina was imposing its will. Then, something changed. The North Carolina shots quit falling and the Hoyas found a way to chip away at the lead. When it was all said and done, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert were able to lift the Hoyas past the Tarheels by a score of 96-84.

North Carolina took control of the game early in the first half, powering to the basket and piling up the fouls on the Hoyas. Georgetown big men Roy Hibbert and Patrick Ewing, Jr. spent much of the opening frame in foul trouble and North Carolina held a fifteen point advantage in points scored from the free throw line. Behind that free throw advantage and the quality play of Alex Stephenson off of the bench, the Tarheels held a 50-44 advantage at the halftime break.

Georgetown was determined, however, to play better defense in the second half. The Hoyas, who allow only an average of 57 points per game on the season, ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the second half. Center Roy Hibbert was a big reason for the defensive resurgence, as he finished the game with seven blocks. Three of those blocks came while Hibbert had four fouls, making his effort even more impressive. With the defense playing better, it was just a matter of Georgetown making some shots down the stretch. For a while, it looked like that wouldn't happen either.

Then Jeff Green decided to take over. With his team missing their last eight shots from the field, the junior forward put the Hoyas on his back with about five minutes remaining. He started with a driving layup, then hit a jump shot and made an impressive pass to Patrick Ewing, Jr. Georgetown managed to cut the lead to 81-78 with only thirty seconds remaining. That's when Jonathan Wallace confidently drilled the game-tying three. From there, little doubt was left as to how to the game would finish. North Carolina's Wayne Ellington missed the potential game winning shot with only a couple of seconds remaining. Georgetown then went on to control the overtime period, forcing bad North Carolina shots and converting on easy opportunities.

Jeff Green led the Hoyas in scoring with 20 and also added twelve rebounds. The resurgent Hibbert added 16 points and eight rebounds of his own. The Tarheels were led by a 26 point, 10 rebound effort from sophomore Tyler Hansbrough.

Georgetown advances to the Final Four to face off against a young Ohio State team. That regional semi-final will pit two of the nation's premier seven footers in Hibbert and Ohio State's Greg Oden.