Hoyas and Mountaineers square off for Big East crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East Tournament title is up for grabs this evening, as the 22nd-ranked Georgetown Hoyas take on the seventh-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers at famed Madison Square Garden.

The Hoyas were thought to be a regular-season contender in the Big East, but the team faltered in the second half of the season and finished with a rather pedestrian 10-8 mark in-conference. However, Georgetown has certainly made believers out of skeptics with their play in this tournament, as the team has navigated the field out of the eight-seed, with impressive wins over the likes of South Florida (69-49), top-seeded Syracuse (91-84) and most recently, Marquette (80-57) in yesterday's semifinal action. The Hoyas are the most decorated team in Big East Tournament history, with seven tournament titles. The team is making its third appearance in the finals in the last four years, winning the whole thing in 2007.

Standing in Georgetown's way is West Virginia. The Mountaineers earned the three-seed and a double-bye to the quarterfinals with an impressive 13-5 league ledger. In this event, West Virginia has had its hands full, but has come out on top with thrilling victories over both Cincinnati (54-51) in the quarterfinals and Notre Dame (53-51) in the semifinals. There are seven conference members that have never won this event and West Virginia is one of them. The team did however, appear in the championship game in 2005, falling to Syracuse.

These two teams met just once this season, with West Virginia posting an 81-68 victory in Morgantown on March 1st.

The Hoyas are a physical team and have certainly displayed that in this event, running all over the opposition thus far. Center Greg Monroe is a big reason for that and he had another huge game in the win over Marquette, abusing the Golden Eagles for his 13th double-double of the season and third straight, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Three other Hoyas joined Monroe in double-figure scoring, with Chris Wright and Jason Clark pouring in 15 points apiece and Austin Freeman tacking on 12 points. Georgetown made light work of Marquette by shooting 53.6 percent from the floor, including a scorching 60 percent in the decisive second half. The Hoyas are averaging a modest 73.7 ppg on the year, but possess more than enough weapons to run the score up. Freeman currently paces the team with 16.8 ppg, but it is Monroe's presence in the middle that sets everything else up. The sophomore center is converting over 52 percent from the floor and is netting 16.2 ppg, while grabbing 9.7 rpg. Wright (14.7 ppg) and Clark (10.8 ppg) provide more than enough offensive support.

For the second straight game, West Virginia pulled off a victory in the waning moments. After a Da'Sean Butler's three-pointer with under two seconds to play decided the game against Cincinnati two days ago, it was a missed attempt by Notre Dame late that proved to be the difference in a two-point victory yesterday for WVU. Butler was once again instrumental in the win over Notre Dame, as he finished 9-of-15 from the floor for a game-high 24 points. Kevin Jones added 10 points, as West Virginia shot a solid .488 from the field, despite racking up just 53 points. The team did the rest at the defensive end, holding the streaking Irish to a mere .344 shooting effort, while outrebounding them 37-22. Much like Georgetown, West Virginia is averaging a modest 73.4 ppg on the year, despite having solid scoring depth. Butler leads four Mountaineers in double figures with 17.3 ppg. Jones (13.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Devin Ebanks (12.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) are a solid frontcourt duo, while Darryl Bryant (10.0 ppg) helps Butler from the perimeter.