You know, I’m not some long-time Big East worshipping, pining for the “glory days” of the mid-80s of BE basketball. Still, my memories of Georgetown were trips to the Civic Arena because they were such big games they were played there instead of Fitzgerald in the late 80s. They were the team Pitt wanted to be. Now, they are using Pitt as their measuring stick as to where they are in the conference.
The young Georgetown Hoyas open the Big East portion of their schedule tonight at No. 16 Pittsburgh (10-1) and should get a better idea what they can expect over the next 10 weeks.
And Georgetown knows Pitt could be in a mood.
This might not be the ideal time for Georgetown to play the Panthers, considering that Pittsburgh is coming off of a stunning loss to Bucknell. The 69-66 defeat marked just the second time in 46 games that Pittsburgh had lost at the three-year-old Petersen Events Center. The Panthers have not lost back-to-back home games since February 2001.
“Bucknell probably stirred up the hornet’s nest,” Thompson said with a smile. “They’re not going to be in a good mood.”
Pitt better not be in a good mood. Despite the reversal of fortunes, neither team has ever won more than 5 straight games. Pitt has a 5 game winning streak against G-town.
And just for a bitter reminder as to how big the win was, from the San Francisco Chronicle:
No, it really was the previously undefeated, No. 10 Pittsburgh Panthers that lost. It was Bucknell, a Patriot League team from Lewisburg, Pa., that did not offer athletic scholarships until two years ago, that got the win. The site was Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center, where the Panthers were 43-1 before Sunday. The only loss had been an overtime defeat to Syracuse, and Connecticut is 0-2 at Petersen.
Bucknell did what UConn could not in beating the Panthers in their new arena.
“We were having our team meeting about 11 o’clock this morning (Tuesday), and the kids said, “Hey, coach, we got to turn on ESPN to catch the top 10 plays of the week, ’cause we’ll be on,” coach Pat Flannery said.
Flannery thought they were kidding, but when No. 1 came up, there were the Bucknell players running around after the upset.
Flannery’s weekly alumni luncheon that usually draws 30 or 40 people had 150 people show up Tuesday.
A paper in SF needs to point out the upset. Actually, interesting to learn that the Patriot League teams are now offering some sports scholarships.
Game’s on in less than an hour.
