Eagles, Hoyas face off for first time

Another basketball team with a solid pedigree stands in Eastern Washington’s way in their second trip to the NCAA tournament.

The No. 13-seeded Eagles face the No. 4 Georgetown Hoyas tonight (March 19) at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

The game between the Eagles and Hoyas will start at 6:57 p.m. and will be broadcast on truTV. It may also be heard live via radio on 700-AM ESPN with Larry Weir providing the play-by-play.

But Sports Illustrated is not all that impressed with the visitors from Washington, D.C.

The magazine has picked Eastern (26-8) as its “upset pick” in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament bracket. Eastern makes its second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history while Georgetown has been to 30 tournaments.

Since reaching the 2007 Final Four, Georgetown has lost to double-digit seeds in each tournament it has made. The Hoyas lost to No. 10 Davidson in 2008, No. 14 Ohio in 2010, No. 11 VCU in 2011, No. 11 N.C. State in 2012 and No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast in 2013.

To Eastern players the Hoyas are just another basketball team.

“Our players are fearless and just want to go play,” Eastern head coach Jim Hayford said. “The neat thing is they are not concerned about what name is across the other team’s chest. They are just ready to go play basketball.”

Georgetown, the 1984 NCAA national champions, are 21-10 overall this season and finished 12-6 in the Big East Conference. The Hoyas lost to Xavier 65-63 in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament March 13. Earlier this season on Dec. 27, the Hoyas won 91-87 in overtime over Indiana, which fell to Eastern 88-86 Nov. 24.

Head coach John Thompson III leads Georgetown to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in his 11 years at the helm of the program.

Eastern’s one and only previous trip to the NCAA’s came in 2004 when as a No. 15 seed, the Eagles fell to No. 2 seed Oklahoma State 75-56 in Kansas City.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Georgetown and Eastern. The Hoyas have an all-time record of 3-1 against teams from the Big Sky Conference.