Thompson Not Coaching, but Win Is His

High above the floor of the MCI Center in Washington on Saturday, John Thompson stood at the front of a luxury box and waved to the crowd after Georgetown had defeated Providence, 75-70. Thousands acknowledged him, but none more than Craig Esherick, who had just coached the first game of the post-John Thompson era at Georgetown.

“It was very tough for me to control my emotions when that happened,” said Esherick, who took over as Georgetown coach after Thompson’s surprising resignation Friday. “There’s an awful lot he has done for me. He’s been my teacher and I cannot do justice to attempt to explain to you what he means to me.”

Thompson resigned after 27 seasons as Georgetown’s coach, citing personal reasons--including a failed marriage. An emotional crowd of 9,502 also gave him a standing ovation before the game. Esherick, at his request, did not have his name announced with the starting lineups.

“That victory was his victory. It was not my victory,” said Esherick, an assistant under Thompson since 1982. “Everything that we did on offense and defense is what he taught me. Nothing out there did I invent. Those are his players that he recruited.”

The Georgetown players also felt they were playing for Thompson and gave a spirited performance. The Hoyas, 8-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big East, came from behind against a team that had won its previous four games, outscoring Providence (10-5, 3-3) by 20-9 over the final eight minutes.

“That’s what made everybody play so hard,” guard Jameel Watkins said. “Coach is gone, and we wanted to win both for Coach Esherick and for Coach Thompson.”

Nat Burton and Kevin Braswell scored 20 points for Georgetown. Burton also did a good defensive job on Providence’s leading scorer Jamel Thomas, who was 0 for 7 in the first half and four for 18 for the game in finishing with 17 points.

Afterward in the locker room, Braswell said Thompson was the happiest he’d seen him this season.

“He was very happy, came in here laughing and smiling,” Braswell said.

Thompson chatted with well-wishers outside the locker room before tipoff and watched the game from the luxury box, well out of the spotlight. Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning were among several former Hoya players seated behind the Georgetown bench.

TOP 25 GAMES

No. 1 Connecticut 80, West Virginia 45--Richard Hamilton scored 30 points and the Huskies (13-0, 5-0) held the Mountaineers (7-8, 2-4) to 29% shooting in the Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va. Hamilton had 39 points against Boston College on Wednesday.

No. 3 Cincinnati 54, Southern Mississippi 52--Arthur Stapleton missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, allowing the Bearcats (15-0, 4-0) to escape with the Conference USA victory at Hattiesburg, Miss. Southern Mississippi (10-6, 2-2) used a 14-2 run to take a 51-50 lead with 2:54 left, but Pete Mickeal made three free throws in the final two minutes to twice put Cincinnati in front. Mickeal has not been on a team that has lost since the fifth game of his freshman season at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa--a span of 87 games. Indian Hills won 72 consecutive games and junior college national titles the last two seasons.

No. 6 Kentucky 73, Vanderbilt 57--The Wildcats (14-3, 3-0) entered the game at Nashville as the Southeastern Conference’s worst three-point shooting team, but they made 14 of 24 shots from beyond the arc to easily defeat the Commodores (10-5, 1-2). Kentucky also made a season-best 15 of 16 free throws.

No. 10 St. John’s 86, Seton Hall 75--Bootsy Thornton, a junior college transfer, made 11 of 16 shots and scored 27 points to lead the Red Storm (13-3, 4-1) past the Pirates (9-5, 3-2) in the Big East game at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

No. 12 Michigan State 81, Michigan 67--Mateen Cleaves got a pregame pep talk from Magic Johnson, then made seven of 10 shots and scored 25 points for the Spartans (12-4, 1-1) in their Big Ten victory over the Wolverines (8-9, 2-2) at East Lansing, Mich.

Johnson was at the game because the 1979 NCAA championship team for which he starred was being honored. “He told me to be myself,” said Cleaves, who had made only nine of 29 shots the previous three games. “He told me to just smile and have fun. He said the same thing was true with him. He told me when he wasn’t smiling and having fun, he wasn’t himself.”

Ohio State 73, No. 13 Indiana 56--The Buckeyes (13-3, 3-0) had four players score in double figures to run their record at their new home, Value City Arena in Columbus, to 9-0 and get off to their best Big Ten start since 1992. It was also Ohio State’s biggest victory over Indiana (14-5, 1-4) in Coach Bob Knight’s 28 seasons. Knight had never lost to his alma mater by more than nine points.

No. 14 Auburn 73, Louisiana State 70--Chris Porter scored 26 points and the Tigers (15-0, 3-0) rallied from a 19-point deficit in the final 10 1/2 minutes of the SEC game at Baton Rouge, La. LSU (8-4 0-3) failed to score in five possessions over the final 2:35 and Porter scored the decisive basket with 52 seconds left.

No. 15 New Mexico 82, Hawaii 59--Lamont Long scored 14 of his 23 points in a 28-4 run that lifted the Lobos (14-2, 2-1) past the Rainbows (3-11, 0-2) in the Western Athletic Conference game at Albuquerque.

No. 16 Minnesota 75, Penn State 60--Quincy Lewis, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 22 points a game, had 24 for the Golden Gophers (10-2, 1-1) in their victory over the Nittany Lions (9-5, 1-3) at Minneapolis.

No. 18 Kansas 74, Iowa State 60--Lester Earl, playing for the first time in eight games after having knee surgery, scored 16 points as the Jayhawks (11-3, 3-0) defeated the Cyclones (9-7, 0-3) for the 17th consecutive time in a Big 12 game at Lawrence, Kan.

Mississippi 76, No. 19 Arkansas 65--Arkansas native Jason Harrison scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half of the SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark., as the Rebels (12-4, 2-1) ended the home-court win streak of the Razorbacks (11-4, 1-2) at 30.

Wake Forest 64, No. 21 Clemson 61--Robert O’Kelley scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the Demon Deacons (11-4, 2-1) past the Tigers (12-4, 1-2) in the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

No. 23 Oklahoma State 76, Baylor 63--Desmond Mason had 32 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowboys (11-3, 3-0) in their Big 12 victory over the Bears (6-10, 0-3) at Waco, Texas.