NEW YORK — There was a moment or two when it felt inevitable: Georgetown was actually going to finish off this incredible comeback.
And then, just in time to avoid an epic collapse, Xavier finally hit the free throws it needed.
Matt Stainbrook had 20 points and nine rebounds, and the Musketeers held off a furious rally by the No. 23 Hoyas to secure a 65-63 victory Friday night in the Big East tournament semifinals.
“I think this comeback shows how deep of a team we are,” freshman Isaac Copeland said. “It’s not easy to come back from down 20 like we were. It shows we have a lot of heart.”
After struggling at the foul line while the second-seeded Hoyas (21-10) whittled a 21-point deficit to one, the Musketeers made five of six free throws in the final 10.3 seconds to hold on. Freshman forward Trevon Bluiett drained a big 3-pointer, and Xavier advanced to the championship game in just its second season in the conference.
The sixth-seeded Musketeers (21-12) will play top-seeded and fourth-ranked Villanova for the crown Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
“I feel like, if we played three more minutes, we might have lost by 17,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said.
Xavier led by 20 points with 7:53 remaining when a scrum under the basket led to a technical foul on Musketeers forward Jalen Reynolds, who feigned winding up for a punch as he showed Mack what he had done.
That helped the Hoyas get started on a 15-1 run as Xavier, the top free throw-shooting team in the Big East, missed six of seven from the line.
Copeland sparked the rally, scoring 11 points in a little more than four minutes. A driving layup by D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera trimmed the deficit to 60-59 with 14.7 seconds left.
“I think we finally started getting the ball in the middle of their zone. For too long of a stretch, we were just passing the ball around the perimeter,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “Once we started scoring, our defense got better.”
But the Musketeers would not fold. Dee Davis sank two foul shots and Myles Davis added two more, making it 64-61 with 4.6 seconds to go.
Jabril Trawick, who led the Hoyas with 19 points, hit his first free throw with 1.9 seconds on the clock and was supposed to miss the second on purpose. But he made it by accident, shaking his head along with Thompson after the ball dropped right through.
“We have enough trouble practicing making, so I can honestly say we never practiced missing,” Thompson said.
James Farr hit a foul shot at the other end, and when he missed his second attempt Georgetown was unable to get off a desperation heave in time.
With the shot clock about to expire, Bluiett nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:30 left to stop Georgetown’s 15-1 spurt and extend Xavier’s lead to 57-48.
“We just wanted to make sure we kept our team calm. We weren’t going to implode on ourself,” Stainbrook said.
Copeland finished with 15 points, and Smith-Rivera scored 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting. The star guard was 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
It was Xavier’s third victory this season over a ranked Georgetown team. The Musketeers won both regular-season meetings, by 17 points and then 13 points.
The Hoyas were 5-for-19 from 3-point territory after going a combined 8-for-35 during the first two matchups with Xavier.
“They’re a very, very balanced team. They support and help each other at the defensive end,” Thompson said.
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