By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Big East scoring champion Ryan Gomes made a spinning 10-foot shot in traffic with 1.8 seconds remaining, then completed the three-point play to give Providence a 68-65 victory over Georgetown on Saturday night as the conference regular season came to a close.
Gomes dribbled down the clock before moving to his right against the tight defense of Brandon Bowman, getting off his leaning one-hander while drawing contract from the Hoyas forward.
Gomes finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, and freshman center Randall Hanke scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, dealing another major blow to Georgetown's postseason hopes.
Providence (14-16, 4-12) secured the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament with the victory and will play West Virginia in Wednesday's first round. Georgetown (16-11, 8-8) had already clinched the No. 7 seed and will play Seton Hall.
Gomes finished the regular season as the conference's top scorer in all games (21.7) and conference games (23.2). He is the Friars' first scoring champion since Eric Murdock in 1990-91.
Three weeks ago, an NCAA berth seemed almost a certainty for the overachieving Hoyas, who had meshed quickly under new coach John Thompson III despite relying heavily on four freshmen. But back-to-back losses at Notre Dame and St. John's started a five-game season-ending slide that has Georgetown needing an impressive tournament run _ if not the outright title _ to secure its first NCAA bid since 2001.
The Hoyas were hurt by foul trouble to their two big freshmen, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert. Hibbert fouled out with 11:07 left in the game. Green, a co-favorite for conference rookie of the year, re-entered with four fouls with 9:04 to play and scored seven points down the stretch, including a layup that tied the game with 31 seconds remaining.
Green finished with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Bowman scored 19 for the Hoyas, who shot 55 percent but were outrebounded 38-18, including 21-7 on the offensive boards. Providence outrebounded Georgetown 24-5 in the first half, including 21-2 over the last 15 minutes. Providence also took 19 free throws in the game, compared to eight for Georgetown.
Hanke went 7-for-9 from the field against the Hoyas and has made 30 of his last 36 shots over five games. He had seven offensive rebounds, matching Georgetown's team total.
