Give credit where credit's due: Cooper and Bassett came to play

Yes, Georgetown got smoked.

Yes, Ohio was the ninth place team in the MAC, which is worse than where the Hoyas finished in the Big East (eighth).

No, Georgetown didn't play a lick of defense in 40 minutes, giving up 97 points to the Bobcats.

Georgetown deserves all the criticism you want to throw at them. They didn't show up defensively. They played without emotion or fire all season long. They proved how inconsistent they can be, getting flogged by a team that needed to beat Ball State in Cleveland in overtime just to qualify for the MAC Tournament. They embarrassed themselves on national television during the NCAA tournament.

But as poorly as Georgetown played, let's make sure we give credit where credit is due.

Georgetown's defense may have been as porous as an afghan, but the Hoyas weren't the ones getting to the lane at will. Georgetown might have been late on their rotations, but they weren't the ones that hit seemingly every open jumper. Georgetown played like this was a Sunday Morning church league game. Ohio played like, well, you saw the game.

The Bobcats were not a good team this year. Let me repeat, they finished in ninth place in the MAC.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that Ohio is devoid of talent.

In fact, the Bobcats probably have a back court better than a lot of teams in the tournament. Armon Bassett averaged double figures at Indiana before transferring out after the 2008 season. DJ Cooper was a top 20 point guard nationally that a lot of teams backed off of because of his 150 lb frame.

And boy, did those two show out tonight.

The two combined for 55 of the Bobcats 97 points. Bassett had 32 points, hitting big shot after big shot -- including 5-10 from deep -- down the stretch as Georgetown tried to mount a comeback. Cooper started the game by "raining spunk", as Raftery termed it, and finished it by slicing up the Georgetown defense to the tune of 23 points, 8 assists, and 5-8 shooting from deep.

Those two caught fire. They outplayed a very good Georgetown back court. They created the open shots that the Bobcats hit all game long. They play of Cooper and Bassett was a very big reason that Georgetown's defense struggled.

I'm not trying to say this wasn't an upset. It was.

I'm not trying to say that Georgetown played well. They didn't, at least not on the defensive end.

All I'm saying is that this is an Ohio team with some talent that has clicked and gotten hot at the right time.

They played out of their minds, and they deserve to get a large part of the credit.