This is the fourth straight year John Thompson III's Georgetown Hoyas have been eliminated by a double-digit seed. (Keith Allison/Creative Commons)

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles busted many brackets Friday night, courtesy of a 78-68 defeat of the No. 2-seeded Georgetown Hoyas. Offensively, the Eagles started slowly, but they led the Hoyas, 22-20, at halftime, as both teams shot in the low 30s for the half. The Atlanta Sun champion was powered by its top-two scorers from the regular season, Sherwood Brown and Bernard Thompson. The duo combined for 47 points. Sophomore guard Brett Comer also contributed a complete performance, recording 12 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. After the Hoyas cut their deficit to seven with two minutes remaining, Comer delivered an impeccable alley-oop pass to Chase Fieler. The transition bucket forced Georgetown to foul the rest of the way. Despite Markel Starks’ best efforts, the Hoyas could never quite catch the Eagles, who made enough free throws to seal the upset victory.

Georgetown’s leading scorer, Otto Porter Jr., struggled for most of the game. The 6-foot-8 sophomore, who averaged 16.3 points this season, was limited to four points through the first half and didn’t make his third field goal until the 9:53 mark of the second half. For the game, Porter converted just five-of-17 field goals.

The teams were tied at 31 with 17:28 to go, before FGC rattled off a 21-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 52-33. During the run, the Eagles were able to create ample quality shots through crisp ball movement. Meanwhile, Georgetown repeatedly settled for poor shots in their half-court sets.

Later, the Hoyas were able to whittle down their deficit to single-digits by getting out into transition and utilizing the speed they had seemingly forgotten they had through the game’s first 28 minutes. Even so, the comeback was a case of “too little, too late,” as the Hoyas felt obligated to force ill-advised three-pointer after three-pointer. As a result of playing from behind, Georgetown attempted 27 treys, but could only make seven of them (25.9 percent).

Georgetown, a school that came into the tournament ranked No. 8 nationally, was just the second top-25 team the Eagles faced all season. More than four months earlier, the Eagles fell to No. 9 Duke, 88-67. With that said, Florida Gulf Coast did beat the Miami Hurricanes by double-digits before Miami was ranked in the top-25.

With the victory, the Eagles will face the winner of Friday night’s San Diego State vs. Oklahoma game. It’s hard to believe this is merely Florida Gulf Coast’s second year of full Division I postseason eligibility.

Ohio State 95, Iona 70

Apparently, the Ohio State Buckeyes weren’t ready to suffer the same fate as fellow No. 2 seed Georgetown. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 27-8 lead early. Although the Iona Gaels crept to within four points near the halftime break, the second half was not even close as Ohio State erupted for 52 points. Defensively, the Buckeyes forced 19 turnovers and limited the Gaels to 35 percent shooting, but their offense was even more dominant. Ohio State managed to score 95 points even while only getting four from point guard Aaron Craft. DeShaun Thomas was extremely efficient for the Buckeyes, scoring 24 points on just 12 field-goal attempts. In addition, Sam Thompson nearly tripled his season scoring average by scoring 20 points. 

Ohio State awaits the winner of Friday night’s Iowa State-Notre Dame matchup.

North Carolina 78, Villanova 71

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was hoping to face the team he coached for 15 season from 1988-2003. First, however, his Tar Heels would have to beat the Villanova Wildcats. Both teams went on big runs at various points in the game. For example, North Carolina gave up a 19-point first-half lead after a 15-0 run of its own. Ultimately, the Tar Heels got the win by virtue of ending the game on an 8-3 run in the final 1:36.

The Wildcats controlled the offensive glass, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds, but the Tar Heels outshot the Wildcats, especially from three-point range. From beyond the arc, North Carolina made 11-21 shots (52.4 percent), while Villanova made just four of the same number of attempts (19.0 percent).

It looks as if Williams will get an opportunity to upset his former team. That is, unless Kansas becomes the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16. Kansas and Western Kentucky will meet Friday night.    

Florida 79, Northwestern State 47

The No. 3-seeded Florida Gators stopped messing around and finally pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Northwestern State Demons, 39-15. The Gators easily outrebounded the Demons by a 40-21 margin. During the season, four Demons averaged double-figures, but against Florida, only DeQuan Hicks scored more than six points (he had 12). Other than Hicks, the Demons shot 33 percent for the game.

Florida will take on the winner of the Minnesota-UCLA game later Friday night. 

Reach Senior Sports Editor Aaron Fischman by email, or follow him on Twitter.