In fact, there were three seconds remaining in the first overtime of Georgetown’s Big East tournament quarterfinal against Cincinnati when the Hoyas senior center received the ball at the top of the key with his team down two points. Having already transformed from reserve big man over his first three seasons into arguably the team’s most important post scorer, rebounder, facilitator and shot blocker, Sims did something else no one had seen. Without hesitation, he blew by his defender off the dribble and sent the game into another extra period.

“The layup was there, so I just took it,” he said. “It felt good. It was my first college buzzer-beater, I guess you could say.”

The Hoyas still lost to the Bearcats when Sims’ would-be game-winning 3-pointer in double overtime hit the back iron, but he left New York having taken his breakout season to another level. In two Big East tournament games at Madison Square Garden, Sims averaged 21.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 blocks, the kind of dominance the third-seeded Hoyas (23-8) know they will need when they open the NCAA tournament against No. 14 Belmont (27-7) on Friday.

“[It was] the Sims that I’ve been trying to get him to be like for the longest time,” Hoyas senior guard Jason Clark said. “You’ve seen it in strides, but that’s the Henry Sims we need at all times, being on the boards, grabbing every board, scoring points, passing the ball, doing everything.”

Hoyas coach John Thompson III has spent much of the season touting Sims’ renewed focus and dedication to basketball, which surprised a number of early teams that didn’t have him on their scouting reports. That has changed in recent games, and Sims was rattled by a physical Marquette defense that held him to five points in Georgetown’s regular-season finale defeat. But he has embraced the added attention and emotion of his final weeks of college basketball.

“When we went up to New York, I tried to do everything I could to make sure we played for as long as possible,” Sims said. “That’s the same thing I plan on doing when we get to this tournament.”

Turnovers also remain a concern; he committed seven in two Big East tournament games. But some of that comes with handling the ball so frequently — a point coaches seem to notice.

“I think they’re willing to turn it over every now and then in order to get the back cuts that they’re going to get and all the different stuff that comes out of it,” Belmont coach Rick Byrd said.

Asked about Sims’ improvements as the Hoyas departed campus Wednesday, Thompson didn’t want to single out New York as an anomaly.

“He had a couple of good games,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to talk about it as if it’s done, it’s over because hopefully he’ll continue to improve.”

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