Ken Davis

Georgetown coach John Thompson III walked into the interview room after his team’s 74-63 dismantling of No. 2 Connecticut and realized he wasn’t done teaching for the evening. Thompson stepped to the podium with forward DaJuan Summers and guard Chris Wright standing directly behind him.

Suddenly, it was time for a brief lesson in Big East Basketball 101.

“The commissioner is not handing out trophies after tonight and we have a long, difficult road ahead of us,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t get easier. We can’t sit and dwell on this and enjoy this too much because we have Pitt sitting there on Saturday.”

Perhaps the Hoyas had already received that message in the locker room. A few minutes later, Summers was asked about the importance of Georgetown’s dominant performance in the Big East opener for two highly ranked teams.

“We can’t get too high, because we have Pitt on Saturday,” Summers said. “We’re where we’re supposed to be and we have a lot of work to do, so we can’t get comfortable. We have to continue getting better.”

With as many as eight teams ranked in any given week, the Big East poses a different and sometimes overwhelming challenge night to night, especially for the upper division teams. Georgetown and Pitt, ranked No. 3 in both polls this week, have grown accustomed to playing each other for Big East championships in recent years. The Panthers (13-0) are at Georgetown on Saturday.

Thompson and Summers don’t want to get too far ahead of themselves, either. On Jan. 5, the Hoyas (10-1) must be ready to play at No. 7 Notre Dame and the Irish will be protecting their 43-game home winning streak.

What we’re saying is this: Georgetown may be wearing the giant-killer label today, but it’s possible the Hoyas could be 1-2 this time next week. Or, they could be 3-0 and looking better with each passing day.

Who knows?

“We’ve got 17 [conference] games that are going to be just like this,” UConn point guard A.J. Price said after losing to Georgetown. “So if we don’t learn from this, it’s going to be a long season.”

Several conference coaches might have been text messaging those same thoughts to their players Monday night after the Hoyas did unimaginable things to the conference favorite. The Huskies were the preseason pick to emerge as champions in the powerful Big East. (Oh yeah, the conference coaches picked Georgetown to finish seventh in that same poll.)

UConn entered the game 11-0, coming off a classic win over Gonzaga in Seattle, and general conversation had nominated the Huskies as most likely to challenge North Carolina for the national championship. Given the way UConn played against Georgetown, the Tar Heels are clearly in a class of their own at this point in the season. It was just one game, but a message was sent out that the Big East race truly is wide open.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun was so frustrated he didn’t know where to start. The Huskies had six assists on 22 baskets, turned in a poor defensive effort, fell behind 18-3 at the start, and watched Georgetown close out the game with a 12-4 run that began with eight minutes remaining. Calhoun said it felt like a 20-point loss.

Slideshow Nittany Lions, Tigers and Bearcats, oh my! Check out some of the mascots from around the college hoops world. NBCSports.com

“Opening Big East game, sold-out crowd, electricity in the gym — and for us to perform like that is just ... I apologize,” Calhoun said. “I just don’t know how we could play that poorly.  There are a lot of things I thought could happen. What did happen, I never could have or would have expected.

“With eight minutes to go, we’re down maybe 12 and I didn’t like looking at my team. And that’s the first time all year I can tell you that. The way we were playing, acting, just everything, I just didn’t feel we had any type of encouraging spark from anybody. I’m in a state of shock by it.”

Georgetown was poised from start to finish. The Hoyas are the younger team but made 18 of 19 free throws in the second half. And as Thompson noted, when UConn tried to get back into the game, the Hoyas did a great job of playing help defense and unselfish offense. Freshman center Greg Monroe outplayed UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet inside and Summers, Austin Freeman and Jessie Sapp have been through the conference battles before. Price said the Hoyas demonstrated no sign of jitters on the road.

“They’ve got so many different options, the floor is so spread, so any time one of their guys is feeling good they can try to take their man with the dribble,” Price said. “Or you’ve got to watch out for the back cut. Then we gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half. So, you go from playing 35 seconds of defense to 70 seconds of defense. That makes it tough.

“We had every reason to be excited about this game, as a team. We’ve got them at home. They had beaten us two years in a row. We lost a tough game down there last year on a last second 3-pointer. We had every reason to be energetic and hyped. And we did not start the game that way. It’s unacceptable.”

Price thinks the Huskies, who play Rutgers on Saturday before three consecutive road games, will bounce back strong. The Georgetown game was a missed opportunity and nothing more for UConn at this point. The Huskies are still a potential Final Four team. So is Pitt, Notre Dame, and Georgetown. Syracuse, Louisville, Villanova, Marquette and West Virginia aren’t far behind.  And if you think trips into Providence, Cincinnati, South Florida, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Rutgers and DePaul will be easy ... think again.

Also on NBCSports.com PFT’s Picks: Bears will claw 49ers on Thursday Howard: Look at what Agassi is now, not was NCAA FB: Ready for player exodus?  |    Top juniors MLB blog: A look at the top 111 free agents NCAA hoops: Who scored in early signing period? Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

And don’t forget Thompson’s words of wisdom either.

“This league is brutal,” Thompson said. “I don’t think big picture. Clearly, beating a terrific team on the road in the first game is a very, very big win and hopefully it means something. But at the same time we’ve got to move on.”

MORE FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL

College basketball Section Front

What happened on signing day? Isiah Thomas signs 3 recruits to play for FIU Michigan signs NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway's son Davis: Youthful UCLA will make noise eventually   Vote: Who will be player of the year? No. 6 North Carolina crushes N.C. Central Robertson leads No. 13 California past Detroit Rautins leads Syracuse in rout of Robert Morris Hope for even the worst FT shooters. Or not. 5 Razorbacks suspended for opener College basketball Section Front   Add College basketball headlines to your news reader: