NEW YORK -- Georgetown was at its worst at the free-throw line and tied a Big East tournament record for turnovers. So the Hoyas went to a power dunk on a fast break to get an important win.

Wesley Wilson's slam with 3.8 seconds to play gave Georgetown a 68-67 victory over Providence in Wednesday's opening-round game.

Wilson's only basket in the final 10 minutes came on a nice pass from freshman Drew Hall. It allowed the Hoyas (19-10) to move on to the quarterfinals against No. 20 Miami (23-6) and kept alive their chances for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

"Drew made a perfect play against their defense," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick said. "He pushed the ball and closed the game. We looked like we knew what we were doing."

Providence (15-16) had a last chance at the upset, but John Linehan was unable to get off a clean shot as he started his drive near the head of the key.

"I just tried to get as close as I could to the basket, but I got tripped up," Linehan said.

The Friars lost their fifth straight Big East tournament game.

Hall made two free throws _ quite an accomplishment for Georgetown on a day the Hoyas were 20-for-39 from the line _ to give Georgetown a 66-65 lead with 14 seconds to play.

Abdul Mills took the inbounds pass, drove down the right side of the floor and went right to the basket to give the Friars a 67-66 lead with 9.5 seconds left.

"That was what we wanted -- Abdul going right to the rim," Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "But they came right back at us."

Hall said not having a timeout after Providence scored helped the Hoyas.

"We didn't have a timeout so it was better to push the ball," Hall said. "Besides, with a timeout it gives them time to set their defense. I pushed it 1-on-1, and Wesley made it a 2-on-1."

The win was the fourth straight for Georgetown, which was third in the conference this season in free-throw percentage at 73.9.

After the game, the Hoyas returned to the floor at Madison Square Garden and practiced free throws.

"There's no way we shoot free throws like that again," senior guard Kevin Braswell said.

Mike Sweetney, limited to 12 minutes in the second half because of foul trouble, had 18 points for Georgetown, the last six after Providence used a 15-2 run to take a 59-52 lead. Sweetney had 10 rebounds to lead the Hoyas, who finished with a 43-28 rebounding advantage.

"Sweetney came back and really hurt us in that four-minute stretch after we took the seven-point lead," Welsh said.

Wilson finished with 13 points, and Hall had nine for Georgetown, which is 5-0 in opening-round games.

Freshman Ryan Gomes led Providence, which last won a Big East tournament game in 1998, with 20 points, while Sheiku Kabba had 12.

Providence's 15-2 run to take its first lead of the game happened while Georgetown was going 2-for-6 from the free-throw line and committed five of its 27 turnovers.

Wilson's game-winning dunk was the sixth lead change of the final 2:35.

Providence, which ended the season with a four-game losing streak, set a Big East tournament record with 19 steals. The Hoyas' 27 turnovers tied the tournament mark.

Linehan had five steals and he finished his career as the NCAA's career leader in that category with 385.

"I wanted to get John a taste of this tournament for more than one day," Welsh said. "We did a good job of keeping them off-balance. The kids did everything 100 percent of what I asked them to do."