They received a bye in the first round of the 1984 Big East men's basketball tournament and defeated Providence in the quarterfinals.

With Michael Jackson scoring critical late-game free throws – part of a 20-point performance, including 8-for-8 from the free-throw line – Georgetown came back to tie the game and force overtime, during which the Hoyas pulled away to an 81–72 win and the Big East tournament championship for the third time in the program's history, with Ewing averaging 23 points a game during the tournament.

In the post-game press conference, Syracuse's head coach Jim Boeheim overturned a chair in anger and declared "The best team did not win tonight!

They had a scare in the second round, narrowly missing being upset in a pre-shot-clock-era slowdown game against a Southern Methodist team led by center Jon Koncak.

With 51 seconds left, SMU fouled Gene Smith, who missed the first shot of a one-and-one, but Ewing tipped the ball in for a basket and a 36–34 lead.

No three-point shot yet existed in the tournament, so the Mustangs raced down the court and scored to narrow the lead to 37–36, but then time expired.

Bowie and Turpin managed to get Ewing into foul trouble early, and with him on the bench and Reggie Williams shooting only 1-for-7 (14.3%) from the field during the game, the Wildcats raced out to a 27–15 lead with 3:06 left in the first half.

Although he played for only 17 minutes and suffered a season-ending foot injury in the second half, Gene Smith had one of the best defensive games of his career.

Bowie and Turpin finished the game a combined 0-for-12, Wingate scored 12 points and held Kentucky's Jim Master to 2-for-7 (28.6%) shooting from the field, Michael Jackson scored 12 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds, and Georgetown won 53–40 to advance to the national final for the third time in school history and second time in three years.

Jackson scored 11 points and had six assists, two of which set up Ewing and Graham for decisive baskets late in the game.

Two years earlier, Brown had mistakenly passed the ball to North Carolina's James Worthy in the last seconds of the 1982 championship game, ruining Georgetown's chances for a final game-winning shot and allowing North Carolina to take the national championship, and cameras had captured Thompson consoling a devastated Brown with a hug as the Tar Heels celebrated.