Butler 56, Georgetown 53
Three times during Saturday's game with Butler, Fox Sports 1 play by play announcer Matt Schumacker referred to the Hoyas as "having lost eight straight". He was early in that forecast, but in the end, it came to pass as the Bulldogs escaped with a 56-53 win at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
This was more a game of attrition than accuracy. Four minutes in, the two teams had combined to shoot 4 for 14 in a 4-4 tie. Four minutes later, the teams had added just one more field goal between them. Georgetown had no outside game but saw promise inside, where Ryan Mutombo scored the next five points gave GU an early 11-8 lead. Thirteen seconds later, Mutombo picked up a second foul, left at the 10:19 mark, and did not play for the remainder of the game.
A three pointer by Butler freshman Simas Lukocius keyed a 11-0 run to put the Bulldogs in charge for the remainder of the first half. Consecutive baskets by Aminu Mohammed closed the Butler lead to 21-20 but the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to six, 26-20, until Donald Carey hit Georgetown's first three of the afternoon at the 2:47 mark--its first basket outside the paint in the entire first half. A late three by center Bryce Golden gave Butler a 32-26 lead at the break. Knowingly or not, the late three provided an important margin which would be the narrowest of margins that held the rattled Bulldogs together in the second half. In the first five minutes of the second half, Butler led by as many as 12, 42-30, when its shooting collapsed, with just three field goals over the next nine minutes of play. The Hoyas closed to one, 47-46, with 8:02 to play, but went 0-3 from three and gave up a turnover over its next four possessions. The Bulldogs could do nothing down the stretch, but every time the Hoyas approached the lead they took two steps back. A basket by Collin Holloway at the 3:36 mark closed to 52-51, GU forced a turnover, but Dante Harris then lost the ball out of bounds. Another Butler turnover followed, but Kaiden Rice tossed a wild three that missed. Yet another Butler turnover could not deny the Hoyas a third time. Going back to the paint, Aminu Mohammed reclaimed Georgetown's first lead at 53-52, but the Hoyas gave up a crucial layup from Aaron Thompson at the 1:05 mark. A stop there could have been enough to get the win, but it fell short.
Entering the final minute, Mohammed lost the ball out of bounds on the next possession. Free throws by Chuck Harris extended the Butler lead to 56-53 with 16 seconds to play, where the Hoyas settled for the final possession to tie the score. Donald Carey's tying three front-rimmed the basket and the Bulldogs escaped with its first back to back wins at home since Nov. 11-13. The last 8 minutes of the game was brutal:
"Look, I'm trying to win," he said. "Whatever lineup I think is going to help us win, or give us the best opportunity to win, that's the one I'm going to play." Simas Lukocius led all Butler scorers with there three pointers and 13 points overall--the rest of Butler's team was a combined 3 for 18 from outside and the Bulldogs managed to shoot just 37 percent. Butler, ranked last in the Big East with an average of 31 rebounds a game, picked up 40 in this game, supporting 30 points in the paint and a net advantage of three points in second chance points. The final: three points. Georgetown managed just 35 percent from the field, its lowest shooting percentage since its last meeting versus Butler. Aminu Mohammed led Georgetown scorers with 16 points and six rebounds. Donald Carey got two threes in the game but the remainder of the team shot 2 for 14. Kaiden Rice had another rough game: 1 for 5 from the field, and was ineffective on defense. Three home games in a five day stretch offer Georgetown a good opportunity, but no guarantee, to get in the win column, beginning Tuesday versus Seton Hall at Capital One Arena. The Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 32 2-7 1-4 0-0 6 5 3 7
Carey 38 3-6 2-5 0-1 5 3 2 12
Mohammed 33 6-9 0-3 4-5 6 0 3 16
Holloway 38 3-8 0-2 0-0 2 2 1 6
Ighoefe 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 1 0 2
Reserves:
Beard 8 0-1 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 0
Billingsley 13 0-2 0-0 2-2 3 0 1 2
Rice 17 0-1 1-4 0-0 3 0 1 3
Mutombo 7 2-4 0-0 1-1 1 0 2 5
DNP: Azinge, Riley, Clark, Bristol, Wilson, Muresan
Team Rebounds 3
TOTALS 200 17-39 4-19 7-9 34 11 14 53
Bristol Added To Roster
Mid-year transfer Wayne Bristol has been added to the active roster.Bristol, who last played at Howard in 2019-20, averaged 12.2 points per game as a freshman and takes jersey number 31, a less visible number in Hoya basketball circles. Since 1950, it's only been worn twice, once by Omar Wattad (2007-09) and later by Stephen Domingo (2012-14). Bristol also wore #31 while at Howard.Bristol is listed as a junior by the basketball office. Here's the class breakdown of the scholarship recipients:
Connecticut 96, Georgetown 73
The inside game of the #20 Connecticut Huskies completely overwhelmed the Georgetown Hoyas in a 96-73 loss at Gampel Pavilion, a game that was not as close as the score might indicate.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Were it not for a remarkable first half shooting clinic by the Hoyas, this game could have approached a record margin of defeat in Big East play. The outcome was less about the Hoyas, who have dropped seven straight, and more about a well-tuned Huskies offense that scored 40 of its 96 points by layup or dunk. A pair of layups opened the game against an ineffective Georgetown interior defense and the Huskies never looked back. Early turnovers by the Hoyas were costly - a pair of runs to close to five in the first half evaporated as the high flying Huskies pushed the lead to double digits in both cases. That the first half was as close as it was was testament to a remarkable run of three point shooting by Georgetown in the first half, hitting a season best eight first half attempts, including a run of three straight to close to 36-31 with 4:54 to halftime, only to see the Huskies power through to a 12 point lead at the break, 52-40. Shooting 14 for 22 from inside the arc (63 percent), the Huskies owned a 16-2 advantage on fast break points and maintained that after halftime. Georgetown entered the game with a record of 1-9 when trailing at the half and could not avert a tenth such loss once the Huskies returned to form. A slow start by UConn after the break (2 for 9) was not an advantage the Hoyas could make progress with. The strong three point shooting of the first half was gone after halftime, swallowed up by UConn's perimeter defense, and GU did not make a three point field goal for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Connecticut put the game away for good with a 12-0 run midway in the half, featuring back to back threes, back to back dunks, an awkward missed dunk by Donald Carey, and an easy layup to lead 78-52 with 9:21 to play.
The Huskies led by as many as 32 before emptying the bench, where the Georgetown reserves scored the final eight points of the game, including two of its final three pointers after the break. "There's no cavalry coming over the hill," head coach Patrick Ewing said after the game, as cited in the Washington Post. "This is our team. Banged up or whatever, COVID or whatever, this is our team. We have to go out there and we have to compete and we have to get it done." "We have to show them the things that we're doing wrong, but while we're talking about the things that we're doing wrong, we still have to encourage them." Defensively, GU had nothing inside. Timothy Ighoefe was routinely out of position, finishing with seven points and five rebounds before a flagrant foul sent him to the bench with his fifth foul with 4:46 to play. Ryan Mutombo fared little better against a tall and strong Husky front line, and Malcolm Wilson saw two brief minutes in the first half, and none thereafter.The trio of Ighoefe, Mutombo and Wilson finished the game with a combined 13 points and 11 rebounds compared with 47 points and 16 rebounds from the UConn front line. Hopes for Jalin Billingsley to provide some relief were dashed when he hurt his knee two minutes into his run in the first half, and was out for the remainder of the game, with a prognosis unknown for Saturday's game at Butler. UConn put four starters and five overall in double figures, with 42 combined points in the paint and 19 offensive rebounds contributing to 18 points. Adama Sanogo led all scorers with 19 points and eight rebounds in just 23 minutes of play, owing to foul trouble. Georgetown was led by 15 points from Aminu Mohammed, 13 in the first half. "When we stick to our identity we're a hard team to beat", said UConn coach Dan Hurley after the game. "We're physical, athletic, and have multiple guys that can score the ball. When we guard, we're a championship contender in this league." Eleven threes and a 45 percent shooting average is usually enough for Georgetown to be competitive in games, but this was not the case tonight between what may be the strongest team in the Big East, versus one that is adrift, dropping a loss by double digits in six of its last seven games and allowing 84.3 points per game in conference play. "We still have a chance to get ourselves back in the hunt," said Ewing. "We just have to stay positive, watch the film and show them things that we didn't do right tonight. We have to regroup and come back before our next game on Saturday." Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 31 2-4 1-5 0-1 0 1 0 7
Carey 31 2-4 2-4 0-0 0 2 2 10
Mohammed 30 3-7 3-4 0-0 7 3 0 15
Holloway 31 1-6 2-3 3-4 4 1 4 11
Ighoefe 15 3-4 0-0 1-2 5 0 5 7
Reserves:
Beard 4 1-2 0-0 2-3 0 3 0 4
Billingsley 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2
Azinge 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 2
Rice 16 0-2 3-5 0-0 1 0 0 9
Mutombo 21 2-7 0-0 2-2 6 0 3 6
Clark 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0
Wilson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
DNP: Riley (injured), Muresan (DNP)
Team Rebounds 5
TOTALS 200 16-39 11-21 8-12 28 11 16 73
ESPN: Ewing At Crossroads
Candace Buckner's critical piece on Patrick Ewing in Sunday's Washington Post appeared as a harbinger of similar stories to follow. True to form, a longer and more expansive column follows this morning from ESPN.com.
COVERAGE
"Georgetown is now at a crossroads that will shape its future," writes Myron Medcalf. "While winning last year's Big East tournament title provided a boost of optimism, it did not solve the program's woes. Ewing, handpicked by Thompson, has not yet proved that he can lead the Hoyas into a brighter chapter. With Georgetown a heavy underdog heading into Tuesday's matchup with longtime Big East rival UConn, Ewing, it seems, is running out of time to restore the program he helped build.""If Georgetown can't drastically change its season in the weeks ahead, then the school will face questions about its next steps and the future of arguably the greatest player in its history. John Thompson III was fired for less, proving that an appetite for struggles is conditional, even with a coach who has close ties to Big John." "I think he sees it as a work in progress and as a process kind of a thing," said Rev. Raymond Kemp. "And he is very well aware that the pressure to win is on." Ewing Jr: Fan Support Needed
Former player and current alumni coordinator Patrick Ewing Jr (C'08) sat down with Hoya Locker Room this weekend for a wide-ranging conversation, with some candid comments about the gameday experience from the eyes of a player."I remember when I was in high school watching Georgetown play [downtown] and thinking man, there really ain't nobody here. There's nobody in this gym," Ewing recalled. "One of the reasons I went to Indiana was because when I went to game...the place was sold out and it was just rocking in there. You feed off that.""The college atmosphere that you see when you watch a Duke game at Cameron and you see the students, having fun, you want to play for people like that. When you come to a Georgetown game sometimes and the Georgetown student section is, like, 300 students deep, you're like, man, what am I playing for? Georgetown's not been here supporting us. I think the biggest thing is supporting these guys, whether you win or lose." Through 11 games, Georgetown's average of 6,076 per game ranks ninth of 11 Big East schools. "These guys are working hard, they're doing the best they can everyday, but sometimes it's like they still want to feel supported. I can't say that in my tenures here that I felt the group always felt they were supported unless they were winning. I felt a lot of support when we was winning championships, but it's easy to support the team that is winning championships." Check the entire conversation at the link below.
NCAA Convention: What's Next?
Georgetown University leadership played a major role in the revised NCAA constitution as approved at its convention last week. But what will it mean?"The new NCAA constitution makes a number of reforms as it shrinks the original document from 43 pages to 19," writes Inside Higher Ed. These changes come amid the fallout of the Alston opinion, a Supreme Court ruling that struck down NCAA restrictions on academic benefits for student athletes on antitrust grounds and paved the way for students to profit off their name, image and likeness. The Alston case, decided in the summer of 2021, prompted the NCAA to quickly reverse course on NIL. Now the new constitution reflects changes to NIL policy and a number of other updates.The constitutional committee was led by Georgetown president Jack DeGioia (C'79, G'95), and subsequent committees will continue to work for the next seven months, particularly on legislative change which allows the three NCAA divisions greater autonomy. Many question if the 357 member Division I is a candidate for reformation or outright contraction as a result, with as few as 65 major college football programs surviving in the top division. "My personal opinion is that Division I is too large," said Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 commissioner. "Making policy that serves everybody equally well is next to impossible." The Division I committee "are a microcosm within a microcosm as co-leaders of a group that has to find rules that will work for both the Power 5 schools with budgets approaching $200 million per year and the smaller Division I programs that operate on less than $20 million per year," said ESPN.com. Both inside and outside the NCAA, there are growing doubts that such a wide spectrum of schools should remain under one set of rules. The transformation committee's work in the months to come could provide an important test for whether these schools can find common ground, or if the richest of these athletic departments will split even further from the rest of the NCAA." Post Columnist: Georgetown "Irrelevant"?
Start a Big East season 0-5 and sooner or later, the columnists arrive to stir things up. First up: Candace Buckner of the Washington Post."The losses have not inspired much of an outcry among the Georgetown faithful," Buckner writes. "Instead, it's something we may have never seen before in these parts: an irrelevant Georgetown hoops program."
"The students still filled their special sections, and cheered wildly for the buckets and Jack the bulldog - the little guy has his own motorized Jeep. But many of them headed for the exits in the closing minutes, and there were no audible boos heard. Only a chorus of Let's Go Nova! raining down from the upper deck." She ended by commenting that Ewing's post-game press briefing "was a familiar posture of defeat and disappointment." Buckner is not a college basketball writer; instead, her bio lists her as a "sports columnist focusing on how sports shape and illuminate our understanding of culture and society." Whether the broadside is an editorial one-off, or the first in a series of critical pieces, remains to be seen. Villanova 85, Georgetown 74
Six three pointers from Colin Gillespie rallied the #11 Villanova Wildcats to an 85-74 win over an upset minded Georgetown squad Saturday at Capital One Arena. The loss is Georgetown's sixth straight, its fourth Big East loss by double digits, and its first 0-5 Big East start in school history.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
After a pair of games where the Hoyas started off poorly, this game featured a spirited opening by the blue and gray, much of it from an unlikely source: sophomore Collin Holloway. After a combined 2 for 14 shooting effort in his prior two games, Holloway had the touch from the start, scoring seven of the Hoyas first 11 points. Holloway didn't have enough early help, however.
A two point deficit quickly fell to nine, 21-12, as the Wildcats, frustrated from outside, began to move the ball inside, where Georgetown's Timothy Ighoefe lacked the mobility to cut off the weak side drives by Wildcat scorers. Defensively, Georgetown was doing its part, and needed a spark to tighten the game, which they found in Kaiden Rice's three midway in the half to close to 21-17. Early free throws were a big boost to the Hoyas, but it took a pair of threes from Dante Harris to rally the supportive crowd of 11,872, a season high to date for conference play, to close to 29-28. Villanova, shooting just 3 for 11 from three, caught a break on a Colin Gillespie three and led 34-30 with 4:30 to halftime, but Georgetown forced Villanova into a turnover, a shirt clock violation and 0-5 shooting to end the half, with the Hoyas scoring the final seven points and taking a 37-34 leading intermission. It was a promising sign for a team which has needed one--Georgetown was 5-0 in games it led at the half, most recently versus Howard on December 15. Georgetown's defense held Villanova to just two assists on its 13 field goals, a season low, and surpassed it with eight assists of its own. Another intangible that has eluded GU this season: a good second half start. The Hoyas answered the bell by holding Villanova scoreless in its first four shots of the half and quickly built a 47-39 lead behind baskets by Holloway and Donald Carey.The Wildcats abandoned the three point line and returned to the paint, with five layups in its next six possessions, 48-47, with 14:14 to play. Both teams were hot to the touch: at one point the teams were 11 of 12 from the field as the lead swayed back and forth midway in the second half. The Cats could not resist the lure of the outside line, however, and they found it in the hands of Gillespie. One three regained the lead at 58-56, and after Villanova forced a shot clock violation on GU's next possession, Gillespie reloaded for a second, 61-56. A solid game plan began to fritter. Georgetown's shooting touch was gone, and the Wildcats went to work. A pair of layups followed to match free throws picked up by the Hoyas, and a three from Caleb Daniels extended the lead to eight, 68-60, with 4:51 remaining. A three from Carey closed to seven at the 3:58 mark, but the inside drives by the Wildcats could not be contained. After a driving layup by Holloway closed to seven with 1:51 to play, Villanova called timeout. On its next possession, and with three seconds remaining on the shot clock, Gillespie drained the three, 77-67. The Hoyas made only three field goals over a nine minute period and the fans began their exit. "I believe that this was a game we had opportunities to win but we just did not play smart enough going down the stretch," said head coach Patrick Ewing after the game. The matchup of Dante Harris and Collin Gillespie was the story of the game. Gillespie finished with 28, tying his season high. Harris was held to seven points after halftime. "In the second half, I just thought we did a better job of guarding on the perimeter in those mismatches, especially against Harris," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "In the first half we got tough matchups on Harris and he was killing us. In the second half, I thought we did a really good job with those." Four Hoyas were in double figures, led by a career high 25 from Holloway, and 17 from Harris. The Georgetown defense, already last in the Big East, was especially porous inside, allowing 42 of Villanova's 69 points by field goal at dunk or layup range, a major factor in the Wildcats shooting 63 percent after halftime. Georgetown is back on the road Tuesday at #25 Connecticut, with the Huskies winners of three straight. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 36 2-5 3-7 4-4 6 2 5 17
Carey 38 3-8 1-6 2-2 2 7 2 11
Mohammed 35 4-7 0-2 5-5 5 2 1 13
Holloway 36 7-7 2-3 5-6 3 5 3 25
Ighoefe 20 0-3 0-0 0-0 5 1 2 0
Reserves:
Beard 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 2
Billingsley 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Rice 21 0-1 2-6 0-0 1 1 0 6
Wilson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
DNP: Azinge, Riley, Mutombo, Clark, Muresan
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 17-32 8-24 16-17 26 18 14 74
Richard P. Williams (1944-2022)
Off the sports pages, news of the passing of journalist and Georgetown alumnus Dick Williams (C'65), who died of congestive heart failure Thursday afternoon at the age of 77.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
Williams arrived to Georgetown in 1961, an English major from Kansas City with interests in both sports and journalism, which came together when he served as the basketball team manager and found himself with an unusual offer: to become the school's sports information director."I wrote profiles of all the incoming scholarship players for The HOYA," he said in a 2017 interview for the Georgetown Basketball History Project. "Jack Hagerty (athletic director) and the Rev. Robert L. Hoggson (faculty moderator of athletics) liked my work and sent me to see the legendary newspaperman, Jim Fitzgerald, who was university PR director. He liked me and hired me as Sports Information Director. They gave me an office [and I] shared a secretary with Coach O'Keefe. Most important, they awarded me a half athletic scholarship." There was no time for formal training. "I had spring break coming up at my home in Kansas. I called the Kansas SID and told him my situation and asked if I could visit and learn," he recalled. "He agreed and I spent the week driving to Lawrence and watching him handle the press hordes over Gale Sayers. He had a staff of four back then." For the next three years, Williams balanced academics with the responsibility of keeping the nation informed about the Hoyas, including the basketball team's upset of #1 ranked Loyola-Chicago, the school's remarkable success on the indoor track circuit, and the revival of intercollegiate football. Williams quietly helped leverage a considerable amount of local press coverage about football's return to Georgetown in 1964, to the consternation of Rev. Hoggson and many of the University's leaders who were wondering why the papers and TV stations were so interested in a club football team. Sports Information was also about maintaining good relations with the local press covering Georgetown basketball. "Each of the three beat reporters had his own bottle of preferred whiskey in my file cabinet," Williams recalled. "They drank it when they came to campus and I delivered them drinks in the [McDonough] press box as they wrote. Mr. Fitzgerald told me how to do that." "I'm a post-script [at Georgetown], but it sure was fun and led to a terrific career in radio, television and newspapers," he said. Following graduation from the College, Williams earned a master's degree in journalism at Columbia and went into TV news, first as a nighttime news anchor at WTNH-TV in Albany, NY. Following assignments that led him to WXIA-TV in Atlanta in the mid-1970's, he took a job as the executive city editor of the Atlanta Journal in 1979. In 1981 he became a columnist at what became known as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, writing there for 19 years and nine additional years at the Atlanta Business Journal. "He was an affable guy and also incredibly prolific," said Jeff Dickerson, a former Journal-Constitution writer. "He'd start a column at 10:02 a.m. and have it ready at 10:17 a.m. He was amazingly fast. At one point, he was writing three, four columns a week as well as a bunch of unsigned editorials." In 1996, Williams bought a weekly newspaper in suburban Atlanta, the Dunwoody Crier, serving as its editor and publisher for 23 years. "But if Dick's history as a newsman makes him relevant, it is what he has been doing every Friday morning for the last 30 years, that still to this very day, makes him one of the most influential journalists in Atlanta," wrote the Georgia Weekly Post. "Every Friday Dick Williams tapes the "The Georgia Gang" television news program, where he moderates the discussion of weekly Georgia news stories of interest. The show airs Sunday morning, whereby it is the main local Atlanta news program watched by those who still respect the commentary they have read and trusted for the last 30 years." The Friday taping allowed Williams numerous opportunities to visit the Hilltop on weekends, where he attended numerous basketball and football games over the years, including NCAA tournaments and four Final Fours. Williams appeared in the 2007 video on the 100th anniversary of Georgetown basketball, introducing the Hoyas' win over #1 Loyola-Chicago from 1963. He was also a board member of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, which presents the Naismith Awards to the nation's top men's and women's college basketball player annually. A 1996 recipient of the John Carroll Award, the University's highest alumni honor, Williams served for many years with the university's Alumni Admissions Program (AAP), supporting scholarship efforts for students nationwide. The annual AAP conference, which is being held virtually today, will remember him fondly. His knowledge of, and love for, Georgetown was without peer. Dick Williams is survived by his two daughters and one grandchild. His wife Rebecca passed away in 2020. (Some portions above were excerpted from articles at the Georgetown Basketball History Project and the John Carroll Awards web site.) Providence 83, Georgetown 75
For the last 36 minutes of Thursday's game, Georgetown was playing even with the #21-ranked Friars. The first four minutes was a hole the Hoyas could never quite dig out of in an 83-75 loss at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Georgetown's first possession of the game ended in a turnover 19 seconds into the first half, an omen for what would be six minutes of futility for a Hoya offense that needed a good start after three consecutive double digit defeats. The Hoyas' first 141 possessions of the game resulted in 10 missed shots and four turnovers, leading to an unexpected 13-0 deficit to a Providence team which had not played in 12 days due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Without success inside, the Hoyas fought back from outside. A three from Donald Carey, returning from an extended illness of his own, and two from the mercurial touch of Kaiden Rice cut the Providence lead to 18-9 midway in the half. As Carey and Rice found their touch, the Friars answered with a big first half from its bench. Providence coach Ed Cooley went to seniors Jared Bynum and Ed Croswell to support what appeared to be a tiring Friar offense. Bynum added nine points and eight assists in the game, but it was Croswell, the grad transfer from LaSalle, who turned in his best game of the season. Croswell, who scored six points in PC's win over St. John's, went 6 for 6 in the first half, and finished 7 for 7 in just 17 minutes of play. Croswell's inside play was in marked contrast to a major struggle for the Hoyas inside, where Timothy Ighoefe scored just two points in the first half and finished 1 for 6 in the game. That contrast forced the Hoyas to the outside game, where it met unexpected results early. Down 12 with 8:29 to halftime, Carey's three pointer led a 12-4 Georgetown run which closed the deficit to 29-25, and the Hoyas ended the first half on a 6-0 run to close to 37-34 with a Tyler Beard three at the buzzer. The Hoyas finished the first half shooting 13 for 33 (39 percent) but with seven three pointers to all but erase the early PC lead. Another slow start returned after the break, as GU shot 3 for 11 to open the second half. For its part, PC shot 7 of its first 11, extending its halftime lead to 15 at the 12:19 point, 57-42. As was the case in the first half, Carey led the charge as the Friars began to tire. Threes by Carey and Rice were the only field goals over a four minute stretch of the second half where each teams traded free throws, closing to eight at 60-52 at the 7:52 mark. Free throws from Aminu Mohammed and a fast break layup by Dante Harris closed the gap to 64-58 with 6:00 to play, where then Carey picked up a steal and Harris added two free throws, 64-60. A Providence turnover at the 4:28 mark could have been a game changer, but Carey was charged with an offensive foul and PC's Justin Minaya hit the Friars' first three since the 14:12 mark to go up 67-60. A basket by Harris and a three from Mohammed brought GU back to four, 69-65 with 2:58 left. The game turned for good on three consecutive possessions. On the Friars' next series, Jared Bynum found forward Noah Horchler alone at the top of the arc, with Horchler hitting a three, 72-65. On Georgetown's next series, Timothy Ighoefe missed a certain layup, and Bynum then set up Horchler for a second three, 75-65, with 2:38 left.
The Friars closed the door at the foul line, hitting their last eight of the game en route to a 20 for 22 effort for the afternoon. "Playing a game with short preparation I was not sure what to expect coming off a pause." said Providence coach Ed Cooley in post-game remarks, having tied Dave Gavitt (1969-1979) for second place in career coaching wins at PC. Four Friars finished in double figures, led by Croswell's 15. "I thought it was one of better offensive games," said Cooley. "Happy to get our fifth league win." No such fortune for the Hoyas, however, having dropped four consecutive Big East games for only the third time in school history and the first time since the 2003-04 season. Carey led all Georgetown scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds upon his return, followed by five threes and 19 points for Kaiden Rice, matching his output against St. John's on Sunday. Thirteen threes overall tied a season high for the Hoyas, but its poor shooting inside the arc (13 for 41, 31 percent) did it no favors against a PC team who was struggling late in this game to maintain momentum. "Things didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked for it to have gone but I thought my guys showed resilience in terms of fighting back," said head coach Patrick Ewing. "It could have easily gone either way." Georgetown returns to action within 48 hours, hosting #11 Villanova Saturday at Capital One Arena. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 30 3-8 0-2 2-2 2 4 4 8
Carey 35 2-4 5-9 2-2 7 1 4 21
Mohammed 35 3-7 1-1 3-4 6 1 3 12
Holloway 25 0-6 1-3 0-0 2 2 0 3
Ighoefe 28 1-6 0-0 0-0 7 0 4 2
Reserves:
Beard 14 1-4 1-1 0-0 2 2 1 5
Billingsley 4 1-3 0-0 1-1 1 0 0 3
Rice 21 1-2 5-7 2-2 1 0 2 19
Mutombo 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Wilson 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2
DNP: Azinge, Riley, Clark, Muresan
Team Rebounds 3
TOTALS 200 13-41 13-23 10-11 32 10 19 75
Questions & Answers An 0-3 start to the Big East has raised its share of questions for the Hoyas. The answers aren't entirely clear, however."They have yet to play a competitive game against a Big East opponent, and they haven't even played a real Big East contender yet this season," writes Aidan Curran at Hilltop Hoops. "COVID or no COVID, you should not be losing by double digits to the likes of St. John's or Butler. There are plenty of other teams, including ones in the Big East, that have to work through COVID absences too. None seem to be affected as much by it as Georgetown does. It's an excuse that is being leaned on too much by some, as we collectively try to come to grips with how this once-great basketball program has sunk to such lowly depths, so soon after a surprise Big East Tournament championship last season that is looking more and more like an anomaly with each passing Big East game this season.""With a lack of talent on the roster, and a coaching staff that is still struggling to get its team to play with any defensive or offensive cohesion, it is likely going to get worse before it gets better for Georgetown." St. John's 88, Georgetown 69 An improved effort from the Georgetown Hoyas was marred by 21 turnovers in an 88-69 loss to St. John's Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
The Hoyas welcomed back Dante Harris from COVID-19 protocols, but never led in this game. Georgetown tied the score three times early in the first half, but in each case the tie was broken with three pointers from the Redmen, utilizing good ball handling to get open shots and picking up seven assists in its first eight field goals on the afternoon.From a 15-15 deadlock seven minutes into the game, St. John's went on an 11-0 run, keyed by two GU turnovers and alert second chance scoring by the Redmen to go up 26-15 midway in the half. Such was the story of this game: Georgetown seemed ill at ease breaking thorough amidst the St. John's defense, as the Redmen forced turnovers that converted Georgetown mistakes into easy baskets. St. John's started the game 8 for 13 with four three pointers. From that hot start, the Redmen lost its touch down the stretch of the first half, shooting just 2 of its next 11, but still extended its lead at the foul line, part of a half where they shot 11 for 15 at the line. A series of late turnovers by the Hoyas extended its deficit to as many as 15 before threes from Kaiden Rice and Dante Harris closed the count to 43-32 at the break. St John's owned a 15-3 edge on points off turnovers and 18-8 in points in the paint, two trends that would grow in the second half to come. Georgetown opened with a stronger second half inside. With St. John's center Josh Dorian having picked up his third and fourth foul with 11 seconds of each other, Aminu Mohammed began to get good shots inside, but the Hoyas' passing remained a source of trouble. The turnovers in a four possession series built back the St. John's lead to 13, 51-38, which continued to grow due to poor ball handling and passing by the Hoyas. A 15-3 run pushed the lead to 20, 63-43, at the 12:56 mark. Georgetown's tepid three point game caught fire thereafter, with three three pointers keying an 11-2 run to close to 65-54 midway in the second. St. John's was struggling to maintain its momentum and Georgetown took advantage, with baskets by Aminu Mohammed and Kaiden Rice to close to 68-61 at the 8:52 mark. After two pairs of foul shots by St. John's, Collin Holloway sank GU's sixth three of the half to close to 72-64 with 7:53 to play, but it was its last of the game. As has been the case in other games this season, Georgetown's starters could not finish. As St. John's turned up the defensive pressure, the Hoyas, fell back into old habits, with five turnovers resulting in eight more points by the Redmen, drawing out the lead to 17 entering the final three minutes. The Hoyas managed just two field goals in the final 7:53 amidst nine second half turnovers. St. John's held a stunning 29-5 advantage in points off turnovers, a reflection of GU's 21 on the afternoon. The Hoyas allowed St. John's to shoot 55 percent from the field after halftime, many of which were layups and dunks following turnovers. Kaiden Rice led all Georgetown scorers with 19 points, but his total was a result of volume shooting, where he was 7-22 from the field and missed six of his eight attempts from close range. Aminu Mohammed and Dante Harris each had 13 in a game where Georgetown went predominately to its starters in the second half. A free throw from Malcolm Wilson with 22 seconds remaining was the only point scored by the GU bench after halftime. Georgetown ended the afternoon shooting 39 percent from the field, with 21 turnovers and 21 fouls on the afternoon. "We wanted the game to be up-tempo and try to make Georgetown use some conditioning," said St. John's coach Mike ANderson in post-game remarks. "We made some shots. 22 assists on 30 made field goals, that's sharing the basketball. It seemed like we were in attack mode, defensively and offensively...It was a good team win." The loss was Georgetown's third straight, and where it has lost all four games played away from Capital One Arena this season. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 32 2-5 3-6 0-0 1 4 3 13
Mohammed 38 5-6 0-1 3-4 12 2 3 13
Holloway 18 1-2 1-3 2-2 1 0 4 7
Rice 39 2-8 5-14 0-0 5 0 1 19
Ighoefe 26 3-7 0-0 0-4 8 0 3 6
Reserves:
Beard 24 1-3 0-2 1-1 2 1 3 3
Billingsley 11 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 3 0
Mutombo 8 1-2 0-0 5-5 2 0 0 7
Wilson 3 0-0 0-0 1-2 2 0 1 1
DNP: Carey, Azinge, Riley, Clark, Muresan
Team Rebounds 5
TOTALS 200 15-35 9-26 12-18 39 8 21 69
Butler 72, Georgetown 58 Down three guards and a head coach, the Georgetown Hoyas turned in another ragged effort in a 72-58 loss to Butler Thursday before just 4,117 at Capital One Arena.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Guards Donald Carey, Dante Harris, and Kobe Clark were held out of the game for what was described by a pre-game release as "illness". Their status for Sunday's game versus St. John's is undetermined, as is head coach Patrick Ewing, whose place in the huddle was held by assistant coach Louis Orr.Butler is not competing for the Big East title in 2021-22 and entered the game as an underdog to Georgetown, which may be the last opponent on the calendar to do do this season. Georgetown led early on a pair of three pointers in the first 1:03, 6-0, but it was the Bulldogs that caught fire from outside. Entering the game last in the Big East from three, averaging 26 percent, the Bulldogs sank two threes in the first five minutes to tie the game at 8-8, where four Georgetown turnovers and three consecutive Butler layups sent a message that the Bulldogs came to play. The first half ebbed and flowed, with neither team getting much in the way of scoring. Five consecutive points from freshman Tyler Beard gave Georgetown a 25-21 lead with 4:48 to play when the Bulldogs picked up the pace and the Hoyas were just not communicating as a team. Back to back threes by Jair Bolden and Bryce Nze sparked the Bulldogs to an 11-2 run to close the first half, which led with a pair of second chance layups to give Butler a 32-27 lead despite shooting just 35 percent from the field. The margin was gained from outside, however, hitting five to Georgetown's two at the start of the half, where GU ended the half missing its final five three point attempts of the period. The second half was entirely winnable given Butler's slower style of play, but the Hoyas showed up seven minutes late. Georgetown missed its first five shots of the half and seven of its first eight, while Butler methodically went 7 for 10 from the field with four three pointers to blow the game open and lead by 20, 53-33, at the 13:07 mark. Early foul trouble by the Bulldogs allowed Georgetown into the bonus for the final 13 minutes of the game, but Georgetown could not convert, going 10 for 17 from the line in the second half and 15 for 24 for the game, missing three front ends of one and one opportunities. By contrast, Butler was 14 of 15 on free throws after halftime, and never let the Hoyas back in contention from the line. It was vital in a game when the court shooting of both teams ground to a halt. The Butler express that opened the second half was stuck in neutral for most of the remainder of the game, with just four field goals in the final 13 minutes; amazingly, Georgetown could not cut into the lead, itself shooting just 30 percent from the field. The lead wore down by attrition--despite forcing six Butler turnovers in a five minute stretch midway through the second half, Georgetown did not score a single field goal for a four minute swing. Foul shots and a late run by sophomore Colin Holloway helped get the Hoyas within 10 entering the final two minutes, but time had all but run out. Two Georgetown starters endured season-low results. Aminu Mohammed, continuing a trend from last week's Marquette game, finished a woeful 2 for 16 for the game, hitting his first shot of the game, missing his next 13 attempts, and adding in a second basket with 6:34 to play, down 17. He did not score thereafter. It's a distressing pattern for the freshman, whose competition at this position is about to step up in a big way over the next two weeks. No less concerning was grad transfer Kaiden Rice, whose M.O. is apparently well known by Big East coaches. Rice his his first shot of the game but the Butler defenses locked down on him along the perimeter, missing his final eight attempts, seven from outside, the fifth consecutive game where Rice has fewer points than the game before. Mohammed and Rice finished a combined 3 for 25 (12%) for the game, but their counterparts on the Butler lineup enjoyed superb games by comparison. Small forward Jair Bolden led all scorers with five threes and 23 points, while power forward Bryce Nze finished with 14. Last week, head coach Patrick Ewing said that "everybody was on notice" entering the game, but the starters simply did not produce, combining for 12 field goals and 11 turnovers. Tyler Beard led Georgetown scorers with 15 points, followed by 11 from Collin Holloway in a game where the rest of the team excepting Mohammed and Rice shot 50 percent (17 for 34) but could not overcome the lack of performance from its two starters against a patient and persistent Butler inside game, with 24 points in the paint against a GU lineup that utilized three different seven footers along with Rice and Mohammed. "We struggled from the floor," Orr said in post-game comments. "Nobody tries to miss shots, but somebody's got to score the ball. Our offense hurt us." However bad this game was, and it was, the storm clouds are not far behind, as GU must play four of its next five on the road, with a home game against Villanova as its only home appearance through January 29. The mettle of this team will be tested as none before this season, and early signs are not encouraging. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Beard 39 3-7 1-4 6-7 4 5 4 15
Mohammed 35 2-15 0-1 3-7 6 2 3 7
Holloway 35 2-3 1-3 4-5 2 0 4 11
Rice 35 0-1 1-8 2-2 4 0 1 5
Ighoefe 16 2-5 0-0 0-1 9 0 3 4
Reserves:
Billingsley 18 4-6 0-0 0-2 6 0 0 8
Azinge 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Mutombo 17 4-5 0-0 0-0 6 2 1 8
Wilson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
DNP: Harris, Carey, Riley, Clark, Muresan
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 17-43 3-16 15-24 41 10 16 58
Ewing Out For Butler Game
In what has been reported as "D.C. Department of Health guidelines", head coach Patrick Ewing will not attend Thursday's game with Butler.
Ewing was previously hospitalized in May 2020 in the first wave of COVID-19 cases in the District of Columbia and made a full recovery. Social Media Rankings Georgetown's struggles in December were reflected in its recent social media activity, according to a national study.The media company Skull Sparks measures interactions (defined as like, share, or comments on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook) across athletics sites such as GUHoyas.com. Georgetown, which ranked #57 in its September 2021 survey based on basketball followers, was just 88th nationally in interactions for the month of December.Rankings for other Big East schools are below:
"Everybody Is On Notice" Head coach Patrick Ewing's calling out of his team in Friday's post-game press conference has raised the stakes entering this week's home game versus Butler.The comments follow a lethargic Georgetown effort in its 92-64 loss to Marquette, one which was exacerbated by extended downtime and COVID-19 related issues which postponed four games over a 19 day period. Ewing's comments appeared less about players getting back to playing form and more to those who have questioned their playing time in the current rotation: just eight scholarship players saw action in Friday's game."We can't say we were rusty because we've been off," Ewing said in post-game comments. "Other teams have been off. We've got to compete." "We did not compete," he said. "Guys are always about,'we want playing time.' Well, you got playing time. Now you've got to show that you deserve to be on the floor...So everybody is on notice. If they want to play, they're going to have to frigging play."
If Ewing is throwing down the gauntlet on this team, he does so with a team that is still young and inexperienced. Two pointers from Aminu Mohammed and three pointers from Kaiden Rice have kept the Hoyas in games this year, but Georgetown ranks 275th of 351 schools in points per game allowed, and last in the Big East. Upcoming opponents figure to take the lead from Marquette, whose defense wore out the Hoyas and picked up numerous dunks and layups as a result. It remains to be seen who Ewing might sit for lack of effort, but it's not a team with a deep bench to do so. Thursday's opponent is, for now, the only game remaining on the schedule which Georgetown is favored to win--it's an important matchup heading into four road games in its next five. A win over Butler may be just what Ewing ordered, but if the Bulldogs can escape Capital One Arena with a win, it puts the Hoyas on a dangerous road heading into the thick of the Big East schedule, and a second callout of his team might ring hollow by comparison. Marquette 92, Georgetown 64 A rusty Georgetown team was run off the court by the Marquette Warriors, 92-64, before 4,860 at Capital One Arena Friday.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Entering the game, fans rightly wondered if Georgetown would see the Marquette team that had stumbled in its first three Big East games, all losses, or the team that soared past a very good Providence team. The latter was evident from the start. Marquette was animated and aggressive on the boards. While it didn't pay off early, it set a tone for a game where the Hoyas would be on its heels all night.
The first ten minutes of the game played evenly between the teams. A pair of three pointers extended an early Marquette lead to seven, 22-15, before Georgetown answered with six straight, 22-21. Marquette went to work from point guard Tyler Kolek, who had nine points and seven assists in the first half, keying an inspired Marquette offense in a 15-3 run midway in the first half to extended its lead to 37-24, shooting 63 percent from the field. The Warriors build a 19 point first half lead before Kolek went to the bench for his second foul of the first half, whereupon the Hoyas rallied with an 11-0 run to lose the half down eight, 45-37, holding Marquette scoreless for the final 3:32 of the half. That Georgetown was even this close was the result of a loosely called first half which sent GU to the foul line 13 times for 11 points, compared to 1 for 2 for the Warriors. A gaudy 22-9 advantage on the boards was Marquette's calling card in the first half, as the Warriors shot 55 percent from the field with 18 assists on 19 field goals. Defensively, it held Georgetown to one three pointer in seven attempts in the final 17 minutes of the half, neutralizing Kaiden Rice and forcing numerous off-balance shooting from Aminu Mohammed, just 4 for 10 in the first half. Still, this evening was anyone's ball game for the first four minutes of the second half. Georgetown opened with baskets by Collin Holloway, Kaiden Rice, and Malcolm Wilson to close to 47-44 at the 17:14 mark, but the Hoyas simply ran out of gas and quickly lost their way defensively. The Warriors passed on the three pointer and went inside with uncomfortable ease, scoring on consecutive layups by Justin lewis, Tyler Kolek, and a three point play Darryl Morsell to go up ten, 54-44, made possible by a missed three from Harris, a missed layup by Mohammed, and a foul when Holloway was out of position inside. With the game still in contention, Georgetown missed its next four attempts, and following free throws from Holloway and a jumper from Harris to close to 55-48 a the 14:27 mark, Marquette left Georgetown standing in its wake. Inside, reserve Oso Ighodaro picked up an inside layup, 59-48. Off a turnover, reserve Kam Jones hit the first Marquette three of the second half, 60-48, and GU turned the ball over on the next possession, deposited by Olivier-Maxence Prosper, 62-48. The Warriors shot four for four in a run that included three layups and a three pointer to increase the lead to 70-48 with 11:21 to play, leading to an awkward series when head coach Patrick Ewing called time out. Coming back from the time out, Mohammed had no inbound option and called a second time out, Georgetown's last of the game. On the ensuing play, Harris lost the ball and Prosper went for the dunk, 72-48, a 17-0 run. Ewing was visibly late to go to the three quarter trap that had proven successful in rallies earlier in the season, but this was ineffective against Marquette. A three pointer from Holloway was Georgetown's last outside shot of the night, as an embarrassing run of layups and aerial dunks wowed the Marquette fans in attendance, stretching the lead to 31 entering the final two minutes of play. Georgetown managed just 11 points in a 10 minute stretch of the second half, while over the same period Marquette picked up 26. Georgetown looked ill-prepared for the onslaught, surrendering eight dunks and 20 layups to the Marquette offense, which had lost four straight before a win over Providence earlier this week. The Warriors finished with 24 assists and forced Georgetown to 20 percent second half shooting. Despite just 10 points from its leading scorer, Justin Lewis, the Warriors were ably supported by a career high from 22 from Prosper and 13 from Kolek, as 11 different players scored. In a statistic that Marquette coach Shaka Smart emphasizes, deflections, he wants his team to force 28 to 32 deflections per game to win. They collected 40 deflections in this game. "Our guys played with good energy, sharing the basketball defensively," Smart said in post-game comments. "We had a lot of good possessions, certainly had some that we can do better but thought getting our hands on a basketball was really really big." "Georgetown was being really aggressive on pick-and-roll coverage so we wanted to try to utilize that as a way to move the ball and then drive from there,", he added. There were no plaudits for Georgetown in this game. Aminu Mohammed had no answers inside and his spin moves were increasingly telegraphed to the MU defense. Dante Harris, who uncomfortably landed on his hand in the first half, was 1 of 9 after the break. Kaiden Rice finished the game 1 for 6 with more defensive questions than answers. Collin Holloway's 17 points were a lone bright spot on a team that had more free throws (9) than field goals (8) in the second half, with little or no defensive pressure against a team picked for ninth in the 11 team Big East. Missing Donald Carey, Timothy Ighoefe and Ryan Mutombo didn't help, but this wasn't lost by those who were missing, but by those that were on the court. "As a player who helped build this program, I am disappointed in my team's performance," said Ewing in a press conference that never made it to the first question before he walked out. "This is not what Georgetown basketball is about. Big John is rolling over in his grave for the performance that we showed tonight." "This is not what I'm about." Perhaps as a reflection of Ewing's displeasure, The late game recap on GUHoyas.com was one paragraph. A six day break originally in the schedule figures to be a long one for a team that was visibly off the mark in its conference opener. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Harris 35 3-12 0-4 9-10 0 2 1 15
Holloway 32 2-8 2-2 7-8 5 3 3 17
Mohammed 33 5-15 0-2 2-3 6 3 3 12
Rice 27 0-3 2-7 0-0 6 0 0 6
Wilson 20 3-3 0-0 0-1 3 0 1 6
Reserves:
Beard 19 0-0 0-2 0-0 6 2 0 0
Billingsley 23 2-8 0-1 2-2 4 0 1 6
Clark 10 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 1 2
DNP: Ighoefe, Carey, Azinge, Riley, Mutombo, Muresan
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 16-49 4-18 20-24 33 11 10 64
Post-Game: Ewing Calls Out Poor Performance
Game HighlightsWorst Home LossesGeorgetown's 28 point loss tied for the fourth worst home court loss in school history.
Georgetown Gets Mid-Year Transfer, Status Unclear Georgetown has signed a rare mid-year transfer in 6-6 guard Wayne Bristol, from Upper Marlboro, MD, per his social media account.Bristol, 21, played at Riverdale Baptist in 2017-18 but was lightly recruited, taking a prep year at St. Thomas More (CT) and choosing Howard over an offer at USC Upstate. Bristol was named MEAC Rookie of the Year in 2019-20, averaging 12.2 points per game on 41 percent shooting, with 50 three pointers in 33 games.A shoulder injury sidelined Bristol in the 2020-21 season (where Howard only played four games due to COVID-19) and he entered the transfer portal in October before the start of the 2021-22 season, leaving him five semesters eligibility. Bristol is not listed on the 2021-22 roster. In a media advisory Wednesday, head coach Patrick Ewing said he wasn't sure if Bristol would play this season, but did not elaborate if the issue was a traditional one year wait, an injury or academic ineligibility. |