TKO: Marquette 93, Georgetown 72 A 93-72 loss to Marquette Wednesday night was just another indication of a lost season for the Georgetown Hoyas.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Locked into the Wednesday Big East bracket, the Hoyas are now out of any reasonable NCAA prognostications and may need two more wins just to make the NIT. Omer Yurtseven and Mac McClung both sat out the game, and this one was written from the start. The Warriors scored the first seven points of the game and not even an early time out from Patrick Ewing could do much to change the momentum in this one. Marquette opened with four threes in the first seven minutes while Georgetown shot 2 for 10 with four turnovers to start the game. Marquette connected on four consecutive shots to take a 22-8 lead at the 12:27 mark, but both teams were ineffective in the next four minutes of play. Following a pair of free throws by Jagan Mosely to close to 26-14, the Warriors responded with a 12-4 run to go up 20, 38-18, but did little in the final four minutes of play, as the Hoyas answered with a 14-5 run to close out the first half trailing 43-32. Georgetown's 37 percent first half shooting was magnified by weakened perimeter defense, as the Warriors shredded the stat sheet with eight threes by halftime compared to just two for Georgetown. Trailing by as many as 15 early in the half, GU rebounded from a 2 for 7 start in the second period to close to ten, 51-41, on a pair of baskets by Jamorko Pickett. Thirty second later, Pickett took himself out of the game with leg cramps and while he later returned was not a consistent offensive force thereafter. Enter Markus Howard. The All-American guard scored just seven points in the first half but turned on the gas in Pickett's absence. He led the Warriors on a 17-3 run to put the game out of reach with 11:29 to play, 68-44, and scored 10 straight en route to a 30 point performance on the evening. Even without Howard, MU was largely unopposed from the field, shooting 65 percent in the second half with six more threes. The Warriors led by as many as 29, 90-61, before emptying the bench in the final three minutes. Despite shooting 41 percent for the game Georgetown was no match for Marquette in any facet of the game. The Hoyas attempted full court presses that were routinely broken up for Marquette dunks, and GU had no good answer to guard Howard anywhere on the court. Three Georgetown three pointers in the final 1:59 closed the gap but did not change the outcome that had all the feeling of being predestined at the start. Jagan Mosely led all Georgetown scorers with 19, followed by 18 from Jahvon Blair and 12 from Jamorko Pickett. The Hoyas were outrebounded 38-27 and gave up 32 points to Marquette fast breaks. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 31 4-8 0-0 0-0 2 4 4 8
Blair 37 3-9 4-9 0-0 4 4 0 18
Mosely 37 4-8 1-2 8-8 6 3 1 19
Pickett 33 3-10 1-3 3-5 5 0 1 12
Wahab 25 2-6 0-0 2-2 4 0 3 6
Reserves:
Ighoefe 15 2-2 0-0 0-1 2 0 2 4
Azinge 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Muresan 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Robinson 12 1-3 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 5
Team Rebounds 2
DNP: McClung, Wilson, Yurtseven
TOTALS 200 19-47 7-15 13-16 27 12 12 72
DePaul 74, Georgetown 68
The DePaul Blue Demons ended an eight game losing streak in a 74-68 win over Georgetown, further diminishing the Hoyas' fading post-season tournament hopes.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
It has been a rough stretch for the Blue Demons, who started the season 12-1 and were 1-12 in their last 13 games entering Saturday night at Wintrust Arena. Saturday's game didn't even get a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, who opted for an Associated Press account instead. In the end, the Blue Demons did what too many teams have done to date this season--namely, enjoying their best efforts of the season against the Georgetown Hoyas.Georgetown started sluggish in this game, prompting coach Patrick Ewing to call two early time outs to shake the cobwebs out of the team, with Jamorko Pickett scoring the only seven points for the Hoyas in the first seven minutes of play. Both teams shot poorly in spurts, and neither was proficient from outside, combining for one three pointer in 11 attempts midway in the first half. The Blue Demons missed nine straight attempts during a stretch where GU held a 26-24 lead, only to see reserve forward Romeo Weems hit three pointers on three consecutive possessions. Georgetown stayed close at the foul line, hitting 15 of 15 attempts to tie the score at 36 entering halftime. The Hoyas trailed early in the second half before the offense went to the three point line. GU was just 1 of 8 from three in the first half before catching fire after the break. Threes by Terrell Allen, Jagan Mosely and Jahvon Blair sparked the Hoyas to a nine point run in just over two minutes to pull ahead at the 14:44 mark, 46-45; unfortunately, it was the Hoyas' last threes of the game. For a DePaul team struggling from outside, its outside shooting came at more opportune times. Down 47-46, DePaul guard Charlie Moore hit a three to give DU the lead at the 11:16 mark, 49-47, and they never trailed thereafter. Georgetown tied the score at 55 with 6:37 to play on a Allen drive and a foul, but Moore hit his second three just 21 seconds later, 58-55. Off a Jahvon Blair miss from three at the 4:31 mark, Weems answered with a three, 64-57. A basket from Qudus Wahab narrowed the DePaul margin to five, 64-59, but on its next two possession Jamorko Pickett missed a jumper and Jahvon Blair was called for traveling. Three free throws from Terrell Allen closed the gap to three in the final minute of play, 72-69, before DePaul put the game away for good at the foul line. With Mac McClung sidelined in a protective boot, the Hoyas were shorthanded once again. Terrell Allen led all Georgetown scorers with 21. Jamorko Pickett had 15 in the first half but only four thereafter following a reported calf injury, while Omer Yurtseven fought off an ankle injury in the first half and shot just 1 for 7 on the evening. No less discouraging was a 1 for 10 outcome for Jahvon Blair, coming off a 22 point average over his last three games. The Hoyas finished the game shooting just 36 percent from the floor and gave up 20 fast break points to the Blue Demons, who won their second Big East game of the season shooting 45 percent from the floor with 36 of its 74 points in the paint. With the loss, Georgetown moved to 0-10 on the season when scoring fewer than 71 points. Additional links follow Thursday morning. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 37 6-10 1-4 6-6 8 3 3 21
Blair 38 0-3 1-7 1-2 3 1 5 4
Mosely 39 2-2 1-2 6-6 4 2 3 13
Pickett 28 6-12 1-5 4-4 7 1 0 19
Yurtseven 25 1-7 0-0 3-3 8 1 4 5
Reserves:
Ighoefe 9 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 0 0 2
Muresan 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0
Robinson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Wahab 14 2-5 0-0 0-2 4 1 3 4
Team Rebounds 3
DNP: McClung, Azinge, Wilson
TOTALS 200 17-39 4-18 22-25 39 9 22 68
Running On Empty: Providence 73, Georgetown 63"We just ran out of steam."--Patrick Ewing
If the Georgetown Hoyas are sitting home four Sundays from now, having missed five consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time in 46 years, chances are likely that tonight's loss to Providence was the clincher.A combination of fatigue, injuries, and bad luck may lead the national press corps to write off the 2019-20 Hoyas after its 73-63 loss to a struggling Providence club, the result of a bad home court loss to a team which has literally stepped ahead of them in the NCAA race.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Both teams shot poorly in this game but to Providence's fortune, the Friars got their bricklaying done early. Providence opened the game 0 for 8 overall and 1 for 14 from two point range as Georgetown took an early 11-3 lead, but PC made up the difference with three consecutive threes to close to 12-11 midway through the half. For its part, Georgetown was not shooting well, a harbinger of things to come, and its lead was no more than three throughout the first half until a pair of free throws from Mac McClung, his only points in limited action, put GU up five, 25-20, with 3:35 to halftime. The Hoyas scored the last five points of a ragged first half to carry a 34-30 lead into the break behind 14 from Jahvon Blair. Gerogetown shot just 9 for 22 in the first half and survived on the foul line, 13 for 15, which combatted seven first half threes for PC despite the Friars combining for just 3 of 18 from inside the three point arc. The second half opened up better for both clubs, with Georgetown enjoying its best shooting of the evening. The Hoyas made each of its first six attempts over and held a 47-43 lead at the 14:41 mark. Free throws extended the lead to 49-43 with 13;27 to play, but that was the beginning of the end. A visibly tired Georgetown team had nothing left, missing its next 13 attempts over the ensuing 13 minutes. The Friars methodically chipped away at the lead, pulling ahead to stay at the 11:00 mark, 52-51. The Hoyas did their part with free throws but combined to score just seven over a nine minute period and had nothing left. PC struggled to truly take control until the final two minutes when a Luwane Pipkins three extended the PC lead to 10, 68-58; by this point the Hoyas had not scored a bucket in 12 minutes. Georgetown's first field goal since the 14:41 mark came at the 1:17 mark. The Hoyas closed to within five in the final minute but gave up offensive rebounds to PC on consecutive free throw opportunities, the evidence of a team that was physically and mentally out of gas. McClung's two points off the bench in the first half were Georgetown's only points in the game from non-starters--McClung suffered an apparent injury in the second half and Ewing raised the possibility that he could be done for the season. "I hope not," Ewing said. "We'll do what the doctor says." Georgetown also got some late game distress from Jagan Mosely, who hurt his shoulder in the final minutes and was in visible pain towards the end, only leaving the floor when he picked up his fifth foul with 39 seconds to play. Providence coach and Georgetown parent Ed Cooley continued his mastery over the Hoyas, moving to 12-3 overall since 2013 and 6-1 at Capital One Arena, the best mark of any Big East coach not named Jay Wright. The Friars shot 60 percent after halftime and posted assists on 21 of 25 field goals for the evening. Georgetown managed just eight field goals in the entire second half, two of which were in the final 13 minutes. Providence earned the season sweep over Georgetown, a statement that may loom large if the NCAA committee is choosing between the two. It's the sixth loss of the season for Georgetown and no GU team has ever made the NCAA tournament with as many as six home defeats in a season. Georgetown is left with needing to win four of its final five just to reach .500 in conference play, a daunting task with three of those five against top 20 opponents and three of the next four on the road. It may not be over, but it's close. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 35 3-8 1-1 7-10 1 3 4 16
Blair 39 5-9 2-8 4-4 6 2 2 20
Mosely 40 1-3 0-1 4-5 4 2 5 6
Pickett 39 2-6 1-2 5-7 12 1 1 12
Wahab 21 2-2 0-0 3-4 2 0 3 7
Reserves:
McClung 8 0-3 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 2
Ighoefe 19 0-1 0-0 0-0 5 0 2 0
Muresan 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team Rebounds 2
DNP: Azinge, Robinson, Wilson, Yurtseven
TOTALS 200 13-32 4-12 25-32 33 8 18 63
Georgetown 73, Butler 66
A career high 22 points from Terrell Allen led the way as the undermanned Georgetown Hoyas upset #19 Butler 73-66 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
The Hoyas entered the game without both Mac McClung and Omer Yurtseven due to injury and while Yurtseven was a late scratch from the starting lineup, he would not see action in this one. As a result, Georgetown entered the game as a distinct underdog, needing to control tempo, improve its shooting, and avoid turnovers to contend, and did all three.Allen proved to be a key contributor early in the game. in this game, and still put together their best 40 minutes of the season, shooting 52 percent on the afternoon with 10 threes. Allen scored eight of the first 11 of the game to give the Hoyas a 8-2 lead, a lead they carried with them throughout the first half, The Hoyas made their first three attempts from outside the three point arc, taking a 17-9 lead at the 11:56 mark of the first half. With the Bulldogs struggling getting inside shooting, they moved outside as well. From a 1 for 7 start from thee point range, the Bulldogs went to work from outside. Consecutive threes by Jordan Tucker tied the score at 25 at the 5:00 mark, but Georgetown responded with a 6-0 run to lead 31-25. Tucker returned to the three point arc, with a three at the 2:17 mark and a three with under two seconds to halftime as the Bulldogs narrowed the gap to 32-31 at the break. Both teams opened the second half without much spark, combining to miss its first nine shots of the second half. Butler took the lead on Sean McDermott putback, 39-37, but the Hoyas answered with a 5-0 run, 44-39. A key to the Hoyas' good fortunes: the absence of turnovers. A turnover at the 10:35 mark was its first in nearly 23 minutes of game time. Outside shooting was especially impactful for the Hoyas in this game. Having given up a three off a Butler timeout midway through the second half, Georgetown answered with a Jahvon Blair three to tie the score at 50. After Butler regained the lead at 53-52, Allen sank a long three at the 6:42 mark to put the Hoyas back up two, 55-53. Foul trouble for Qudus Wahab brought in reserve center Tim Ighoefe in for his first significant run in conference play. With 5:48 to play, Ighoefe grabbed an offensive rebound and took it in for the basket, 57-55, and repeated the effort two possessions later to put the Hoyas up four, 61-57. A McDermott three cut the lead to 61-60 at the 3:44 mark when Allen stepped up again, with a drive to put the Hoyas back up three, 63-60. Neither team scored for the next four possessions, although Butler's Bryce Nze was tagged with an offensive goaltending call that could have brought the Bulldogs with one at the 1:57 mark. On the next series, Allen hit a fallaway three from the corner to put the Hoyas up six, 66-60, with 1:24 to play and the Bulldogs never got closer again. One statistic told the story of this game: the Hoyas finished the game with a flourish. Of Georgetown's 14 possessions in the final 10 minutes, 11 of the possessions resulted in points. Three Georgetown players played the full 40 minutes (Allen, Blair, Mosely), combining for 46 of the Hoyas' 73 points. Their consistency has been a major factor in the Hoyas' renewed momentum, but it's a team effort, and coach Patrick Ewing saw it across the board Saturday. It came from Jamorko Pickett, still struggling from the field but stepping up for nine of his 12 points from three point range. It came from freshman Qudus Wahab, with 11 points and seven rebounds in his first collegiate start, holding Butler's Bryce Jordan to just six points on the afternoon. And it came up big for freshman Tim Ighoefe, with a pair of offensive rebounds that were converted to baskets when it counted. Everyone contributed. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 40 5-10 4-4 0-0 2 3 2 22
Blair 40 1-4 3-6 5-6 4 2 0 16
Mosely 40 2-3 0-1 4-4 3 5 3 8
Pickett 37 1-6 3-4 1-2 6 2 1 12
Wahab 28 4-6 0-0 3-6 7 1 4 11
Reserves:
Ighoefe 12 2-4 0-0 0-0 5 0 3 4
Muresan 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Team Rebounds 1
DNP: McClung, Azinge, Robinson, Wilson, Yurtseven
TOTALS 200 15-33 10-15 13-18 28 13 14 73
Georgetown 76, DePaul 72
Jahvon Blair scored a career high 30 points in a 76-72 win over DePaul Saturday at Capital One Arena, but it will be best remembered for an unlikely hero at game's end.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
As a junior, George Muresan played just two minutes all season,a reflection of a three year run as a walk-on that netted just three points. But in a season where "next man up" is more appropriate than ever, Muresan came off the bench with rebound and two free throws on the closing moments to seal a much needed win over a challenging but flawed DePaul team which has dropped 10 of its last 11.Georgetown started this game in familiar style: from behind. The Blue Demons scored on five of its first six possessions and carried a 10 point lead six minutes into the first half. The announced crowd of 10,308 struggled through a miserable first half shooting run from junior Jamorko Pickett, who missed eight of eight attempts in the first half, befitting a Gerogetown team that struggled to gain any momentum throughout the first half. DePaul led by as many as 11 in the opening half, with the Hoyas' only offensive weapons came from inside (Omer Yurtseven) and outside (Jahvon Blair). Blair and Yurtseven accounted for all 12 of Georgetown's points in an eight minutes stretch of the half where neither team could establish momentum.Kansas transfer Charlie Moore was a bright spot early for the Demons, but missed his last six shots of the half. DePaul got nine points from forward Jalen Coleman-Lands, who maneuvered past Pickett for a jumper at the 1:00 mark to put DePaul back up 11, 38-27, before baskets by Yurtseven and Blair closed the gap to six at the break, 38-32. Georgetown continued to be bedeviled from outside, shooting a mere 2 for 11 from outside. But it was not the three point stripe but the foul stripe that would prove the difference after halftime. Baskets by Blair and Yurtseven got the Hoyas within four early in the second half, 38-34, where it stayed until Moore keyed a 7-2 DePaul run to to up nine, 55-46 at the 13:32 mark. Blair and Yurtseven had 13 of Georgetown's 18 points midway in the half when Yurtseven fell to the floor at the 11:04 mark with what was later reported as a severely sprained ankle. Helped off the floor, he did not return and reduced the already thin Georgetown lineup to just five, with Qudus Wahab elevated into the pivot. Among the many stories of this trying season, the growth of Wahab as a college player has been steady and impressive. Wahab had four rebounds and four blocks in the second half and established a more consistent interior presence for the Hoyas, who began to shut down the DePaul drives and poke holes in the Demons' defense. DePaul missed three layups in a two minute stretch and the Hoyas answered the bell, with a Blair three and free throws by Terrell Allen to close to two, 57-55 at the 8:44 mark. Following a DePaul turnover, GU went inside to Wahab for the basket and the tie, 57-57. The Hoyas' first lead of the game came 30 seconds later on a pair of Blair free throws, 59-57. Jamorko Pickett's hard luck continued in the second half. Over a three minute stretch, Pickett had three turnovers and a missed three as Georgetown could not build a lead, but the Demons were no better, failing to do much offensively and picking up points at the line to stay within two, 66-64. Pickett's best moment of the gamer with a three pointer at the 3:56 mark with a three to put Georgetown up five, 66-61, but neither side had much of a punch down the stretch. In any other scenario, Pickett would have been benched, but Ewing had no choice to play him. When Pickett picked up his fifth foul with a hop check at the 1:49 mark, Ewing had no choice but to being in Muresan, who had not seen any action in the game to date. After DePaul's Charlie Moore made one of two free throws, 68-65, he picked off Jagan Mosely but missed a jumper at the 1:10 mark which Muresan picked up as a valuable defensive rebound in the game. The teams trade free throws before Blair drove inside for his 30th point and a 72-67 lead with 0:24 to play, but was called for a foul and sent DePaul's Jalen Butz to the line to close to three, 70-67. Free throws from Terrell Allen put the Hoyas up five with 0:16 left, but a foul on Muresan put the Demons on the line where they split their free throws for the third time in a little over three minutes. Off the free throw, DePaul picked up an offensive rebound and putback to close to two with three seconds left, and called time out. An inbound pass to Muresan nearly resulted in a turnover as Muresan was standing dangerously close to the end line; instead, he was sent to the line to close out the game.
The loss was endemic of a DePaul team to whom the wheels fell off yet again. From a 12-1 start, the Demons have dropped 10 of 11, most of which were late in games. Absent any significant coaching moves from beleaguered DePaul coach Dave Leitao, the Demons missed seven of its final nine attempts in the game and missed four of ten free throws in that same period, allowing 26 points to the Hoyas in the final 10 minutes when they surrendered just 32 in the entire first half. "We needed the win," said Patrick Ewing, an understated remark if there was ever one. Were this any other team but DePaul, Georgetown would have likely been overtaken down the stretch, but they'll take the win nonetheless. Blair's 30 was a career high and was the reason for the win; Ewing also took note of six blocks in 23 minutes from Wahab. And with injuries to Mac McClung and Yurtseven still with no conclusion, the magnificent seven of December may be down to a furious five next Saturday versus Butler, with George Muresan as the lone man off the bench, although Wahab's foul trouble may inevitably release freshman Tim Ighoefe into the lineup as well if Yurtseven's injury is deemed more severe. Gerogetown's path out of the bottom four of the Big East is a narrowing one, and three road games in four over the next three weeks will prove decisive. Georgetown gets the week off en route to a nationally televised game on Fox next weekend at Butler. The Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 38 2-5 0-1 8-8 2 9 2 12
Blair 40 7-8 4-10 4-5 4 2 1 30
Mosely 37 1-1 0-1 0-0 4 4 2 2
Pickett 33 0-5 2-7 2-2 4 0 5 8
Yurtseven 27 8-14 0-1 0-0 8 1 2 16
Reserves:
Muresan 2 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 2
Wahab 23 2-5 0-0 2-2 8 0 3 6
Team Rebounds 3
DNP: McClung, Azinge, Ighoefe, Robinson, Wilson
TOTALS 200 20-38 6-20 18-19 34 16 16 76
Game HighlightsSeton Hall 78, Georgetown 71The #12-ranked Seton Hall Pirates got all they could handle from an undermanned Georgetown Hoyas squad, prevailing late in a 78-71 win at Capital One Arena.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
Georgetown was nearly run out of the building to open the game, as the Pirates went 4 for 4 from three point range to lead 16-0, while the Hoyas dutifully missed its first seven shots. That the Hoyas crawled back in this one was due a lack of offensive discipline by the Pirates, who were throwing up shots from anywhere and everywhere on the court. Georgetown's free throws, not good shooting, kept them in the game, but its defense, especially against senior Myles Powell, was visibly lacking.Powell, who scored 27 in the first half against Georgetown in last year's Big East tournament, was largely untouched in the first half. Powell had 18 of the Pirates' first 32 points and missed at least two other shots that rolled around and out of thee rim. Finishing with 21 at the break, he accounted for half the Pirates' points by halftime. From a 5 for 24 shooting drought to open the game, Georgetown's best run of the first half came from graduate transfer Terrell Allen, who scored 11 straight points as the Hoyas closed to 36-30 before Powell then drove for a basket and foul and the Hall closed the first half up ten, 42-32. Georgetown was a distant 2 for 11 from three point range and were it not for a 10 for 12 mark at the foul line, its 30 percent shooting would have been a fatal first half blow. Foul trouble for the Hall tightened this game early in the second half. Guard Quincy McKnight picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of the half, and GU opened on an 8-21 run to close to 43-40 at the 17:51 mark. It was one of four runs the Hoyas would make in the second half, all of which were answered by the Hall. Myles Powell hit a three pointer and a driving basket in SHU's next two possessions to put the score back to eight, 48-40. The Pirates never led by more than nine in the final 13 minutes, yet never gave up the lead. Consecutive baskets by Omer Yurtseven and a drive from Qudus Wahab brought GU within four, 56-52, but Powell scored the next five, 61-54, midway through the half. A basket by Yurtseven and a foul shot from Mosely closed to 61-57, but McKnight answered with a three, 64-57, at the 7:18 mark. Consecutive baskets by Yurtseven brought GU back to five at the 5:49 mark, 67-62, but in a game where the Hoyas shot just 4 for 21 from three point range, temptation bit them late. Three times the Hoyas went outside, but connecting only once, via a Jahvon Blair three to close back to four, 69-65, with 4:15 to play. Each team traded a missed three and a turnover before Powell took a drive inside, 71-65 with 2:16 to play. On the next possession, the game turned for the worse when forward Jared Rhoden intercepted a pass to Jagan Mosely and drove for the basket, 73-65, with 1:54 to play. Mosely's shot was blocked by Rhoden 20 seconds later and the Hoyas never got within six the rest of the way. "Even though we lost, I'm very proud of them," said head coach Patrick Ewing in post game remarks. "We got down big but we fought, came back, cut it to four at one point but they were able to make some shots and build the lead back up." Powell led the Pirates with 34 but the hero of the Hall was Quincy McKnight, scoring eight points and 10 assists in just 15 minutes of play, with two timely three pointers in the second half. Yurtseven led all Georgetown scorers with 19 points, 17 after halftime. The bench went no further than Wahab, who played 13 minutes and scored five points. A 21 of 24 run at the line saved the Hoyas from certain disaster, finishing just 33 percent from the field and the aforementioned 4-21 from three. And despite a up tempo effort for much of the game, GU finished with just two fastbreak points all evening. More links Thursday morning. The Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 39 3-14 1-3 2-2 0 4 1 11
Blair 40 3-7 1-9 9-9 4 1 1 18
Mosely 39 1-4 1-3 4-5 3 6 3 9
Pickett 35 2-7 1-4 2-3 10 1 4 9
Yurtseven 34 6-12 0-2 3-3 15 1 3 19
Reserves:
Wahab 13 2-3 0-0 1-2 2 0 4 5
Team Rebounds 7
DNP: McClung, Azinge, Ighoefe, Muresan, Robinson, Wilson
TOTALS 200 17-47 4-21 21-24 41 13 16 71
Recount For Seton Hall AttendanceVeteran Big East writer Jerry Carino took the Georgetown fan base to task over Wednesday's initial attendance of just 4,344 to see the Hoyas battle Seton Hall. Instead, the attendance figure was revised on the Georgetown web site to 7,032 Thursday morning."It's a sad state of affairs when Georgetown draws fewer than 5,000 fans for a matchup with a 12th-ranked team and longtime rival," he wrote at NJ.com. "But Pirate fans filled the vacuum at Capital One Arena; a few hundred of them took up half of two lower-level sections. They raised a loud "Let's Go Pirates" chant in the first half, as the Hall was racing out to a big lead. It was a sign of the times for both programs."The difference may be due to a user error, or could be a reflection of measurement between paid attendance versus actual attendance. Even though the Seton Hall box score still reads 4,334 as of Thursday afternoon, the 7,032 is now the official word.
Georgetown 73, St. John's 72
The St. John's Redmen lost a 17 point second half lead as Georgetown's defense forced 12 second half turnovers, including the final one with three seconds remaining in a 73-72 win before just 8,100 at Madison Square Garden.
POST-GAME COVERAGE
This was a story of two completely different halves: a first half which Georgetown played poorly right to the finish, and a second half where St. John's largely reciprocated in kind. Georgetown was without sophomore guard Mac McClung, who suffered a foot injury before Sunday's game, of undetermined severity. The Hoyas played with the same hangover they had nursed in the second half of the Xavier game, missing its first eight shots of the game and falling behind 7-2-- a score that could have been more dangerous had the Hoyas not been playing the Redmen, the worst shooting team in the conference, starting their own stat sheet missing five of seven attempts. Starting in place of McClung was junior Jahvon Blair, who hit three early three pointers to give Georgetown a 20-17 lead midway through the first half, but ot was a lead the Hoyas would not regain for the next 29 minutes of play. The Redmen turned on the shooting in the second part of the first half, connecting on 11 of 15 attempts en route to a 19-4 run and a 36-24 lead at the 2:49 mark of the half. Gerogetown shot just 29 percent and outside of Blair's threes, was just 2 of 14 from beyond the arc. This was not a fun half to watch. Georgetown closed to eight late in the first half but split free throws on consecutive trips to the line and gave up a driving basket at the buzzer from St. John's Rasheem Dunn, 39-28, during a half where the Redmen shot 43 percent without giving up a single turnover. Things were not much better to open the second. Absent a brief exchange where Jamorko Pickett was cited with a technical foul for coming over to argue with a St. John's player, the Hoyas were still in a slumbered, opening the second half 1 for 5 and seeing the St. John's lead balloon to 50-33 at the 16:08 mark. Georgetown began to show signs of life with the player who had kick-started its offense earlier: Jahvon Blair. A Blair three at the 15:48 mark seemed to spark some hope for the Hoyas, and a better interior defense was paying dividends as the redmen started to struggle inside. Free throws from Terrell Allen brought the Hoyas within 10, 55-45, but te Hoyas could not make a further dent in the deficit for another six minutes, where the Hoyas connected on four straight possessions to close to 62-58 at the 8:11 mark. For much of the game, the Hoyas' interior offense was contained at best and nonexistent at worst. Omer Yurtseven was 1 for 6 by halftime and struggled on shots all over the paint. But as the final moments drew near, Yurtseven rediscovered his touch, and the smaller St. John's lineup had little to offer in response. Following a Blair three pointer to close 64-62 at the 7:12 mark, a Yurtseven drive and dunk tied the score with 6:32 left. After a basket and free throws put St. John's up four, 68-64, Mosely answered the call with a three, 68-67, and a jumper with 2:22 to play to close the margin to 70-69. St. John's was struggling across the board, picking up 10 turnovers and shooting one of its last seven entering the final three minutes of play. The redmen appeared to put an exclamation point on the game when L.J Figueroa hit a bank shot as time was expiring on the shot clock, 72-69, with 1:47 remaining, following which Pickett missed a three pointer that gave the clock back to the Redmen. St. John's opted for a slowdown strategy that backfired. Heron missed a three the Redmen did not need at the 0:58 mark, and Georgetown drove inside to Yurtseven to close to 72-71 eight seconds later. On its next series, St. John's ran down the clock again, but could not get a shot off and turned the ball back to Georgetown with 19 seconds remaining. back came the Hoyas, and back came Yurtseven, as Mosely fed the center inside for the lead, 73-72 with 0:10 to play.
With a final chance to put the game away, Dunn bounced the ball off his shoe and surrendered the 12th turnover of the game, as Mosely retrieved the ball and ran out the clock. "To me, this is a great win," said patrick Ewing in post-game remarks. "Undermanned, we were down 12 at one point and my team didn't give up. They kept fighting, they kept making plays. Look, to me this is a season-defining win." The Georgetown starting five accounted for all 44 points in the second half and all but one point overall. Georgetown shot 57 percent after the break, with 13 of 16 field goals by assist and Yurtseven going 5 for 5 after halftime. Blair led all scorers with 23 points. "What I told them in the locker room is that we have to continue to build on this," Ewing said. "We can't take a step forward in getting a great win like this and then go backwards." Gerogetown returns home Wednesday to meet a Seton Hall team that was defeated for the first time in Big East play Saturday, but which remains on top of the Big East standings. The Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Allen 35 4-6 0-2 2-2 3 5 4 10
Blair 40 4-8 5-11 0-1 3 5 0 23
Mosely 40 3-6 2-6 4-5 7 5 2 16
Pickett 37 1-4 1-7 5-5 8 1 4 10
Yurtseven 35 6-11 0-0 1-3 15 4 1 13
Reserves:
Muresan 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Robinson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Wahab 7 0-2 0-0 1-2 5 0 1 1
Team Rebounds 2
DNP: McClung, Azinge, Ighoefe, Wilson
TOTALS 200 18-37 8-26 13-18 43 20 13 73
James T. Reilly (1922-2020)
James (Miggs) Reilly, the last surviving member of Georgetown's 1942-43 NCAA Final Four team, died Thursday at the age of 97, as reported from a Twitter message at the GU Athletics site.The smallest player on his team at 5-6, "Miggs" was a solid shooter and relentless defender for the 1942-43 Georgetown team that advanced to the NCAA national finals.Reilly played in 23 games that season, with a season high 14 in Georgetown's season finale, a win over NIT runner-up Toledo. Following wartime service, Reilly returned to Georgetown and played on the 1946-47 team, also as a reserve guard. A coach of the Georgetown freshman team while in law school, Reilly was an unsuccessful candidate for the Georgetown coaching position in 1952 that was offered to Buddy Jeannette; in lieu of the Georgetown job, Reilly became head coach at Catholic University from 1953 to 1958 before becoming a full-time attorney. |