- Notre Dame 69, Georgetown 55
- Deja Vu
- Georgetown 86, Memphis 69
- Henry Sims: A Remarkable Turnaround
- Georgetown 99, Loyola 75
- Georgetown 89, Appalachian St. 60
- Temple 68, Georgetown 65
- Georgetown 68, Utah State 51
- The "Phone Booth" Turns 13
- Iverson Store On eBay
| Notre Dame 69, Georgetown 55 | 12/29/10 |
"I thought we imposed our will."--Notre Dame coach Mike Brey
When Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Jason Clark are on their game, Georgetown is very hard to beat. When they're not, well, expect trouble, which is exactly what happened to the #9 Hoyas in a 69-55 loss at #15-ranked Notre Dame Wednesday. Despite actually out shooting ND for the game (42.6% to 38.5%), a dismal 4-22 from three point range sank the Hoyas' hopes early in this one.
The first eight minutes of the game was a far cry from the up and down, fluid style of play seen in many non-conference games--instead, Notre Dame closed the passing lanes and the game had the feel of a grinding Big East game of years past. And, as with games of years past, fouls were an frequent outcome. A sign of trouble to come was seen early, as Julian Vaughn picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the first half and played only four minutes by halftime. Georgetown led for only 24 seconds in the game at 5-4, but after eight minutes, one would be hard pressed to be too concerned about the Hoyas' outside game, as Georgetown had three three-pointers to tie the score at 11.
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From a 13-13 score with 12:07 in the half, Notre Dame scored eight straight, six of these from the free throw line, to open an eight point lead. In fact, Notre Dame's lead came almost in spite of its own poor shooting, but a busy whistle from officials Pat Driscoll, Mike Roberts and Karl Hess got the Irish to the line early and often. ND did not hit a field goal for over six minutes in the half, but still led by four thanks to a run of similarly poor shooting from Georgetown. From the 10:19 mark to the 4:18 mark, GU managed just two field goals, missing 10 shots from the field and four straight from outside the three point arc, the beginnings of a miserable 12 straight missed three point attempt for the game and 15 of its final 16. A pair of free throws by Vee Sanford closed the lead to 25-21 before Tim Abromaitis hit his third three of the half, pushing the lead back to seven at 28-21 and the Irish took an eight point lead into halftime, 34-26. At the break, the Hoyas were 10-28 from the field, 3-13 from three (0 for its last 6) and only 3-7 from the line, while the Irish picked up 11 points from the line. Wright, Clark, and Freeman combined to go 4-15 from the field, leading ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla to comment more than once that Georgetown was in good shape, given that these three couldn't do any worse in the game. Georgetown closed to four early in the second half, 34-30, before the three point shooting bug bit them again. Over its next seven possessions, GU missed four three point attempts, with just two inside possessions and one layup to show for its efforts. Across the court, ND picked up two threes, two layups, and consecutive layups from guard Scott Martin to rally the crowd and push the lead to 48-32 with 11:52 to play, a 14-2 run. |
80% GU 2-pt. shooting, second half 11% GU 3-pt. shooting, second half 12 Consecutive 3-pt shots missed, GU +17 Free throw advantage, Notre Dame 2 Fast break points, both teams combined 4 Consecutive games over 20 pts. for ND's Tim Abromaitis 1-5 GU record at Notre Dame since 2002-03 season |
Emblematic of Chris Wright's struggles was a layup at the 11:00 mark, his first and only basket of the game.
"I had no indication that I was going to be off today," said Wright. "It was one of those days. I had a few open looks that I thought would go in, but the shot didn't come off right and the ball didn't go in the basket."
Austin Freeman's best efforts were in the second half, shooting 8-11 in the half for 16 of his game high 21 points, but he was the only scorer that came up big in the second half. A pair of Freeman drives closed the lead to 48-41 with 8:14 to play, but as the Hoyas went back outside and kicked up misses, ND sank consecutive threes to push the lead back to 13 and the Hoyas never challenged afterward. The Irish only managed four threes in the half but the pair by Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough could not have come at a better time, as the Hoyas were left with Freeman's drives and a lot of fouling, sending a ND team (which was not in the bonus until the final 1:50 of the game) 12 times to the line to finish the game, and the Irish connected on ten of them.
"We set the tone and we focused early," Hansbrough said. "We really want to impose our will on people. I think we increased our focus and that our will to win won us the game tonight."
"We had some mistakes in this game that we haven't had and we aren't going to have in the future," coach John Thompson said in post-game remarks. "To say we're out of sync probably would be accurate, and we have to take care of that. This is not the time to be out of sync."
"This is only one game," said senior Julian Vaughn. "We play again on Saturday, so we can't dwell on it."
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 34 1-4 0-5 1-3 1 6 4 3
Clark 35 1-1 2-8 0-0 5 2 1 8
Freeman 36 8-12 2-4 2-4 3 3 3 21
Thompson 19 2-2 0-2 0-0 6 0 2 4
Vaughn 17 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 4 4
Reserves:
Starks 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sanford 12 2-3 0-1 2-2 4 0 2 6
Sims 23 2-4 0-1 0-0 7 2 4 4
Benimon 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 0
Lubick 13 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 1 2 5
DNP: Dougherty, Bowen, Caprio, Ayegba
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 19-32 4-22 5-9 33 16 24 55
Post game coverage follows below.
| Deja Vu | 12/29/10 |
If readers asking when has Georgetown turned in a game like this, well, look no further than two years ago: a Jan. 6, 2009 game versus Notre Dame at the Joyce Center:
| 2009: The teams played relatively even for the first ten minutes of the first half, with foul trouble the early story. Georgetown's Dajuan Summers picked up two fouls by the 15:02 mark. | 2011: The teams played relatively even for the first nine minutes of the first half, with foul trouble the early story. Georgetown's Julian Vaughn picked up two fouls by the 18:05 mark. |
| 2009: Luke Harangody (19 first half points) keyed an 13-3 Notre Dame run to end the half with a 38-29 lead. | 2011: Tim Abromaitis (11 first half points) keyed an 11-3 Notre Dame run to end the half with a 34-26 lead. |
| 2009: ND sank 13 straight free throws in the game and finished 15-16 from the line. | 2011: ND sank 15 straight free throws in the game and finished 22-27 from the line. |
| 2009: Georgetown shot 4 for 18 from three point range. | 2011: Georgetown shot 4 for 22 from three point range. |
| 2009: Wright, Clark, and Freeman combined to go 1-9 from three point range. | 2011: Wright, Clark, and Freeman combined to go 4-17 from three point range. |
| 2009: Luke Harangody was 9-9 from the line to put the game away. | 2011: Ben Hansbrough was 10-10 from the line to put the game away. |
| 2009: Notre Dame had only five points from its bench in the win. | 2011: Notre Dame had only two points from its bench in the win. |
| Georgetown 86, Memphis 69 | Updated 12/24/10 |
"If there are indeed eight teams in the country better than Georgetown, be glad none of them are on the remainder of the U of M schedule."--Memphis Flyer
Austin Freeman scored 24 points as a veteran Georgetown lineup dominated the paint and defeated #16 Memphis 86-69 Thursday night at FedEx Forum, the most points ever given up at the arena and the largest margin of defeat at home since the 2001-02 season.
Despite falling behind 6-0, the Tigers made a game of it early in the half, successfully leveraging baseline drives and strong offensive rebounding to lead 22-18 midway in the first half. A 8-0 Georgetown run, behind the play of seniors Chris Wright and Austin Freeman pushed the Hoyas back in front, 26-22, and Georgetown never lost the lead thereafter.
Defense began to pick up as well. During a key sequence with 8:35 to play in the half, the Tigers forced three offensive rebounds and failed to score, and the Hoyas answered with an inside drive to go up 26-22. The Tigers closed to two with 1:36 in the half, 36-34, but an inside give from Jerrelle Benimon to Chris Wright pushed the lead to four and it ended at four at intermission, 40-36. Wright and Freeman combined for 22 points and the Hoyas shot 52% from the field and collected assists on 11 of 16 first half possessions.
Georgetown opened the second half strong and made a pair of defensive adjustments that would prove pivotal.
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Offensively, GU outscored Memphis 10-4 to open the half, led by a pair of consecutive back door plays from Freeman to Wright extending the lead to 11, 54-43, with 16:00 to play. The lead grew to 13 midway in the half, 60-47, in large part to defensive adjustments that closed the middle and allowed Julian Vaughn to be extremely productive on both sides of the court. Nevertheless, defense was the order of the day, as both teams failed to score a basket for a four minute period midway in the second half, with a Joe Jackson basket at the 8:32 mark closing the gap to nine and rallying the FedEx Forum crowd. Down the stretch, the Hoyas pulled away in impressive fashion, driving inside time and again while forcing the Tigers into poor shot selection and no rebounding presence. Memphis did not score in a 3:19 stretch of the second half that began with a Freeman three to give the Hoyas a 70-58 lead with 5:53 to play, and which was followed by inside baskets by Julian Vaughn, Jerrelle Benimon, Austin Freeman, and Hollis Thompson. A Tarik Black jumper was only the second field goal for Memphis since Barton's dunk, but the Tigers were now down 17 with 2:35 left and never challenged thereafter. |
63% GU shooting, second half 39% Memphis shooting second half 1-12 FG shooting, Memphis guards 71 Points, GU starters 17 Offensive rebounds, Memphis +16 GU advantage, points in the paint |
Georgetown's second half was punctuated by defensive adjustments across the board. 6-6 swingman Will Barton scored 14 by halftime, but his fateful dunk was the only field goal he scored in the second. The Hoyas also held Charles Carmouche, a junior transfer averaging 9.3 per game, without a point for the first time in 45 games dating back to his play at the University of New Orleans. The Tiger guards settled for quick shots that gave the Hoyas a better defensive advantage and, in many cases, the opportunity for a run-out thereafter.
"It wasn't a huge tactical change," said coach John Thompson III in post-game remarks. "You just come into halftime and challenge them...to do what we do better than what they do. I think our guys did a good job of doing that in the second half."
A pair of late additions to the Memphis lineup gave Tigers fans some added enthusiasm to start the game. Guard D.J. Stephens, who had missed two games with a groin injury, returned to play, as well as leading scorer Wesley Witherspoon, just 13 days removed from knee surgery that was thought to have sidelined him for five weeks. The arrival of Witherspoon did not meet with the impact desired for the Tigers. In his first game back following the injury, Witherspoon finished 1-5 from the field with just three points.
"[Witherspoon] had practiced really well the last two days and said he wanted to go," said Memphis coach Josh Pastner. "It was hard having Tarik [Black] out just because of the flu, so we went with Wesley, and it wasn't one of his better games."
"We went zone and got hurt, so went back to man and we tried to force more difficult shots and better defensive matchups, but they just shot the daylights out of it. It's just one of those games they deserved to win tonight. They were the better team tonight, and there was no doubt about that."
Freeman had another superlative game, shooting 9-12 from the field for 24 points. Chris Wright scored 19, while Julian Vaughn had one of his best games of the season, with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks despite picking up two early fouls in the game. The Hoyas also got strong bench play from Vee Sanford, with five points in six minutes, five assists from Henry Sims, and six rebounds from Jerrelle Benimon.
The Hoyas shot 52% for the game, holding Memphis to just 39% from the field.
With seven of its first 12 games on the road, Georgetown successfully concluded one of its most challenging non-conference schedules in many years, and takes a break for the Christmas holiday before beginning Big East play at Notre Dame next week.
"We are sitting here [at 11-1] and now the real games start," coach Thompson said. "Hopefully this schedule, the venues that we play in, will help us in the end because it is going to be like that every night on the road. We started off two of our first three games on the road. Hopefully this game, the Temple game, the Missouri game and the Old Dominion game will prepare us, not only because of the opponent, but also the venues. They have been extremely difficult and the opposing team's fans have been extremely supportive of their teams. So we are used to it."
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 35 6-14 1-2 4-7 2 2 0 19
Clark 25 3-4 0-1 2-2 0 2 4 8
Freeman 37 7-9 2-3 4-4 5 4 1 24
Thompson 21 2-4 1-2 2-3 2 2 2 9
Vaughn 23 7-9 0-1 1-3 10 2 4 15
Reserves:
Starks 5 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sanford 6 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 5
Sims 17 0-2 0-0 2-4 2 5 2 2
Benimon 20 2-2 0-0 0-0 6 1 2 4
Lubick 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 4 0 3 0
DNP: Dougherty, Bowen, Caprio, Ayegba
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 28-47 5-11 15-23 33 18 18 86
Post game coverage follows below.
| Henry Sims: A Remarkable Turnaround | 12/23/10 |
Very few Georgetown fans would have envisioned the turnaround by center Henry Sims entering his junior season. Sims, who averaged a lackluster 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game over his first two seasons, has improved to 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds this season and has become a legitimate option off the bench for coach John Thompson III.
"Henry enjoyed college a little too much," Thompson diplomatically told the Washington Post. "But his mom is extremely important to him and a big influence on him, and collectively, they got him back on track. "
"Last year, he almost thought he could just show up and good things would happen as opposed to understanding that mentally, physically, emotionally, you have to be prepared," Thompson said. "He's also just been more serious about basketball, about his preparation. This year, he's realized that basketball is important to him."
"My mother always talks about having hope and believing in yourself," Sims said. "Those words have always stuck with me."
| Georgetown 99, Loyola 75 | 12/18/10 |
"I've been hitting the books and it's tough, but it's just something we have to do. Regardless of exams, we still have to win games."--Chris Wright
Georgetown took its exam break out on the Loyola Greyhounds, coasting to a 99-75 win Saturday before 11,745 at Verizon Center.
Loyola (4-6) needed a good start to stay in the game and just didn't get it--the Greyhounds missed 12 of its first 16 shots while the Hoyas opened up 9 for 12 and the game was never in doubt. Loyola went over nine minutes without a field goal in the game, with a jumper at the 12:52 mark of the half to close to four, 14-10, but not another one until a three pointer at the 3:17 mark, but now down 20, 41-21. Georgetown connected on 14 of its first 17 shots of the half, with a 27 point lead at the half, 50-23.
Predictably, the Hoyas owned the inside game in the first half, with a 28-6 advantage in the paint and 21-6 off turnovers, of which Loyola had more giveaways (11) than field goals (7) at intermission. Georgetown shot a remarkable 78% from the field in the first half (18-23) and missed only one two point attempt, a missed jumper by Jason Clark at the 3:37 mark that was, for all intents and purposes, a lob to Henry Sims, who fed the ball back to Clark for the layup.
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Georgetown kept up the good shooting to open the second half, hitting its first four to lead by 30. The Greyhounds opened with five misses and three turnovers in its first eight possessions and trailed by as many as 36 with 12:45 to play. Although Loyola fared better from the field in the second half, shooting 50%, the outcome was not in doubt. Loyola narrowed the lead down the stretch thanks to 20 second half points from reserve guard Justin Drummond, who had played only four minutes to date all season and had not scored prior to Saturday's game. Loyola center Shane Walker entered the game with consecutive double-double games, but was held to just two points in the second half and eight overall. For the second half, with Georgetown reserves seeing most of the action, the two teams were nearly even in the scoring column, with the 48 points the most in a half for the Greyhounds this season. But for a Loyola team averaging just 24 points in the first half of games, scoring 27 at the break was simply too much to overcome in this one. |
78.3% GU shooting, first half 49 GU bench scoring, most since 11/16/2001 46 Points in paint, GU +15 GU points off turnovers |
"This was a good experience for us," said Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos. "Coming out of the break, we didn't compete as hard as I would have liked whether it was exams or what. Justin [Drummond] was ready to play and he played hard. He came in and said he wanted to play and he showed it this afternoon."
Scoring honors for the Hoyas went to Hollis Thompson and Austin Freeman with 14 points each, but coach John Thompson III also saw another strong game junior Henry Sims. Sims scored 10 or his career high 12 points in the first half, finishing 5-5 from the field and earning five assists.
"He's a junior now," said coach Thompson. "He had an awful sophomore season and now he's a junior who is playing well and giving us good minutes. That may be an understatement, because when you say gave us good minutes it's almost like it's a big surprise. I think where Henry is now we're coming to expect him to do what he's doing."
Georgetown travels to Memphis Thursday for its final non-conference game of the season.
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 20 3-3 1-2 2-3 1 3 1 11
Clark 18 3-4 0-3 1-3 3 2 3 7
Freeman 22 4-4 1-2 3-3 0 3 1 14
Thompson 19 0-1 3-4 5-7 4 0 0 14
Vaughn 12 1-1 0-0 2-2 3 1 3 4
Reserves:
Starks 21 0-1 1-3 0-0 3 2 2 3
Sanford 15 0-0 2-2 0-0 3 0 3 6
Dougherty 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sims 15 5-5 0-0 2-5 2 5 1 12
Benimon 14 3-5 1-2 0-1 2 1 2 9
Bowen 9 2-2 0-2 1-2 1 0 1 5
Caprio 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Ayegba 10 1-2 0-0 4-4 0 1 1 6
Lubick 21 2-2 1-2 1-1 2 5 3 8
Team Rebounds 4
TOTALS 200 24-31 10-22 21-31 29 23 22 99
Coverage follows below:
| Georgetown 89, Appalachian St. 60 | 12/12/10 |
Chris Wright tied a career high with 12 assists in a 89-60 win over Appalachian State Sunday at Verizon Center.
Wright got things going early, with five assists over the first seven minutes as Georgetown built a 16-5 lead. An early slump from the Hoyas (0-7 from the field) allowed the Mountaineers some early signs of life, and after three offensive rebounds turned baskets, the lead was just eight before the Hoyas went on a 9-0 spurt, 30-13, and led by as many as 17 before the Mountaineers closed to nine at the half, 41-32. ASU leading scorer Donald Sims was held to just two field goals and seven points overall at the break. Eight different Hoyas scored in the half in a balanced scoring effort.
Coach John Thompson III noted that his team had focused on defense following the loss to Temple, and the second half adjustments all but locked down an Appalachian State favored to win the Southern Conference title.
Georgetown opened the second half with a 7-0 run and Appalachian State was never as close thereafter. From a 48-36 margin with 14 minutes to play, the Mountaineers missed four shots and committed two turnovers--four minutes later, they were down 22.
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Appalachian State never closed within 19 as Georgetown's shooting was exemplary and its defense even more so. The Hoyas shot 72% for the half and 80% from two point range, holding ASU to just 29% shooting. Georgetown didn't make a three pointer in the second half, but that was about all they missed. Wright picked up his 12th assist with 7:23 to play and might have approached the team record of 16, had not a number of passes been fumbled or lost to a foul on the ensuing play. One assist that did connect, a behind the back pass to a driving Austin Freeman, will be on a highlight reel some day. "I'm not really trying to play flashy, but just trying to make the right reads and those are the passes I make in the end," Wright said. ASU was out of sync in the second half, without support from leading scorers Donald Sims and Omar Carter. Sims entered the game ranked second in the nation with a 27.0 ppg average, but shot 4-14 from the field and 0-5 from three point range. Carter, averaging 15.7, finished with four points. |
72% GU shooting, second half 29% ASU shooting, second half 35 GU bench scoring 60 Points in paint, GU +13 GU points off turnovers +8 GU rebounding edge |
"I thought they did a good job of being physical with Donald," said ASU coach Jason Capel."That's kind of been his Achilles heel when guys really get into him and get physical. We knew Clark was going to guard him...and when you have the size and the length they have I thought they were really able to get to on the ball and he didn't have a lot of driving lanes because of the length and size. But that is to be expected in a game like this. Donald's done a good job of combating that against teams at this level. He's had a rough day but offensively he is going to have rough days at times, defensively we all have to do better. A team shooting 72% is unacceptable."
Jason Clark led all scorers with 15 points, followed by 14 from Austin Freeman and 11 each from Nate Lubick and Hollis Thompson. Lubick's 11 points and seven rebounds were a career high, and the bench totaled a season high 35 points in the game.
"I guess we were OK. I say that to say, we have a group of guys who are ready to contribute," coach Thompson remarked. "It's not a big deal they come and they do their job and they do what they're supposed to do. I said this during the first press conference of the year, I think we have a unit where which five guys out there doesn't really matter. It depends on each individual game and what is working. But our bench players are ready and have contributed and we expect that of them."
Fans saved some of their loudest cheers for freshman Moses Ayegba, who entered the lineup for the first time this season and contributed a basket and a pair of free throws in two minutes of play.
"We still have work to do, a lot of work to do, but we took steps." Thompson added.
Georgetown takes a break for the next six days at the onset of semester exams, and returns to the court Saturday versus Loyola.
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 30 3-6 0-1 0-0 3 12 2 6
Clark 27 3-6 3-6 0-0 1 3 3 15
Freeman 31 6-10 0-3 2-2 3 3 2 14
Thompson 19 4-4 1-1 0-0 4 1 1 11
Vaughn 14 2-3 0-0 4-6 8 0 3 8
Reserves:
Starks 14 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 3 4
Sanford 13 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 0 4
Dougherty 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2
Sims 24 3-5 0-0 0-0 4 1 3 6
Benimon 6 0-0 0-1 2-2 2 0 0 2
Bowen 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2
Ayegba 2 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 4
Lubick 17 4-6 0-0 3-3 7 2 3 11
DNP: Caprio
Team Rebounds 3
TOTALS 200 32-48 4-12 13-15 35 27 20 89
Coverage follows below:
| Temple 68, Georgetown 65 | 12/9/10 11:55 pm EST |
"Georgetown looks like they're running in sand."--Jay Bilas, ESPN
Ramone Moore scored a career high 30 points as the Temple Owls defeated Georgetown in a 68-65 win at the Liacouras Center Thursday. As the Georgetown defense struggled against Moore, the offense was lost in translation, with a lack of execution throughout the evening and a poor shooting effort from the team's two leading scorers.
The normally tepid Temple offense opened the game quickly, scoring the first six points and shooting 5 for 6 from the field to lead 11-5. Georgetown never led in the game and the Hoyas seemed a little out of it right from the start, as evidenced by Austin Freeman fouling Temple guard Juan Fernandez on an unlikely three point shot, earning Fernandez three from the line and pushing a one point lead to four, 14-10. Georgetown closed back to two midway in the half, but had no answer for Moore, who shot 8-9 in the first half, most from close range and at the expense of Julian Vaughn, who struggled defensively much of the evening.
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Temple extended the lead to seven 9:33 to play as Georgetown shot 1 for 5 and gave away three turnovers, but turned the tables on Temple as Austin Freeman scored six straight, Chris Wright hit a pair of free throws, and the Owls went 0-6 from the field as the Hoyas closed to 29-24. Temple was able to control the frontcourt, leveraging a Scootie Randall three and a three point play at the line from Rahlir Jefferson to go up 11 with 2:35 in the half, which closed to five before Moore added a late basket to lead 39-32 at the half. Moore had 17 of the Owls' 39 at halftime, while leading scorer Levoy Allen had just two points at the break and just six for the game. Georgetown's second half was the tale of a basketball Sisyphus--rolling the ball up the hill, and watching it slide right back down. The Hoyas closed to 39-37 early in the second, then gave up an inside basket and foul to Temple's Micheal Eric. Despite going nearly four minutes without a basket and suffering turnovers by Henry Sims on consecutive possessions, a Jerrelle Benimon basket closed the deficit to 46-44 with 13:45 left, only for the defense to let Moore drive for points on each of the next two possessions, 50-44. Outside of Moore, Temple's offense was largely nonexistent, giving a wobbly GU offense more opportunities for a comeback than it otherwise deserved. Baskets by Freeman and Vee Sanford got the G-men back to 50-48, but the Hoyas stumbled with a shot clock violation at the 9:51 mark, and found themselves back down by four after Moore blew past Vaughn for a basket, 54-50. Chris Wright had his poorest game of the season, not getting his first basket until the 6:41 mark where a basket and a pair of free throws tied the score at the 6:13 mark, 56-56, but Moore answered the call with a three, 59-56, and off of a Jason Clark turnover, the Owls pushed it back to five when Moore, sitting on the floor after a battle inside, nonetheless proceeded to swipe a rebound from Vaughn and feed Rahlir Jefferson, who was fouled and made one of two at the line into the stretch run. |
43.8 3-pt. shooting pct. for GU entering the game 31.2 3-pt. shooting pct. for GU in this game 1-8 Combined 3-pt shooting, Wright & Freeman 12-18 FG shooting, Temple's Ramone Moore 12-35 FG shooting, rest of Temple team 34-38 Combined FT shooting, both teams 3-14 GU record all-time in games at Temple |
A trade of baskets kept the lead at five inside 3:00 to play, where a Vaughn drive cut the Temple lead to three and a twisting layup by Wright closed it to one. Off a Fernandez miss, Georgetown had options but no answers on its final possession, with Hollis Thompson left to toss up a shot from close-in with seven seconds to play. Jefferson, an unsung hero in the game, closed out the scoring at the line--despite entering the game shooting an abysmal 31% from the free throw line, he made 5 of 6 in the final 3:34 to carry the day.
Despite not scoring in the final 5:47 of the game, Ramone Moore's 30 points were the most allowed by the Hoyas since Armon Bassett's 32 in the NCAA loss to Ohio, but this game was not lost on Moore's heroics alone. The Georgetown offensive sets were missing in action all night--some the result of Temple's defense, others from players improvising and driving into traffic. Neither Freeman nor Wright exhibited any consistency on offense, and Clark's offensive numbers disappeared after halftime, with just one basket in the second half and none in the final 18:55 of the game.
The win marked the third consecutive season Temple has upset a Top 10 team at home in the month of December, and marked Fran Dunphy's 400th career win.
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 33 2-4 0-3 6-6 3 5 2 10
Clark 34 1-2 4-5 1-1 5 1 3 15
Freeman 35 5-10 1-5 1-2 3 0 3 14
Thompson 23 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 2
Vaughn 27 3-8 0-1 8-8 8 2 2 14
Reserves:
Starks 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Sanford 6 1-2 0-0 2-2 2 0 0 2
Sims 13 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 3
Benimon 19 2-3 0-1 1-1 5 0 1 5
Lubick 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 1 0
DNP: Dougherty, Bowen, Caprio, Ayegba
Team Rebounds 1
TOTALS 200 16-32 5-16 18-20 32 10 15 65
Post-game links follow below:
- GUHoyas.com
- OwlSports.com
- Associated Press
- Philadelphia Daily News
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Temple News
- Temple News (2)
- Washington Post
Thursday's game marked the 84th game Georgetown has played in Philadelphia, the most road games in any city outside New York. Georgetown is 3-13 all-time with road games vs. Temple University, but only one of these has taken place since the 1942-43 season.
Here's a review of Georgetown's all-time record in the Philadelphia area:
| Record by Opponent: | Record By Facility: |
| Drexel: 0-0 | Alumni Memorial Field House: 0-1 |
| LaSalle: 6-6 | Convention Hall: 8-7 |
| Pennsylvania: 2-5 | Liacouras Center: 0-2 |
| St. Joseph's: 7-8 | Mitten Hall: 1-8 |
| Temple: 3-13 | The Palestra: 12-16 |
| Villanova: 14-15 | The Spectrum: 7-8 |
| Other: 2-2 1 | Villanova Field House: 1-4 |
| Villanova Pavilion: 2-0 | |
| Wells Fargo Center: 3-3 2 | |
| Weightman Hall: 0-1 | |
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[1] Four games were played in Philadelphia against non-Philadelphia schools, including the 1980 NCAA regionals. [2] Previously known as CoreStates Center, First Union Center, and Wachovia Center. |
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| Georgetown 68, Utah State 51 | 12/4/10 |
For a team built on offensive firepower, instead it was defensive intensity that led the Georgetown Hoyas to a 68-51 win over Utah State at Verizon Center.
Utah State's tough defense had an immediate impact to start the game, as the Hoyas managed three points and three turnovers in the first four minutes of the half. The Aggies (5-2) led by as many as four, 12-8, before a Nate Lubick layup began the Hoyas to rally via a 12-0 run, much of it by inside baskets and the free throw line.
Midway through the half, the teams were a combined 9-29 from the field, but a pair of Chris Wright free throws and a Austin Freeman layup pushed the Hoyas to a 22-13 lead. The Aggies went to a 2-3 zone and eventually picked up their own run, outscoring Georgetown 10-2 to tie the score with 1:41 in the half, despite having sidelined leading scorer Tai Wesley to three fouls late in the half. Georgetown matched the Utah State run with a 7-0 run to end the half, halted by a Pooh Williams three at the end of the half, where the Hoyas led 33-29. Chris Wright had 11 points at the break but Utah State had held Georgetown's powerful three point attack without a three for the half in only three attempts.
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An early fourth foul Wesley was the backdrop to a bad start for the Aggies in the second half. Georgetown opened the half with the first 11 points of the period and a 17-2 run through the first seven minutes, building the lead to 19 at 50-31 before the Aggies responded. Georgetown held the Aggies to 2 for 8 shooting and six turnovers in the first seven minutes of the half. Wesley returned to the game at the 14:36 mark, down 17, where he fouled out four minutes later with the Hoyas up 18, 52-34. Utah State closed to 13 at the 8:13 mark but no closer, and a Chris Wright pushed the lead to 20 with three minutes remaining. After a number of games with remarkable results from three point range, Georgetown was only 2-9, the fewest threes for a John Thompson III-coached team at Georgetown in almost a full season. Still, Thompson was not concerned by the lack of long range artillery. "They did a terrific job at taking away the threes," he said. We didn't get that many open looks. What our team has done and did today was do a good job of taking what the defense gives you, we don't have to make threes to win games." "If you had told me they were only going to make a couple of threes I would have thought we were right there," said a disappointed Utah State coach Stew Merrill in his post game comments. "It's tough to go in there for a half and then let them explode on us. We had a tough time with their athleticism, didn't handle the press at all and they got some easy baskets. When you play against that kind of quickness some things surprise you a little bit." |
2 RPI ranking for GU after Saturday's games (WarrenNolan.com) 12/7/1999 Last game before Sat. where Utah St. did not have a scorer in double figures 15 Utah State turnovers 36% Utah St. shooting, 2nd half 62% GU shooting, 2nd half +11 GU points off turnovers +17 Rebounding edge, GU |
Wright led all scorers with 21 points and four steals. Although Freeman and Clark had below average scoring stats, the starting five all came up big defensively and earned a win that will not go unnoticed at tournament time.
"Today was a little different in that they were really playing us on the three-point line and we had to penetrate and get in," said Wright. "There are multiple ways that we can be strong on the offensive end and as long as our defense is solid, we'll be alright."
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Wright 30 5-6 1-3 8-10 3 2 1 21
Clark 31 2-5 0-1 3-3 3 1 1 7
Freeman 31 4-9 0-2 1-1 2 2 1 9
Thompson 17 2-3 1-1 0-1 4 1 1 7
Vaughn 15 3-3 0-0 2-4 5 1 2 8
Reserves:
Starks 9 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Sanford 9 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 2
Dougherty 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sims 25 1-3 0-0 2-2 6 3 1 4
Benimon 14 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4
Caprio 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Lubick 17 2-2 0-1 2-4 3 0 3 6
DNP: Bowen, Ayegba
Team Rebounds 2
TOTALS 200 21-35 2-9 20-27 30 11 13 68
Coverage follows below:
- GUHoyas.com
- UtahState Aggies.com
- Associated Press
- Salt Lake Tribune
- The HOYA
- The HOYA (2)
- Logan Herald-Journal
- Washington Examiner
- Washington Post
| The "Phone Booth" Turns 13 | 12/3/10 |
From this link at SB Nation DC, we note the 13th anniversary of MCI/Verizon Center, which not only began a new era in Washington sports but also of Georgetown basketball, which opened in the new arena on Dec. 3, 1997 with a 73-69 loss to Villanova before 13,181 in attendance.
A sign of how times have changed? Georgetown lost the game at the free throw line, shooting just 8 of 22 free throws, including 2-7 each from freshman Kenny Brunner and junior college transfer Trez Kilpatrick. Junior guard Daymond Jackson led all GU scorers with 13 points. The Wildcats were led with 16 points from forward Malik Allen, a perfect 8-8 from the foul line in the game.
Time marches on: Georgetown played a grand total of 236 games at Capital Centre but will already reach its 200th game at Verizon Center on Feb. 5 versus Providence.
| Iverson Store On eBay | 12/3/10 |
Now playing in Turkey, Allen Iverson (ex '98) is also on eBay.
The Business Insider web site has a story on the eBay venture, "Iverson Authentic", which recently debuted, offering a variety of autographed shoes and other memorabilia. The store carries a positive feedback rating of 98.7%.
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