Georgetown fell flat on its face for the second straight game, losing 78-62 at Seton Hall Friday night. Mac McClung led the way for the Hoyas in his return from an eye injury, pumping in 20 points on 7/20 shooting. Jamorko Pickett flirted with a double-double, adding 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Four Pirates ended the game in double digits, with center Romaro Gill scoring a career-high 17 points and 4 blocks. Quincy McKnight added 14 points and 10 assists. The loss puts the Hoyas at 0-2 in Big East play.
Georgetown’s offense, at first, looked much improved from the disaster that occurred on New Year’s Eve at Providence. The Hoyas took an early 7-2 lead, but quickly surrendered that as the Pirates began raining in three pointers. Junior Myles Cale, who entered the game averaging 7.3 points per game, started off 4/4 from downtown, steering Seton Hall to a 21-14 lead at the under 12 time-out. Cale closed out the first half with 15 points, and finished the game with 16.
Senior Jagan Mosely shut down Myles Powell in the early going of the first half. Mosely held Powell scoreless until 8:27 in the first half when he converted an 1-and-1 at the rim for his only points of the half. Powell ended up with 15 points and 6 assists but struggled from the field, only shooting 6/17.
Despite Powell’s lack of production and minutes in the first half, Seton Hall ripped Georgetown’s defense apart utilizing the high screen and roll with Romaro Gill. McKnight torched the Hoya defense, penetrating off the dribble and finding open teammates with ease.
The Hoya offense sputtered out quickly though. Ball movement died down and players began to resort to isolation play. Georgetown suffered prolonged scoring droughts and finished the first half shooting 31.3% from the field, 12.5% from deep, and only two assists. Seton Hall capitalized on Georgetown’s inability to score to rattle off a 9-0 run to take a 35-18 lead with 4:33 left in the first half.
Omer Yurtseven in particular struggled in the first half, only scoring two points on one of five shooting and committing three fouls. Yurtseven’s performance did not improve as he finished the game with 9 points on 3/14 shooting and only 5 rebounds. Gill’s presence and size (7’2’’, 255lbs) clearly bothered him all night.
Georgetown showed signs of life early in the second half, capitalizing on four Seton Hall turnovers in the first three minutes to go on a 5-0 run. But the Pirates went back to what worked in the first: the pick-and-roll with Gill. Powell continually found Gill for easy buckets down low, leading to a quick 6-0 response from the Pirates to push their lead back to 18.
Georgetown’s offense began to find a bit of a groove, as they hit 7 shots in a row to cut the Pirates’ lead to 11. Then Myles Powell showed up. Powell’s play-making ability, vision, and shot-making broke the Hoyas. Powell buried Ewing and company with this shot.
It’s safe to say that any good feeling from Georgetown’s previous 6-game winning streak is gone. All optimism has come crashing down to Earth. Georgetown sits winless in Big East play and in 10th place. And given their two performances, that is exactly where they deserve to be.
The previously top-20 KenPom rated offense has evaporated into thin air. The Hoyas ended the game with 9 assists and 11 turnovers. Most troubling is the play of Yurtseven. Omer looked lost on the court for most of the contest, playing undisciplined basketball. If the Hoyas have any prayer of turning this around, it starts with him.
Is this play merely an adjustment period for the Hoyas or did we simply overrate how talented they were during their winning streak? Or is it a bit of both? Wednesday’s home opener against St. John’s will reveal a lot about this squad. But if this is truly what this team is, this is going to be a long season for Coach Ewing.
