Blast from the Past: Hoyas Falter Late in Dogfight with UConn

First and foremost, it’s great to see Georgetown and UConn squaring off again. As a Connecticut resident, it gives me a special pleasure to have UConn back where they belong in the Big East. The two teams had not played since 2017, and they wasted no time rekindling their rivalry in a gritty, low-scoring slugfest. It certainly wasn’t the cleanest game, but the Huskies managed to gain control late in the second half to cruise to a 70-57 win, snapping the Hoyas’ two-game win streak. 

Georgetown could not have opened the game with a worse start. UConn started the game locked in defensively, swarming the Hoyas and creating turnovers. During an 8-0 run in which UConn dominated the paint, the Hoyas looked completely helpless. Despite the cold start, Georgetown responded by attacking the paint on offense through Wahab and starting to force turnovers on defense, gradually clawing their way back into the game. Both teams played sloppily in the first half, with 11 turnovers for UConn and nine for Georgetown. A shortage of three-point shooting also helped to keep the score low. Even with UConn’s strong start, the Hoyas managed to go into halftime with a one-point advantage, leading 26-25.. 

As the second half rolled around, both UConn and Georgetown started to find their offensive groove. Both teams continued to look to score in the paint on offense, and the Huskies greatly benefitted from destroying the Hoyas on the boards. UConn finished with 50 rebounds to Georgetown’s 36, including 18 offensive boards to Georgetown’s nine. On many occasions, the Hoyas forced a stop only to see the Huskies come down with yet another offensive rebound to continue the possession. Simply put, Georgetown did not have the same defensive effort from the first half, much to the frustration of Coach Ewing. “I felt like we were right there, but we took our foot off the gas pedal defensively in the second half.” said Ewing. “They were just a lot more hungry than we were.” 

The game remained tight until about eight minutes left in the second half, when the Hoyas fell apart. UConn’s star guard and projected first round draft pick James Bouknight spearheaded a pivotal 17-2 Huskies run to break the game wide open. Bouknight finished with 20 points to lead all scorers, while also pulling down 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. As the game drew to a close, the Hoyas looked flat, while UConn looked determined to come away with a much-needed win to keep their tournament hopes alive. 

Georgetown was led by Qudus Wahab, who scored a new career high 18 points. The Hoyas were most effective on offense when they got Wahab the ball in the paint, as Qudus managed to draw numerous fouls on his defenders. The Huskies wised up later in the second half though and began double teaming Wahab more, leading to his five turnovers. Despite Wahab’s strong play most of the night, Ewing said after that game that the Hoyas had no good individual performances, adding “We got our asses kicked.” Chudier Bile was in foul trouble for much of the night, and the Georgetown upperclassmen combined for a total of 24 points with eight made field goals on 32 attempts. For the Hoyas to be at their best, they need more significant contributions from their veterans.

Luckily, the Hoyas won’t have to wait long to get another stab at UConn, as the two teams will meet again on March 6th to end the regular season. For now, Georgetown will look to clean up their play as they travel to Chicago to face DePaul on Saturday, and will be rematching with UConn on March 6th.