For much of Saturday’s first half, it looked as though Georgetown and American were in for a dog fight. Thanks to dominant performances from Omer Yurtseven and Terrell Allen, the Hoyas finally gained separation and never looked back, cruising to an 80-60 victory to end non-conference play.
The Hoyas jumped out to an early eight point lead, giving fans reason to believe this would be another easy victory. American had something to say about that, however, rattling off a 12-2 run of their own to take a 23-20 lead with eight minutes to play in the first half. Eagles’ standout Sa’eed Nelson played a key role in this run, taking advantage of defensive lapses and attacking the rim, including this nifty finish.
Nelson finished the game with 17 points, tying Yurtseven for the game high.
Facing their first deficit of the game, Georgetown got the wake-up call they needed. With six minutes to go before halftime, the Hoyas seemingly flipped a switch, going on a 14-0 run to take back control. During this stretch, sophomore guard Mac McClung took a hard shot to the eye while corralling a loose ball. After knocking down two free throws, McClung exited the game and did not return. Despite his absence, the Hoyas did not miss a beat, with senior walk-on George Muresan giving a spark off the bench. Though the Eagles did slow Georgetown’s momentum with a long two from Nelson to end the half, the Hoyas still entered the locker room leading 41-32.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Georgetown continued to roll. Yurtseven was seemingly unstoppable, knocking down turnaround jumper after turnaround jumper. With Georgetown’s lead stretched to 16 with just over 15 minutes to play, Ewing chose to give Yurtseven a rest. From this point forward, the Hoyas were able to keep the Eagles at bay, with the lead never falling below 14 points.
With Yurtseven and McClung off the court for the final 15 minutes, other Hoyas were given an opportunity to shine. Jahvon Blair contributed, knocking down two threes and four free throws en route to a 14 point outing. Allen matched Blair’s scoring output, making seven of 10 field goal attempts in a surgical performance. He also dished out five assists, including this gem to Timothy “Iggy” Ighoefe.
Speaking of Ighoefe, the freshman center gave plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his future. Iggy finished with eight points and two rebounds, while also showing plenty of hustle in five minutes of action. Will this performance be enough to earn him some more minutes moving forward?
Overall, it was clear the Hoyas’ superior size that proved to be a determining factor in the outcome of the game. Georgetown outrebounded American 42-25, and tallied a whopping 46 points in the point. It is encouraging to see the Hoyas exploit mismatches, but they will likely not have such a large size advantage again this season.
In a game where Georgetown was the more talented team, the Hoyas did enough to take care of business and bring the win streak to six. Despite the Hoyas’ great form as of late, questions remain about how this team will stack up against Big East competition. Turning the ball over continues to be a problem (they had 18 turnovers against American), and something Georgetown will need to clean up. Still, the most pressing concern is clearly the status of Mac McClung. Hopefully sitting McClung for the second half was merely a precautionary measure. At any rate, Hoya fans will feel a lot more confident for Tuesday’s visit to Providence if Mac is ready to go.
