Wednesday’s game against the 12th-ranked Seton Hall Pirates could not have started any worse for Georgetown.
The Pirates opened on a 16-0 run, leaving the home crowd in a stunned silence. While Georgetown did fight back, drawing as close as three in the second half, Myles Powell and Seton Hall proved too much for the Mac-less Hoyas. With the 78-71 win, the Pirates remained firmly atop the Big East standings, while the Hoyas fell to 3-7 in the conference.
From the opening tip, Georgetown appeared overmatched. Seton Hall came out firing, hitting four three-pointers on their first four possessions. Before the Hoyas knew what happened, the Pirates’ lead was 16 less than four minutes into the game.
While Georgetown was able to attack the rim offensively in the early-going, Seton Hall’s size played a big role in protecting the interior. Romaro Gill recorded five first half blocks, and eight on the night, forcing the Hoyas to work for every bucket. When the Hoyas did eventually figure it out on the offensive end, it was largely thanks to their ability to get to the free throw line. Georgetown was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line before halftime and made 21 of 24 free throws on the night.
With the Hoyas climbing back into the game, an old-fashioned three-point play from Jahvon Blair cut the Pirates’ lead to eight with 10:17 left in the half. Myles Powell quickly responded by scoring five consecutive points for Seton Hall. Powell was up to his usual antics in the first half, scoring 21 points. He finished the game with 34 points on 12 of 24 shooting to lead all scorers. “You have to take your hat off to him,” said Patrick Ewing after the game. “He played a great game.”
Terrell Allen’s veteran presence played a crucial role in steadying the shell-shocked Hoyas and swinging some momentum back their way. With Georgetown struggling to finish over Gill’s length, Allen made use of the mid-range jumper. Over a four minute stretch towards the end of the first half, Allen scored all 11 Georgetown points during an 11-4 Hoyas run. With the Pirates’ lead down to six, Capital One Arena came alive, urging the Blue and Gray on.
Once again, Myles Powell and Seton Hall had an answer, pushing the lead back up to double digits and taking a 42-32 into the locker room.
Early in the second half, Georgetown made it clear they were not going away. Jagan Mosely hit a big three-pointer and Blair converted another and-one to trim the deficit to three with 17:50 to play. This was the closest Georgetown would get. Powell knocked down a difficult three-pointer, the Pirates dug-in defensively and Seton Hall regained control once again.
As the half progressed, Seton Hall’s lead hovered around 10 points. In multiple instances, Georgetown would cut it down to four or five, but the Pirates always had an answer. This was never clearer than over the game’s final five minutes. After clawing back into it (again), Blair knocked down a huge three-pointer to draw within four (again).
WIth three minutes to play, Seton Hall turned the ball over, one of 12 Pirate turnovers on the night, giving Georgetown a golden opportunity to make it a one possession game. Instead, the Hoyas turned the ball over on two consecutive possessions and the Pirates took advantage, scoring twice to extend the lead to eight. Despite a basket from Jamorko Pickett, Quincy McKnight knocked down a three-pointer on the other end with 0:53 to play, putting the final nail in the coffin.
While the Hoyas did not complete the comeback this time around, this is the second straight game Georgetown has fought back from a double-digit deficit. Ewing acknowledged his team’s efforts. “Even though we lost, I’m very proud of them,” he said after the game. Try as they might, Georgetown’s poor shooting and lack of depth ultimately proved too much to overcome.
On the night, the Hoyas shot just 33.8% from the field and four of 21 from beyond the arc. Omer Yurtseven led the Hoyas with 19 points on eight of 14 shooting but did not have a significant impact on the game. Blair added 18 points of his own, but shot an ugly one of nine from three-point range.
Additionally, Ewing played only six players, with all five starters logging 34 minutes or more. For comparison, Seton Hall went 10 deep with Powell being the only Pirate to play 34 minutes or more. By the final whistle, every Hoya was certainly out of gas, and it’s hard to blame them.
Hopefully Ewing will be able to expand the rotation back to seven in the near future if Mac McClung is able to return from injury. When that will be is anyone’s guess. Ewing still labeled McClung’s status as day-to-day, leaving his availability for Saturday’s game very much in question.
Even before the game, it was clear that beating a ranked Seton Hall team was going to be a challenge, especially with the Hoyas missing one of their top offensive weapons in McClung. While not unexpected, the loss certainly is disappointing, as Georgetown had a chance to secure a statement win. Moving forward, you have to hope that the team’s effort and fight will translate into wins.
