Through 22.5 minutes of gameplay Wednesday night, Georgetown trailed Mount St. Mary’s by 19 points. From that point on, the Hoyas looked like a different team. Thanks to a 20-1 run over the final six minutes and 12 seconds, Georgetown survived the upset scare and opened the season with a 81-68 victory over the Mountaineers.
The first half had Hoya fans wondering if anything had really changed from the teams of past years. Georgetown struggled on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the team failed to knock down open looks, making just one of ten attempted three-pointers, the majority of which were fairly open. The team’s second unit also was a point of concern, with newcomers Myron Gardner and Terrell Allen missing a couple of easy finishes in the lane. Overall, for all the talk of a deeper roster this year, the bench play was downright bad, as the five reserves shot a combined three of 18 from the field.
Defensively, the story was just as bad. The Hoyas failed to contest a number of looks from deep and the Mountaineers converted, knocking down five three-pointers in the first period. Mount St. Mary’s guards Vado Morse and Jalen Gibbs paced the team with a combined 20 points in the first half. Gibbs finished the game with 19 points and Morse chipped in 18 of his own.
The start of the second half featured much of the same. However, after the Mountaineers took their largest lead of the night (19 points), the Hoyas began to turn it around, putting together a 20-7 run to pull back within single digits. Sophomore guard James Akinjo was crucial in this stretch, knocking down two three-pointers and also converting twice around the rim, including the acrobatic finish shown below.
Freshman center Qudus Wahab followed it up with a thunderous slam on the ensuing possession, bringing the crowd to their feet.
Another newcomer, transfer Galen Alexander, also contributed in the comeback, knocking down the game-tying three-pointer with 10:15 to play. Still, Mount St. Mary’s was not content to go away quietly. Two straight buckets gave the Mountaineers back the lead, and they managed to cling to a six point advantage with just over six minutes left in the contest.
From this point on, it was all Georgetown. Ewing implemented a press defense and a couple of forced turnovers swung the momentum Georgetown’s way. Mac McClung once again showed his offensive prowess, knocking down a couple big shots, ending the night with 16 points on 6 for 9 shooting. Omer Yurtseven also came alive, and threw done a big dunk which put the Hoyas ahead with five minutes to play, a lead they would not relinquish. Yurtseven finished with a double-double, tallying 20 points and 12 rebounds in his Georgetown debut. However, the star of the show was undoubtedly Akinjo, who rallied the team when down en route to a 20 point, 5 assist performance.
It is difficult to put this game in perspective. Yes, coming back from a 19-point deficit is nice. But also, it’s Mount St. Mary’s, a team that was predicted to finish seventh in the lowly Northeast Conference. Saying Georgetown had a slow start would be like saying Georgetown’s facilities are below average. They’re both gross understatements. There’s certainly a lot to work on, and not a lot of time to do so. The meat of the non-conference schedule will be here sooner than you think.
Other Thoughts:
What is going on with Josh LeBlanc? Hoya fans were likely surprised to see Jagan Mosely in the starting lineup and Josh LeBlanc sitting on the bench in a suit. Georgetown released no official statement on LeBlanc’s status, and conflicting reports about the cause of his absence leave room for speculation going forward. Ben Standig of The Athletic reported that LeBlanc had been suspended one game for a violation of team rules. Ewing on the other hand, played coy to questions, responding, “no injury status, we’ll see what happens next game.” Whatever is up with Josh LeBlanc, here’s to hoping he’ll be back on the court come Saturday.
Learn how to defend the pick-and-roll, by any means necessary. For most of the evening, Mount St. Mary’s best offense came thanks to the pick-and-roll, as many Hoya fans took note of.
Throughout the game, Georgetown’s bigs aggressively hedged over the screens in an attempt to force the guards away from the basket. Unfortunately, this often left them in a difficult spot to recover to guard their own men, leaving the Mountaineer bigs open on the roll. “It’s still something that we’re working on,” Ewing said in reference to the team’s pick-and-roll defense. It better be.
Jahvon Blair should not be part of the regular rotation. Coming into the season, we all thought Blair would take on the Greg Malinowski role (aka we can count on two to three three-pointers a game). Blair’s stat line tonight? 0-4 from the field and 0-4 from three-point range. I know it’s a small sample size, but in a crowded backcourt there’s not much margin for error. From what little we’ve seen, McClung and Akinjo have both improved with regards to three-point shooting. Those two should play the majority of the minutes with Jagan Mosely and Terrell Allen giving them help, and defensive reinforcements, off the bench.
Omer Yurtseven looked good, but there’s still room for improvement. It’s hard to critique a 20 point, 10 rebound performance in Yurtseven’s first game for Georgetown. But judging off the eye test, it’s not all rosey. At times, Yurtseven looked a touch tentative, fading away from the rim instead of going up strong and drawing the foul. I’d like to see Omer be more aggressive and utilize his 7-foot frame to bang some more bodies in the paint.
The transfers struggled, but showed promise. Terrell Allen and Galen Alexander both got significant run tonight, as each tallied 15 minutes of playing time. Both Allen and Alexander got off to a rocky start, missing a handful of open looks early on. Still, there’s a lot to be encouraged about. Alexander was on the floor for a good portion of the run in the second half, and played a role in the frenetic press defense. He also knocked down a big three pointer. As for Allen, he failed to make his mark in the score sheet, but showed off his ability to create off the dribble. Allen’s one assist came after he beat his defender, drew the double team, and found Pickett for the slam. I’d like to see more of that going forward.
Akinjo is who we’d thought he’d be (and possibly more). When Georgetown was silent on offense and needed a spark, Akinjo provided that, showing his ability to knock down the open three and get to the rim. The killer instinct is perhaps Akinjo’s best trait, as he seemingly always knows how to take over a game when he has to. Akinjo is not just a score-first point guard either, as he set up his teammates multiple times, tallying five assists on the night. Sure, James Akinjo will need some help, but the Hoyas are at their best when he is the one directing the offense.
