Another game. Another blown lead in the second half. Honestly, we could just rip the game recaps for the games from Villanova or West Virginia, and the same thing would still apply.
Despite building a 16-point halftime lead, the Hoyas once again crumbled down the stretch, ultimately falling to Marquette 64-60. Jahvon Blair led the Hoyas with 20 points, but it was Marquette’s Jamal Cain who led all scorers with 25 points of his own. Fittingly, it was Cain who hit the three-pointer to put Marquette up four and seal the deal with 15 seconds to play.
Minutes before tip-off, fans learned that Blair would not be starting due to a coach’s decision. When asked about it at the postgame, Ewing offered little explanation, saying, “Coach’s decision. I don’t even want to get into it.”
With Blair on the bench, the night could not have started any worse for Georgetown. The Hoyas turned the ball over on each of their first four possessions and looked completely out of sorts. With his team floundering just minutes into the game, Ewing was forced to send Blair in as an early sub.
Luckily for the Hoyas, the Golden Eagles got off to a similarly slow start, making just four of their first 20 field goal attempts. These shooting woes continued throughout the duration of the first half, and Marquette even went a full seven minutes without scoring at one point. As the Golden Eagles continued to struggle, the Hoyas began to find their groove offensively, both attacking the rim off the dribble and controlling the paint. This enabled the Hoyas to rattle off a 14-0 run to take a nine-point lead with under nine minutes to play in the half.
Even when Marquette began making shots, the Hoyas maintained their lead thanks to strong play on the offensive end. Jahvon Blair paced the Hoyas over the first half with a cool twelve points off the bench. Another bright spot for Georgetown was freshman Jamari Sibley, who scored five points, including a pretty three pointer, and pulled down two boards in the first half. Sibley finished the game with seven points and three rebounds, both career highs. As a team, Georgetown shot 45% from the floor in the first half, compared to 26% for Marquette.
The first half was dominated by sloppy play for both sides. The two teams combined for 15 first half turnovers, and Marquette’s Greg Elliot earned a technical foul. However, it was the Hoyas’ superior shooting that allowed them to take a comfy 36-20 lead into the locker room.
The second half was a different story. Marquette seemed to be on the attack from the get-go, mounting a ferocious comeback attempt and cutting Georgetown’s lead to 10 on multiple occasions. Early on, Blair and the Hoyas had an answer, and Georgetown was able to cling onto a 12-point lead with nine minutes to play.
It got worse. Georgetown had multiple extended scoring droughts,scoring just one bucket over a brutal seven minute stretch. The lifeless Georgetown offense in the second half allowed Marqutte to cut the Hoyas’ lead to one, thanks to a 13-2 run from the Golden Eagles. Marquette overtook Georgetown with just a little over three minutes to go, and the Golden Eagles’ scoring run eventually extended to 15-2. “Bad shots, bad decisions, turnovers,” responded Ewing when asked what went wrong in this critical stretch. “We got selfish and started turning it over.”
The Hoyas finally ended a four and half minute long scoring drought with a Dante Harris layup to get back within one. A Wahab dunk with 1:20 to play put the Hoyas back on top, and that dunk put Wahab in double-digits for scoring, notching his fourth double-double of the season. His play was one of the few bright spots in tonight’s game.
As a team, the Hoyas went 5 for 24 from beyond the arc. It was an absolutely atrocious shooting performance, led by Jamorko Pickett going 0-4 from three. Pickett’s shooting slump seems to have carried over from 2020, as the senior forward scored just four points on 2 for 7 shooting. Defensively, Pickett did lock down Dawson Garcia for the most part, limiting the Golden Eagles’ second leading scorer to just 9 points. However, as solid as Pickett is on the defensive end, Georgetown needs their senior leader to give them something offensively if they are going to have success in the Big East. Pickett was ultimately benched for Chudier Bile in the last few minutes of the game, a move Ewing said came from the gut and that he “thought was going to help us win.”
That move did not end up helping us win.
To be fair, it’s tough to see how there could have been any move that would’ve helped the Hoyas win. As soon as they blew the lead, a loss seemed preordained. Shortly after regaining the lead, DJ Carton put the Golden Eagles back on top after muscling his way into the lane. This time the Hoyas had no answer, wasting the following possession thanks to yet another turnover. The final nail in the coffin was a Jamal Cain three-pointer which extended Marquette’s lead to four with fifteen seconds left.
The Hoyas had a 16-point lead, and they blew it. Sadly, it’s not surprising at this point.
I am numb. I am desentized. I am eagerly awaiting the 2021 recruiting class coming on campus in September. Not much more to say, except that was an ugly game. Can we fast-forward to November of 2021?
Four years with one of the highest paid basketball coaches and the results have been disastrous, on and off the court. It’s tough to continue giving Ewing the benefit of the doubt.