Georgetown fell 76-63 to #9 Villanofun in what ended up being a tragic yet unfortunately familiar outcome in the past few seasons for the Hoyas. For 20 minutes of Friday night’s contest, the Hoyas lived up to the reputation of the throwback Allen Iverson-era jerseys that they debuted. Although the Blue and Gray showed determination and flashed the ability to compete, in true Georgetown fashion, they couldn’t close.
Jamorko Pickett led the way for the Hoyas with another double-double, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out late, and Qudus Wahab followed with 12 points and 5 boards of his own. Both Pickett and Jahvon Blair had solid shooting outings, as Blair finished with 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting with three rebounds and three assists. While the Hoyas won the battle on the glass by a single rebound (37-36), they were a dreadful 26% from the field and an even worse 9% from three in the second half, giving leeway to stimulate the Wildcats’ comeback.
The game started promising at the least and dominant at best for the Hoyas, as they forced Villanova to play against their usual slow-paced offense and saw Georgetown uncharacteristically knocking down shots from all over the court. The game was all Georgetown throughout the majority of the first half, as they at one point held a 40-22 lead, and surprisingly held on to a 46-33 lead at halftime when a Jermaine Samuels three-pointer was called off on a review. Both Wahab and Pickett led the way in the first, with Qudus imposing his physically dominant frame down low over the likes of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, whom the Hoyas kept at bay for most of the night. Qudus went into the break with twelve points, five more than his total from the Coppin State massacre a few days ago. Pickett showed his good basketball IQ in the first with generally positive shot selection, and Dante Harris served as a spark plug off the bench, only further igniting the fire for him to obtain a starting role sooner than expected.
When I asked Coach Ewing about Dante Harris’ performance tonight, Ewing complimented him, saying “I thought he did a great job in the first half. Not as good in the second half. He’s going to be a key part of our team. He believes in himself. I believe in him.”
Unfortunately, much of Ewing’s sentiment about the second half performance applies across the board for the team.
The Hoyas came out in the second half sloppy and unable to hit a shot. After ending the first half on a 2:29 scoring drought, Georgetown simply could not stop the Wildcats’ hot shooting. Cole Swider, Collin Gillespie, and Caleb Daniels all caught fire from deep, as Gillespie and Daniels each scored 19 points, including five threes apiece, to lead all scorers. Georgetown simply looked outmatched throughout much of the second half, as they were outscored 43-17 after the break. Villanova’s numbers in the second half were so good the Wildcats nearly reached the “On Fire!” level in NBA Jam, shooting 50% from the field and a ridiculous 47% from deep.
After playing extremely and unusually competent basketball en route to building a double-digit first-half lead over the ninth-ranked Wildcats, the Hoyas ultimately lost the key turnover battle in the second half. One key to playing a team as efficient and disciplined as Villanova (4th in offensive efficiency) was to force them to play significantly faster than they are used to and to use Georgetown’s god-given size advantage down low. The Hoyas seemed to stray away from the paint late in the game for some reason, as Qudus did not log a single point throughout the duration of the second half. Ewing explained his frustration with that fact postgame: “We have to be able to do both, take our threes and make our threes. We have guys that can do it. We also have to get the ball inside.”
Overall, Georgetown has shown its ability to compete with some of the best teams in the country after hanging tight with both #9 Villanova and #11 West Virginia. However, the Hoyas will continue seeing its big first-half leads slip away if the lackadaisical, undisciplined play follows these hot starts. As icing on the cake, the loss also cost myself and the other guys over at Bet the Blue and Gray a significant amount of units, with Armen and (unsurprisingly) me not hitting anything. Maybe next time, Hoyas fans.
The 2-3 Hoyas will now look to get back on track Sunday when St. John’s visits McDonough coming off of a 77-68 loss to Seton Hall.
