Before the season, Coach Patrick Ewing had talked favorably about the Hoyas’ high-powered offense, suggesting that Georgetown might play even more up-tempo than last season. The run-and-gun offense was on full display Saturday afternoon as the Hoyas never trailed en route to defeating the Central Arkansas Bears 89-78.
Although Central Arkansas started a much taller lineup than Georgetown, the Hoyas wasted no time in establishing themselves on the glass, pulling in five offensive rebounds on the first possession alone. On the afternoon, the Hoyas outrebounded the Bears by a 55-31 margin. Yurtseven was a big part of this, pulling in 15 boards and adding 17 points for his second double-double in as many games.
Georgetown’s offense did not miss a beat from Wednesday’s second half, as the hot shooting continued Saturday. In the first half alone, Jagan Mosely and Jamorko Pickett knocked down two threes apiece as the Hoyas shot over 50% from beyond the arc. In addition, LeBlanc made his return to the court after serving a one-game suspension for an undisclosed “violation of team rules”. Decidedly unlike him, LeBlanc had minimal impact on the court, with just two dunks and two made free throws for a total of six points.
Still, defensive miscues for Georgetown allowed Central Arkansas to keep pace in the first half. Mac McClung was a big part of the problem, often failing to close out on three-point shooters as the Bears knocked down eight triples of their own in the first period.
After Central Arkansas’ Hayden Koval converted an and-one to cut the lead to three with just over three minutes to play in the half, Hoya fans were worried that they would have to sweat out another close game. Luckily, Georgetown responded with a twelve point run, capped off by an and-one from Mosely to extend the lead to 15. The Bears did respond with another three to cut the lead to 12 at the break.
It would have been nice to see Georgetown put the game away early in the second half, but a lack of defensive intensity allowed Central Arkansas to hang around. Koval once again came up big for the Bears, first converting around the rim and then knocking down a three on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to single digits with 16:51 to play. Koval would finish the game as the Bears’ leading scorer with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting.
With Georgetown’s starters struggling defensively, Ewing chose to roll with some reserves for much of the second half. This unit was marginally better defensively, while also showing improvements from Wednesday’s poor offensive performance. Galen Alexander scored nine and Terrell Allen tallied his first six points in a Hoya uniform as Georgetown’s bench chipped in 38 points in the win.
Though the Hoyas would never pull away, they were content to trade buckets and let the clock run out. A Jahvon Blair three-pointer with 3:50 to play all but sealed the deal as Georgetown took a 15-point lead.
While Yurtseven was a star on the offensive end, it was surprising to see the backcourt duo of McClung and Akinjo struggle, shooting a combined three for 18 from the floor. Mosely and Pickett, though primarily defensive specialists, picked up the slack and showed off how much they’ve grown on the offensive end. Still, the Hoyas’ dynamic sophomore guards will need to be at their best if Georgetown is to beat Penn State on Thursday.
Overall though, the biggest concern for Ewing and his staff has to be team defense. Giving up 78 points to a mid-major team like Central Arkansas is not great under any circumstances, but the eye test looked even worse. It often seemed as if Georgetown was a step slow to help when the Bears challenged around the rim. In addition, leaving capable three point shooters open looks is never a good recipe for success.
With Penn State and the dynamic Lamar Stevens coming to town on Thursday, getting the defensive mistakes sorted out will be the first priority for Ewing and his staff. It’s unclear whether this will involve changing around the rotation, or simply motivating the team to have some pride on the defensive end, but something has to be done.
The Hoyas should be happy to be 2-0 given how poorly they’ve played, but the rest of the schedule will be nowhere near as forgiving.
