Kaiden Rice led the way as Georgetown took down UMBC in a statement 100-71 win on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. The main story of the game was Rice breaking Georgetown’s all-time record for the most three pointers made in a single game with 10 (well above the previous record of 7), but many other Hoyas also posted banner games against the Retrievers.
Right off the tip, Georgetown brought energy and cohesion that had been lacking in their trips to California and South Carolina. UMBC had a really tough time keeping up with Georgetown’s pace and size. Within just six minutes, the Hoyas had already put up 20 points, prompting a UMBC timeout.
Soon after, the Retrievers stormed back and even took a 33-31 lead at one point. But their momentum quickly fizzled out as the Hoyas took control of just about every facet of the game from there on out. The Hoyas clobbered UMBC on the boards by a 61 to 30 margin and shot what can be safely considered lights on from beyond the three-point line. As a team, Georgetown shot 50% from the field and 57% from three-point range, allowing the Hoyas to extend the lead in the second half behind a points barrage.
Individually, many Hoyas showed out on Wednesday night. Despite going an abysmal 0-8 during his homecoming against South Carolina, Kaiden Rice sunk an unbelievable 10 threes on only 12 attempts in the contest, scoring a career-high 34 points. Ryan Mutombo also posted a career-high 15 points in his first double-double for the Blue and Gray, earning him a seat in the post-game press conference. “It’s easier to shoot the ball when the first couple go in,” Mutombo commented after the win.
Aminu Mohammed demonstrated what has quickly become his trademark hustle and work ethic in yet another double-double performance (now his third on the season). Ewing also noted that Georgetown is “putting [Aminu] on the best offensive guy on the opposing team and he’s only a freshman”.
Dante Harris also delivered a complete game against UMBC and has now scored at least 13 points in every game this season since the Dartmouth loss. Both he and Tyler Beard also handled the ball impressively against UMBC’s pesky Darnell Rogers, who may be only listed at 5’2” but averages 3 steals a game and makes it very hard to dribble up the court. Beard handled the on-ball pressure like a veteran and distributed an eye-popping 6 assists in only 15 minutes of action. Malcom Wilson also used his height and agility to post a career-high four blocks in the team effort. Each and every Hoya that touched the court seemed to provide something different that helped the team win in such a convincing fashion.
Wednesday’s win showed that Ewing’s gumbo may be cooking again. While the unreal night from Rice may have been the headline story, it appears that the pieces may finally be coming together for this Georgetown team. Ewing was pleased to note in the press conference that their 22 team assists was the highest of the season, but he may not even have realized that Georgetown has not put up that many assists since the win against SMU back in 2019.
Despite the win, the Hoyas will have an even larger task ahead of them on Saturday that needs no introduction. Rice commented on this win and what it means in advance of the duel with Boeheim and the Orange: “I think this definitely gives us some momentum—we were looking for this kind of big blowout win to carry us into Syracuse… I think we found our identity scoring.”
What the weekend holds remains a mystery, but the Hoyas ought to be thrilled about Wednesday’s performance on both ends of the court.
