Twenty minutes into Sunday night’s game, Georgetown looked like the same team that had been embarrassed by Penn State just three days before. Luckily, the Hoyas were able to right the ship in the second half, overcoming a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Georgia State 91-83. Mac McClung led all scorers with 25 points, while Omer Yurtseven recorded his fourth consecutive double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, 11 of them coming on the offensive end.
After two consecutive rough performances, McClung came out looking to change that narrative. He knocked down three of his first four shots to tally seven quick points and pace the Hoyas in the early going. While Georgetown’s starters were able to open up a 19-11 lead in the opening minutes, the team’s second unit struggled, allowing Georgia State to go on a 9-0 run to claim a one-point lead with 8:43 to play in the first half. During this stretch, the Hoyas went over six and a half minutes without a field goal, largely due to poor shot selection. However, part of the blame surely falls upon Coach Ewing for his questionable lineup rotations; at one point Allen, Blair, Mosely, LeBlanc and Wahab were the five Hoyas on the floor. This group featured little offensive firepower, and predictably could not get anything going.
Even after Ewing brought the starters back in, Georgia State maintained nearly all the momentum. Despite a size disadvantage, the Panthers were able to find success on the glass, out-rebounding the Hoyas 21-17 in the first half. Forward Josh Linder was a big part of this, as he tallied eight boards while scoring 12 points in the first half alone. He ended up posting a double-double, finishing the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Thanks to Linder’s strong performance, and 12 points from Corey Allen, the Panthers took a 39-33 lead into the intermission.
After a rocky first 20 minutes, Georgetown was in need of a strong second half. McClung once again took charge, scoring five points in the first two minutes coming out of the break.
After getting fouled on a three-point attempt, Mac converted all three free throws to tie the game at 48 with 15:29 to play.
In the post-game press conference, Ewing called Josh LeBlanc the team’s “energizer bunny”; that was clear to anyone watching Sunday’s second half. After a few minutes of back and forth basketball, LeBlanc came up with a big block on defense and then converted an and-one on the ensuing possession to put the Hoyas up six with under nine minutes to play. Jagan Mosely maintained the momentum, throwing down a monstrous one-handed slam in transition.
Mosely followed it up by taking a charge on the other end of the floor.
The Panthers would stay competitive, but never could get within six during the final six minutes. Free throws were big in putting it away for the Hoyas. They finished a combined 40 of 51 from the line, with McClung shooting a perfect 11 for 11.
Following the team’s loss to Penn State, Ewing had mentioned he would likely shorten the bench in the future. In the first half, that did not seem to be the case, as eleven Hoyas saw action. However, this changed following halftime, as the coaching staff chose to stick with what was working. Outside of the five starters, LeBlanc and Allen were the only reserves to see more than four minutes of game time in the second half. This allowed Georgetown to find more of a rhythm offensively, which should signal to Ewing that this is the right strategy going forward.
While Yurtseven had another big night, he was forced to watch from the bench for much of the second half due to foul trouble. It was exciting to see Ewing utilize a “small-ball” lineup, with LeBlanc as the only true big on the floor, during this stretch. While Ewing commented that the rotation will all depend on game-flow, I’d certainly like to see more of this look in the coming games.
The team’s second half performance was certainly a step in the right direction, but Georgetown still has a lot to work on before heading to Madison Square Garden. Three-point defense continues to be a major concern, as Georgia State shot just over 38% from beyond the arc. Conversely, the Hoyas struggled to knock down threes of their own, making just three of 18 attempts. “We need our guys to be able to make shots, especially wide open shots,” Ewing said in reference to the team’s three-point woes.
This was indeed a big win for these Hoyas. After all the mistakes that were made over the course of this four-game homestand, ending it 3-1 is far from the worst possible result. Still, the Hoyas are yet to put together 40 minutes of quality basketball; they will need to do just that if they are to take down Texas on Thursday.
