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Georgetown Basketball: January 2013 News Archive

Georgetown 74, Seton Hall 52 1/30/13  

Seton Hall entered Wednesday's game with Georgetown averaging 15 turnovers. Fifteen would have been a good number tonight.

Instead, 25 turnovers and a run of second half foul trouble sank the Pirates as Georgetown sailed to a 74-52 win, its fifth in its last six.

The Hoyas began the game with good passing and even better defense, going on runs of 7-0 and 9-0 to build a 20-4 lead in the first eight minutes of play. Georgetown collected seven assists on seven field goals, while the Pirates turned the ball over on four of its first five possessions and eight in the first eight minutes en route to 14 turnovers in the first half alone.

The only thing that stopped this one from being a runaway early was foul trouble, where two quick fouls on Georgetown's Otto Porter seemed to ground the Hoyas' attack. After starting the game shooting 7 for 10, GU missed six of its next seven as it lacked a consistent scoring option, and the Pirates helped closed the lead to seven, 23-16, at the 4:38 mark. Baskets by Nate Lubick and Otto Porter pushed the lead back to double digits, but the Hoyas managed only one more field goal down the stretch, a late tip-in from junior John Caprio, to carry a 32-22 lead into halftime. From its 7-10 start, the Hoyas finished 11-25 from the field at halftime, holding Seton Hall to 38 percent shooting and a woeful 2-11 from three point range.

The first four minutes of the second half were the Pirates' undoing. Not only did the Hall allow Georgetown to go on a 12-2 run to open the half, thanks to seven from Porter and five from Markel Starks, but the Pirates committed numerous early fouls that put the Hoyas into the shooting bonus with 16:19 to play. Though the Georgetown free throw shooting was no better than 50 percent for the half, the frequent runs to the line only strengthened a lead that was already at 20 five minutes after halftime.

Reserves such as D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (22 minutes, 11 points, six rebounds), Moses Ayegba (11 mins., 5 pts, 3 rebs.), and Aaron Bowen (12 mins, 2 rebs.) all saw plenty of action in the second half as the Hoyas increased the lead to 28 with 8:11 to play, as did John Caprio, whose five points and six rebounds (tying for the game high) were career highs. Despite a rough shooting night (4-13), Smith-Rivera continued to excel defensively and the Hoyas led by as many as 32, 67-35, with 4:31 remaining. At that point, Coach Thompson began to empty the bench, where freshman David Allen closed out the scoring with four points down the stretch, including a long range three with 25 seconds remaining for his first points of the season.

Overall, Porter led all scorers with 20 points and just one turnover, followed by 16 points from Starks including four of Georgetown's eight three point field goals. Nate Lubick had eight points, four rebounds and a game high five assists.

 7-10 (70%)
First 10 FG att.,
Georgetown

17-41 (41%)
FG attempts,
remainder of game

25
S. Hall turnovers

29
S. Hall fouls

12
Minutes for guard
John Caprio

6
Rebounds for
Caprio (game high)

15
Georgetown steals

+18
GU advantage,
pts. off turnovers

3-23
Seton Hall record
at Georgetown
(1979-present)

The Pirates were simply ineffective on both sides of the ball, shooting 27 percent in the second half with 11 turnovers to go with the 14 before halftime. Seton Hall's leading scorer this season, Fuquan Edwin, was scoreless at the half and finished with nine, eight points below his season average. Center Eugene Teague, who scored 22 points last weekend versus St. John's, fouled out midway in in the second half with just four points. Georgia Tech transfer Brian Oliver had 13 points, but the remainder of the starting lineup was a combined 7 for 20 with 15 turnovers. Three Pirates fouled out and the Hall finished with twice as many fouls (29) than field goals (14).

"They're just not grasping it," said Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard "Unless you've gone through this league and kind of understand it, we have four teams that play zone, four teams that play really tough man-to-man, four teams that play no defense. We have some teams that play half-zone, half-man. Playing Sunday and only having two days to get ready for Georgetown is a tough task for a young team. I was worried about that."

"Again, it's tough to defend 25 turnovers, it's deflating. But just erase this game."

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       33   2-4   4-5   0-2   1   2  1   16 
Trawick      25   1-1   0-3   2-2   2   1  1    4
Porter       23   4-5   2-4   6-7   3   3  2   20
Lubick       30   3-5   0-0   2-2   4   5  1    8 
Hopkins      20   1-4   0-0   0-1   2   2  3    2
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 22   2-5   1-4   4-6   6   2  0   11
Allen         2   0-1   1-1   1-2   0   0  0    4
Bolden        2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Bowen        12   0-3   0-2   0-2   2   0  3    0 
Caprio       12   1-2   0-0   2-6   6   2  3    4 
Domingo       6   0-0   0-0   0-0   1   1  1    0 
Ayegba       11   2-2   0-0   1-2   3   1  5    5
Hayes         2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  2    0
Injured: Adams
Suspended: Whittington
Team Rebounds                       2
TOTALS      200 16-32   8-19 18-32 32  19 22   74

Additional coverage follows below:

Charles J. Capozzoli (1931-2013) 1/30/13  

We take a moment to note the passing of one of the great student athletes in Georgetown history, Charlie Capozzoli (F'53), who passed away last week at the age of 81.

Capozzoli ran cross country as a collegian, winning the 1952 NCAA individual title and the NCAA title in the four mile indoor race. He was the first college runner ever to break nine minutes in the indoor two mile, and finished seventh in the 1952 Olympics in the 5000m, a race won by the legendary runner Emil Zatopek. Capozzoli was Georgetown's only Olympic entrant in track and field between the 1932 and 1984 Summer Games.

In the link above, Capozzoli remembered his return to Washington following the 1952 NCAA title.

"After coming back from the Olympics in great shape I won that IC4A meet which was a five-mile race," he recalled. "A week later was when I flew to Michigan alone to run the NCAA race which was four miles...So I won that race and beat Bob Black’s record and that night when the plane was landing there was an announcement, ‘Charlie Capozzoli please be the last one to disembark.’ I had no idea what in the world was going on, as it was 12:30 at night. As soon as I hit the door the Georgetown band was playing and about 500 students were there. In those days the terminals weren't that big and they took over the terminal and had a caravan back to Georgetown. That was a lot to excite a young man. It was one of my greatest experiences for having won a race."

Five Numbers To Watch 1/29/13  

A longtime reader to the site posed this question--is the loss of Greg Whittington addition by subtraction for the Hoyas, who have won four of five since Whittington was sidelined, or is is merely a case of over performance?

There are very few recent examples in Georgetown history of players lost in the second half of the season and the impact of the loss on the final season outcome. In 1994, George Butler was dismissed from the team two games into the 1994-95 Big East season, and was replaced in the starting lineup by senior John Jacques. Jacques' final Big East averages (8.6 ppg, 1.9 apg.) were less than Butler's 12.9 average, but the rising star of Allen Iverson more than made up the difference. In 1998-99, Kenny Brunner quit the team after 11 Big East games averaging 11.2 points per game, but replacement guard Joseph Touomou fared poorly, averaging 3.6 points in the remaining games.

Whittington's 12.1 points per game through Jan. 7 have largely been matched by the combination of Jabril Trawick (5.3 ppg) and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (6.7 ppg), but the loss of Whittington on defense has yet to be truly felt. Georgetown's success over the past five games has been less about these players over-performing, than by the impact of five important statistics:

  1. Georgetown Possessions. Georgetown ranks near the bottom of the league in possessions per game. In its five games since Whittington was suspended, the Hoyas have not crossed 55 net possessions per game (defined as shot attempts, less offensive rebounds, plus possessions that end in a turnover), and as such have a smaller margin from which to make mistakes. In the past five games, Georgetown is averaging about 1.0 point per possession before rebounds and turnovers, or about 63 points per game. Absent a robust three point shooting effort, Georgetown's offensive throughout now hovers around 60 points, so it must maximize possessions with better quality shots and fewer turnovers (see below).
  2. Opponent Possessions. Georgetown ranks 2nd among Big East teams in net opponent possessions per game at 52.0. The more possessions opponents can get, the more likely a game can get away from the Hoyas, as it did versus Pitt. In the last three games, Georgetown has kept South Florida, Notre Dame, and Louisville to 47, 47, and 48 possessions, respectively, well below their averages and a net reduction in the number of points they are able to generate. Louisville dropped from an average of 56.0 possessions to 48, a net loss of 10.8 points that they would otherwise convert at their standard rate of performance.
  3. Georgetown Turnovers. Because Georgetown plays a slower offense, turnovers are especially costly, but in each of the four wins the Hoyas have been able to prevail with a net loss of no more than -5 in turnovers (for example, giving up 16 to St. John's but forcing 11). The USF game was a -10 in turnovers and that was the margin USF needed to stay in the game. If Georgetown can stay under 10 turnovers a game, as it did against Notre Dame, the Hoyas become a very tough out.
  4. Field Goal Attempts, Markel Starks. Starks averages 9.7 field goal attempts per game this season but has been more effective when he picks his shooting up. In wins over St. John's, Providence, and Louisville, Starks averaged 16.7 points on an average of 12.7 attempts per game, in the loss to USF he was 1-8. Georgetown fans expect Otto Porter to be consistently good every game, and he has, but counts on a big game from Starks as opponents continue to draw down on Porter in second half offensive sets.
  5. Halftime Score. A good first half is essential for Georgetown--this is not traditionally a comeback team because it does not always have the ability to speed up games to pick up points when trailing at the half. Georgetown is 13-1 this season in games leading at the half, 1-3 when trailing. In the JT III era, it is 162-23 leading at the half, but just 30-60 when trailing.
Extra Time? The 24 Seconds That Wasn't 1/26/13  

While neither as fateful nor as ignominious as the 2003 game where Seton Hall helped beat Georgetown with six men on the court, writers at Deadspin noticed something that John Thompson III, Rick Pitino, ESPN, and almost all of the 20,500 at Verizon Center apparently did not. During a 24.37 second interval in the second half, the Verizon Center game clock stood at 6:07 remaining to play, and did not move.

Each team had one possession in the interval and did not score, but had Louisville scored in its final possession and the extra 24 seconds proved the difference, it would certainly be a point of discussion.

(And for those who weren't around here in 2003, the sixth man incident is found at the News Archive pages.)

Georgetown 53, Louisville 51 Updated 1/26/13  

Defense was the order of the day at Verizon Center Saturday, where Georgetown upset the #5-ranked Louisville Cardinals in a stirring 53-51 finish. The Hoyas led by just one with 2:22 to play and held Louisville scoreless in five consecutive possessions to end the game.

There was no pause in this game as both teams opened with fury and stayed that way. The Hoyas opened up 4 for 5 from the field but gave up four turnovers, with kept the score close after the first five minutes of play. A pair of inside baskets to Mikael Hopkins and Nate Lubick pushed the lead to 14-10, and in the midst of four Cardinal turnovers the Hoyas posted a 10-3 run to lead 24-15 midway through the half.

Louisville fought back with expert defense and flawless free throw shooting. Despite one basket earned in the last 9:39 of the first half, Louisville still cut in to the lead. Criticized for a poor performance at the line in a loss at Villanova, the Cardinals redeemed themselves early with a 12 of 12 effort from the line to close to two, 31-29, as the Hoyas missed seven of its eight shots down the stretch. Georgetown's only basket of the last seven minutes came inside from Nate Lubick at the 1:05 mark, which gave Georgetown a 33-29 lead at the break, shooting 11 for 23 from the field, 5 for 13 from three, and with nine turnovers.

The offensive firepower of the first half was cooled by defense on both sides of the floor to open the second. Georgetown missed five of its first six shots to open the second but its defense held Louisville to a draw over the first five minutes of the half. Despite missing three layup attempts, Georgetown led by three midway through the half, 41-38, shutting down Louisville on its next three possessions while a pair of drives from Markel Starks bumped the lead to seven, 45-39. A pair of Russ Smith baskets closed the mark to 46-43, and off a Georgetown turnover the Cards were prepared to strike again, but Starks broke up a two-on-one break, and connected on a long jumper on the other end, 48-43.

Porter struggled offensively in the second half, missing four straight shots, but Starks was the primary playmaker for the Hoyas down the stretch. Nevertheless, a pair of turnovers opened the door for Louisville, where Russ Smith and Gorgui Dieng each drove inside to tie the score at 48 with 5:40 to play. A missed Starks layup inside, his third of the half, was saved with a tip-in Nate Lubick, but the Hoyas then gave up an inside basket by Dieng to knot the score at 50.

In each of the next three possessions, the U of L defense took Georgetown deep into the shot clock and the shot selection suffered as a result. With 3:42 to play D'Vauntes-Smith Rivera missed an inside shot that was then bailed out by an driving under-handed tip-in from Aaron Bowen, 52-50.

"I was almost towards half court, I have never seen anything like it," Starks said. "I tell him he's one of the most athletic guys on the court. He just came out of nowhere, and it was unbelievable."

Bowen's tip-in was bigger than anyone knew at the time, in that it was the last basket scored by either team the remainder of the game. The 6-6 junior, who entered the game with just 49 points in his career before Saturday's game, told Coach Thompson he could make the basket.

 10-15
First 15 FG att.,
Georgetown

6-31
FG attempts,
remainder of game

4-5
First 5 3FG att.,
Georgetown

1-12
3FG attempts,
remainder of game

12-12
Louisville FT's, 1st half

4-10
Louisville FT's, 2nd half

7-7
Scoring over
last two games.
GU's Nate Lubick

10
Louisville steals

17
Georgetown turnovers

+2
UL adv.,
pts. off turnovers

3-4
3 pt. shooting,
UL's Luke Hancock

0-7
3 pt. shooting,
rest of UL team

1/30/91
Last Georgetown win
over a #5 ranked team
(St. John's)

"Literally, the dead ball before his basket, he says I'm going to get one coach, I'm going to get one, and then he goes out and does it," Thompson remarked. "That's pretty good. "

The Hoya defense continued to frustrate the Cardinals, holding them short on a long three pointer from Wayne Blackshear and a short jumper from Chane Behanan off an offensive rebound. But on GU's next possession, with the shot clock winding down due to continued interior defense by the Cardinals, Starks was left with a long three that missed and set up the Cardinals to retake the lead yet again. Fouled inside, the hot touch from the line which had followed the Cards in the first half was long gone in the second, as Chane Behanan missed the back end of the one for GU to lead 52-51.

Georgetown had missed eight straight attempts from three point range entering the two minute mark, and Porter made it nine straight with a bad shot at the 1:44 mark. Surprisingly, Louisville went for a quick three on its next possession, and missed with similar results. Georgetown took over with 1:41 left but went deep into the shot clock with few options. A sideline pass to Otto Porter was ruled a turnover when Porter stepped on the end line, turning the ball back to Louisville, still down just one.

Back came the Cardinals. The Hoyas held yet again, but within a scrum for the ball under the Cards' basket, Louisville called time out with 37 seconds remaining and four remaining on the shot clock. Off the time out, Russ Smith's shot went short, but Gorgui Dieng reached in on a rebound grabbed by Otto Porter. What looked like a quick foul was ruled a jump ball, sending John Thompson whirling in disbelief and returning the ball to the Cardinals with 22 seconds left.

Holding for the last shot, the Cards went with senior Peyton Siva, who has made his share of game winning shots over his career but had been largely unproductive in this game, with only one shot taken--and missed--all afternoon. Off a pick and roll that separated him from Georgetown's Nate Lubick, Siva saw an opening in the defense and took his shot, which caromed off the rim and into Porter's arms, where the foul was called and he added a free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining.

"We got a decent shot, wasn't a great shot, it was a decent shot," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. " I wanted [Siva] to get [his] confidence going a little bit as well."

Referring to tip-ins by Lubick and Bowen down the stretch, Pitino noted that "They won the game by us not blocking out twice when we could have had the lead and that really, really hurt us, and that was the difference maker in the game."

Free throws were not as kind to either team--Georgetown was 2 for 4 after halftime, while Louisville went 4 for 10, which may have been the true margin of defeat for a Louisville team which failed to lock down games at the line this season.

Porter finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, along with 17 from Starks. Thompson was strong in his praise for both Starks and Lubick in the game.

"You heard me say this before, it's easy to look at the points, and [Starks] hit big shots when we needed them, but probably more importantly fighting over those ball screens and staying in front of their guards," Thompson said. "It's hard work and I thought he did that all night."

"You look at Nate Lubick's numbers and if you just analyze the numbers and haven't watched the game or don't really understand the game, you don't see that Nate did not have quantity stats, he had quality stats. When we needed a rebound, he was in there getting a rebound. A couple of key possessions, he was the one helping when guys were trying to turn the corner. I thought Nate was terrific today."

Defensively, The Hoyas kept the Louisville guards in check, as Russ Smith, averaging 18.7 points per game entering Saturday's matchup, was held to 12 points and Peyton Siva (11.5) was scoreless in 23 minutes.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       38   6-12  1-4   2-2   2   1  2   17
Trawick      30   0-1   1-1   1-2   8   2  2    4
Porter       38   3-8   2-5   5-6  12   7  2   17
Lubick       33   3-3   0-0   0-0   4   0  3    6
Hopkins      13   1-2   0-0   0-0   0   2  2    2
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 29   0-4   1-6   2-2   3   2  1    5
Bowen        15   1-2   0-1   0-0   3   0  2    2
Ayegba        4   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  2    0
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Caprio, Domingo, Hayes
Suspended: Whittington
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       2    
TOTALS      200 14-32   5-17 10-12 34  14 16   53

Additional coverage follows below:

One Season, Six Jerseys 1/23/13

After having worn jerseys of camouflage (once), gray, blue, white (once) and black (once) this season, Georgetown will roll out a sixth jersey Feb. 15 versus Cincinnati, according to reports.

The design to the right is part of the Nike Hyper Elite campaign, which will see a total of 12 teams debut different styles over the next month.

"The short is made of 100% recycled polyester while the jersey is made from at least 96% recycled polyester -- an average of 22 recycled plastic bottles per uniform," reads a Nike release.

Fans may remember a similar uniform change in 2010 which saw Georgetown outfitted in a metallic silver jersey in a loss to Notre Dame.

This is the sixth jersey combination for the Hoyas in 2012-13, though a reader on the HoyaTalk board noted that it's actually seven--the gray uniforms did not arrive on time at the start of the season and Georgetown actually wore the 2010-12 style jerseys in the home opener with Duquesne.

Edwards: The Next Generation 1/23/13  

Twenty-three years ago, David Edwards was a 41 point-per-game high school star whose one season at Georgetown clashed with the slower pace of the John Thompson era. His son, Corey, is now at George Mason and was recently featured in this link to the Washington Post.

“My dad,” Corey said, “definitely gave [Thompson] some of the gray hairs he has."

"I wasn’t a complete player [at GU],” David Edwards told the Post. “I wish I could’ve been more mature after high school. I could’ve listened more.” Edwards transferred to Texas A&M after just one season at Georgetown, helping set that school's all-time assist record.

Corey Edwards is the third generation in the family to play college ball, as his grandfather, Dave Edwards, was a team captain at Virginia Commonwealth in the early 1970's, averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 assists in the 1971-72 season.

Georgetown 63, Notre Dame 47 Updated 1/22/13  

The Notre Dame home court record is daunting: 47-2 at home. 112 of its last 120. 97-3 at home versus unranked opponents. Such are the numbers that are at risk for most Big East teams this season, as there are 10 teams in the middle of the conference that can rise or fall on any given night. And two days after a tough loss to South Florida, Georgetown turned up the defense and Notre Dame turned away.

Freshman D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera keyed an 18-0 second half run in propelling the Hoyas to a big win over the Fighting Irish, 63-47, reversing the Hoyas' course following its loss Saturday at South Florida and earning GU its first win in South Bend since the 2005-06 season.

To be fair, the Hoyas caught #20 Notre Dame on a good night, because the Irish had a run of bad luck shooting, and showed a noticeable lack of intensity throughout the game. A three pointer here or there could have turned the tide as it did Saturday in Tampa, but Monday it just wasn't there.

ND opened the game shooting 0 for 4 while the Hoyas, 0 for 2 on their opening series, made six straight to open up a 17-8 lead at the 11:44 mark of the first half. ND entered the game as the top ranked Big East school in shooting percentage (50.5%) but could not get its backcourt on track, while its frontcourt weapons were held in check throughout the half by a stout Georgetown defense.

The Irish closed to just four at the 5:24 mark, 25-21, but the Hoyas responded with a 9-0 run to end the half, driven by expert ball handling and an effective passing largely unseen in conference play to date. Led by 12 points from Otto Porter, the Hoyas picked up 13 assists on its 16 first half field goals, and held the Irish to 30% shooting at the break.

Georgetown opened early in the second with a Nate Lubick basket to push the lead to 15, 36-21, but managed one basket over the next eight minutes as foul trouble to Lubick and Mikael Hopkins gave new life to the Irish. ND guards Eric Atkins and Jerrian Grant, neutralized in the first half, began to feed forward Pat Connaughton, who helped the Irish close the gap to seven at 36-29 and three at the 12:02 mark, 40-37.

With the home team getting back in the game, Georgetown needed some help from the bench and got it from freshman D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. A DSR three at the 11:39 mark ended the GU scoring drought, 43-37, and after the Hoyas held ND scoreless over its next two possessions, a Smith-Rivera jumper pushed the lead back to 45-37. The Irish settled for "one and done" on its offensive possessions, and Georgetown took full advantage. The Hoyas scored on its next four possessions from Otto Porter and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, pushing the lead to 17, 54-37, and sending the usually boisterous home crowd began heading back to the dorms.

 47
Fewest pts scored
at home by ND in
since 1/29/1972

97-4
4th loss by
ND at home
to unranked team
in last 101 games

0
GU fast break pts.

+12
ND adv.,
pts. off turnovers

+11
GU adv.,
rebounds

+8
GU adv.,
assists

40.6%
ND 3-pt.
shooting avg.

12.5%
ND 3-pt.
shooting vs.
Georgetown (2-16)

"Some of those shots were shots that could have really changed the climate of the game," said ND coach Mike Brey. "We didn't get any of them."

The Irish continued to languish from the outside and failed to get the ball to leading scorer Jack Cooley, even as Hopkins had fouled out and Lubick was on the bench with his fourth foul. Jabril Trawick added consecutive baskets to go up 58-39 at the 5:00 mark, and a Starks three with 4:03 extended the lead to 22, 61-39. By the time the game was over, the ND band played a hurried version of the Notre Dame Victory March, with the sense that this was one game to get past quickly.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey minced no words in his post game assessment: "That was a thorough beating."

Porter led all scorers with 19, Smith Rivera adding 14, nine from Starks, eight from Lubick, and seven from Trawick. Moses Ayegba had his best game of the season, picking up 10 rebounds as Hopkins and Lubick sat for most of the second half with fouls. Defensively, Georgetown was outstanding in limiting Notre Dame's starters from asserting the strong shooting numbers it had earned this season and limited the assist plays that drive Brey's motion offense. ND entered the game averaging 18.6 assists per game, and left the game with just 11. Of Georgetown's 24 field goals, 19 were by assist.

"How would I sum this up?" asked Georgetown coach John Thompson III. "We weren't good the other night; we were good tonight. Hopefully we'll be good the next night."

Such is life in the vesper half of the Big East.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       38   2-6   1-3   2-2   5   4  2    9
Trawick      28   2-4   1-2   0-0   6   6  2    7
Porter       40   4-6   3-4   2-4   9   2  1   19
Lubick       20   4-4   0-0   0-0   2   3  4    8
Hopkins      15   1-1   0-0   2-2   0   1  5    4
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 29   4-6   2-6   0-0   2   1  0   14
Bowen         6   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Ayegba       24   0-3   0-0   2-4  10   2  2    2
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Caprio, Domingo, Hayes
Suspended: Whittington
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       1    
TOTALS      200 17-30   7-15  8-12 35  19 16   63

Post game coverage follows below.

Last Call At South Bend? Updated 1/22/13  

And while it's too early to say for sure, unless the two schools get a home and away series in the Big East scheduling next year, Monday's game could be Georgetown's final appearance at South Bend for the foreseeable future. Notre Dame moves to the ACC in the 2014-15 season, and Georgetown has not scheduled any ACC expatriates once they have left the conference. As the two schools had no particular basketball rivalry before ND joined the Big East (just two regular season games before 1995-96), it's possible that the series will end next year without much fanfare.

Or even sooner. ESPN reported during the broadcast that Mike Brey hinted that ND may seek an exit from the Big East after the 2012-13 season to join Syracuse and Pittsburgh in ACC play next year.

Following Monday's game, Georgetown is 6-8 all-time in South Bend and is 2-3 in the JTIII era (2004-present).

South Florida 61, Georgetown 58 1/19/13 8:10 pm EST  

This one is going to hurt come March.

The Georgetown Hoyas squandered a 11 point second half lead on defense as South Florida, winless in the Big East to date (0-4), sank five threes in the first five minutes of the second half and held the Hoyas to one field goal in the final 5:21 for a 61-58 win at the Sun Dome Saturday, sending the Hoyas back into the lower tier of in the Big East standings with Notre Dame and Louisville around the corner.

Georgetown got off to a slow start, as the Hoyas took only one shot in the first four minutes while USF freshman Javontae Hawkins had six of the Bulls' first eight points, 8-3. With Otto Porter in early foul trouble, freshman D'Vauntes-Smith Rivera came up big in the first half, hitting 4-4 from the field and rallying the Hoyas on two occasions in the half. Georgetown runs of 8-0 and 9-0 established the lead, while the Bulls could simply not solve the Georgetown zone and proceeded to shoot 1-14 from outside, with only one field goal in the final 6:52 of the half. Georgetown shot 60 percent from the field to earn a comfortable 31-23 lead at the break.

South Florida made halftime adjustments on the perimeter that Georgetown did not and the Bulls made the Hoyas pay. Three pointers at 18:31, 18:06, 17:11, 15:48, and 15:00 remaining sparked a 18-2 run that gave USF a 38-36 lead, and while Georgetown did not give up they seemed to have no good answers for a run in kind.

Baskets by Otto Porter and Nate Lubick retook the lead at 41-40 but the lead was erased 27 seconds later by the Bulls' six and seventh threes of the evening, 46-41. While the Bulls did not score again from outside and managed only three field goals for the remainder of the game (one from a Mikael Hopkins goal tend), South Florida began to establish a flow for the game that limited any run outs by the Hoyas and forced the game into a war of attrition.

USF led by as many as six, 50-44 at the 9:03 mark when Otto Porter scored the next six points to close to 52-50 at the 6:58 mark. A brief attempt at a zone defense was soon abandoned by the Bulls as Lubick and Porter closed to 55-54 with 5:21 left, and the man to man sets only slowed the game down and gave Georgetown few if any second chance opportunities.

 1-14
USF 3-pt shooting,
1st half

7-13
USF 3-pt shooting,
2nd half

+11
GU adv.,rebounds

5
USF turnovers

8
GU pts. off
turnovers

15
GU turnovers

20
USF pts. off
turnovers

24-24
USF FT shooting
in last 2 mins.,
this season

1-7
GU record in
last 8 games played
outside DC or NYC

Among Georgetown's biggest weaknesses was a decided lack of offensive options in the second half. Porter and Lubick were the only scoring options left for the Hoyas in this game, combining for 21 of the Hoyas' 27 second half points. While the Bulls were able to roar back from three three point line, Georgetown's three point options were meager by comparison. Four different Georgetown players hit threes in the first half, while Otto Porter was the only such marksman after halftime. USF was, as expected, poor on rebounds, but made up for it in points off turnovers, picking up 20 points off 15 Georgetown turnovers.

Georgetown went as far as the trio of Porter (21), Smith-Rivera (16), and Nate Lubick (8 pts, 10 rebs.) would take them, which isn't going to be enough in the week to follow. Markel Starks and Jabril Trawick combined for 1 for 5 shooting in the second half, and allowed USF point guard Anthony Collins to score 14 points in the second half. Meanwhile, Mikael Hopkins continued his disappearing act, with no points or rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       37   0-3   1-5   0-0   2   1  3    3
Trawick      31   2-3   1-2   1-2   3   2  3    8
Porter       34   5-8   3-6   2-3   6   2  2   21
Lubick       34   4-6   0-1   0-0  10   3  5    8
Hopkins      17   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   1  1    0
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 31   3-4   2-3   4-5   6   4  1   16
Bowen        12   1-3   0-1   0-0   3   2  1    2
Ayegba        4   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Caprio, Domingo, Hayes
Suspended: Whittington
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       4    
TOTALS      200 15-27   7-18  7-10 34  15 16   58

Post game articles follow below:

Whittington Declared Ineligible 1/16/13  

Less than a day after Georgetown reiterated to the Washington Post that Greg Whittington's absence was due to a unspecified violation of team rules, school officials updated its story prior to Wednesday's game, declaring Whittington academically ineligible.

A offline release quoted by various media sources reported that "Greg will not participate in competition until further notice due to an eligibility issue."

Coach Thompson elaborated on the situation in Wednesday's post-game news conference.

"Insufficient academic process is a violation of team rules, so that didn't change," he said. "We got a couple of results this morning where it became more definitive than it was yesterday or prior to that. There was no need to put [ineligibility] out there until we got a read on exactly where we stood, but we got some news this morning and that's probably what changed."

Georgetown 74, Providence 65 1/16/13 9:30 pm EST  

It's never easy facing Providence, as the Georgetown Hoyas fought off a spirited second half comeback by the Friars in a 74-65 win at Verizon Center Wednesday night.

Georgetown's first half was solid from start to finish. From Providence's only lead of the half, 3-2, Otto Porter scored the next eight points and the Hoyas were on the move, 10-3. Baskets by Porter and markel Starks pushed the lead to 14-5, followed by consecutive threes from Aaron Bowen. The friars found things difficult on both sides of the court, and early foul trouble for forward Josh Fortune and center Kadeem Batts were further setbacks. A Batts basket with 8:20 to play until halftime closed the lead to 24-16, but the Friars made only one basket for the rest of the half, as Nate Lubick scored on the next three possessions and Georgetown outscored the Friars 8-0 to end the half up 19, 38-19. PC was held to 27% shooting while the Hoyas sailed to intermission on 67% percent shooting (16-24) as seven different players scored for the Hoyas by halftime.

The Hoyas opened the second half with a Markel Starks three to go up 22, 41-19, but as the Friars picked up the pace the Hoyas went flat. Providence's use of a three quarter court press and a hot hand from three point range began to cut into the lead, as baskets from Brice Cotton and Vincent Council closed to 43-30 at the 15:05 mark. A basket by Otto Porter at the 14:16 mark was Georgetown's only field goal over a six minute stretch as consecutive three pointers by LaDontae Henton and Brice Cotton made its mark, as the former 22 point lead was sliced to nine over five minutes of play.

Free throws from Mikael Hopkins and Otto Porter helped the Hoyas back to double digits, 48-38, but the Hoyas suffered mightily in offensive rebounds, as PC's Kadeem Batts collected a pair of easy baskets inside to close to eight, 50-42, with 11:21 to play. Baskets by Porter and D'Vauntes Smith Rivera pushed the lead to 12 midway in the half, but Cotton sank back to back threes between a pair of Nate Lubick free throws to close to nine, 54-45.

Defensively, the Hoyas caught a second wind down the stretch, as the Friars were seeing fewer lanes open inside and a renewed GU effort on the boards. Georgetown had just one offensive rebound in the game, but added four more in a four minute stretch where the Hoyas weren't getting many open looks but controlling the time of game. A Porter basket with 6:44 to play was Georgetown's only field goal over a seven minute stretch dominated by foul shots, to which Georgetown was effective in maintaining the lead but not letting PC too close for comfort.

A pair of free throws by Jabril Trawick eventually pushed the lead back to 14 with 3:49 left, but the Friars weren't through. LaDontae Henton hit a deep three and Vincent Council added two free throws in the next possession to close to nine, 65-56. Markel Starks drove for a much needed basket, 67-56, but in consecutive possessions the Friars managed to close to 67-60 with 2:10 to play, fouling out Nate Lubick as a result.

 66.7%
1st half shooting, GU

39.1%
2nd half shooting, GU

+12
PC adv.,
rebounds

+12
PC adv.,
off. rebounds

7
Assists for
Markel Starks,
career high

5-12
GU 3-pt shooting

7-20
PC 3-pt shooting

4-22
PC record
at Georgetown

Free throws remained Georgetown's friend all evening, as two from Hopkins pushed the lead to nine and following a visibly bad call that send Porter to the bench with his fifth foul, PC's Vincent Council hit two of three to close back to eight, 70-62. Down the stretch, PC turned the ball over on its next two possessions and the Hoyas converted with a pair of Starks free throws and a driving dunk from Aaron Bowen to put the game out of reach.

Otto Porter led the Hoyas with 20, followed by 16 from Markel Starks and 10 from Nate Lubick.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       38   4-6   1-3   5-6   0   7  1   16
Trawick      31   1-1   0-1   3-4   4   1  3    5
Porter       36   7-11  1-2   3-3   8   1  5   20
Lubick       24   4-6   0-0   2-2   4   1  5   10
Hopkins      28   2-8   0-0   4-6   2   2  2    8
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 29   1-2   1-3   2-4   4   5  2    7
Bowen        11   1-1   2-3   0-0   1   0  0    8
Ayegba        3   0-0   0-0   0-0   1   0  1    0
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Caprio, Domingo, Hayes
Suspended: Whittington
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       3    
TOTALS      200 20-35   5-12 19-25 27  17 19   74

Post game articles follow below:

Georgetown 67, St. John's 51 1/12/13  

The #19-ranked Georgetown Hoyas ended a two game skid in Big East play with a convincing 67-51 win over St. John's before 11,057 at Madison Square Garden Saturday. The Hoyas were without forward Greg Whittington, who was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules and did not travel with the team to New York.

Georgetown opened the game strong, shooting 4 for 8 while holding St. John's to 1 for 7 shooting. The Georgetown lead was 13-8 when the Hoyas picked up the interior passing. A basket and two free throws by Otto Porter pushed the lead to 17-8, followed by a Nate Lubick layup and a three by Markel Starks. The redmen did not only go without a point over a four minute period which saw the Hoyas go on a 14-0 run, they went as long without a rebound on either end of the floor, settling for turnovers or missed shots that were converted into open looks and high percentage shots for the Hoyas. In Whittington's absence, the bench was extended and to favorable results, as a basket from D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and a three from Aaron Bowen pushed the lead to 27-8 with 8:28 in the half.

St. John's leading scorer, D'Angelo Harrison, did not score until 7:27 to play in the half, 27-10, and the Hoyas followed up with six straight, including back to back layups by Porter and Starks, to extend the lead to 33-10. For its part, the Hoyas missed four consecutive layups and only scored one basket the remainder of the half, but St. John's JaKarr Sampson led the Redmen on a 9-3 run to end the half and close the lead to 36-19 at the break. Georgetown's 48% shooting and 3-4 from three point range led them to the lead, while St. John's suffered mightily from outside, missing all five attempts, and woeful 3 for 10 from the foul line.

Georgetown began the second half strong and St. John's did not. The Hoyas opened with three baskets in its first four attempts, while the Redmen missed three of its first four, and the lead was pushed back to 23 at the 17:24 mark, 45-22. The lead was 47-24 a minute later when both teams entered into an offensive stalemate with little outcome on the final score. St. John's missed its next six shots and did not score for four minutes, while the Hoyas missed its next seven and when Markel Starks picked up the bucket at the 13:14 mark, the lead was still 24, 51-27. The Hoyas managed just three baskets the remainder of the game (Lubick, 11:38; Bowen, 5:36, and Ayegba, 0:56) but its defense was sufficiently strong (and the St. John's offense sufficiently inept) that the lead did not go below 20 until the 1:21 mark of the game.

The Hoyas led by 26 with 5:36 to play via the free throw line and in the final two minutes the Redmen outscored the GU bench 8-2 to end the game. The 16 point margin was as close as St. John's was since the midway mark of the first half.

Otto Porter led all scorers with 19 points and 14 rebounds, as the Hoyas shot under 35% in the second half but ended with 44% on the afternoon. This was among the best team efforts of the season, as starters and reserves stepped up.

"Our guys responded today; up and down the line, every single person that was called upon came in and did their part," said coach John Thompson III.

Georgetown needed a big game from junior guard Markel Starks and got it, as Starks finished with 17 points with no turnovers. Nate Lubick kept the inside solid with Mikael Hopkins in foul trouble, with 11 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard D'Vauntes picked up a career high 10 rebounds, while Moses Ayegba, Aaron Bowen and John Caprio all seeing more than their usual share of time in the game.

 13
Defensive rebounds,
from Otto Porter,
career high

8
1st half FG's,
St. John's

7
1st half turnovers,
St. John's

7
1st half missed FT's,
St. John's

+15
GU adv.,
rebounds

55.1%
GU FG defense,
vs. Pitt

10
Rebounds for
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera,
career high

3
Rebounds for
John Caprio,
career high

3-8
GU 3-pt shooting

3-16
SJ 3-pt shooting

The St. John's stat line was a disappointing one. D'Angelo Harrison, leading the Big East with a 21.6 points per game average and 29 straight double figure games, finished with just seven, including 0-5 from three point range. Point guard Phil Greene was 0-4, small forward Amir Garrett 0-7. The St. John's bench contributed 22 of its 32 second half points in a game where St. John's, ranking fourth in the Big East in rebounds, was outrebounded 48-33, had more fouls (23) than field goals (21), and missed its first 13 attempts from the free throw line.

"They came out ready to play with a mentality that we didn't match," said St. John's sophomore Sir'Dominic Pointer, who scored 11 points off the bench. "This is what happens when you don't come out ready to play. We started off calm. We tried to come back, but against a good team, you're not going to come back."

"They beat us to the punch from start to finish," said St. John's coach Steve Lavin. "It's not really that complicated."

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       36   5-10  2-3   1-1   4   2  2   17 
Trawick      25   1-1   0-2   2-2   0   1  3    4
Porter       35   5-11  0-0   9-12 14   2  2   19
Lubick       32   5-8   0-0   1-3   6   3  3   11 
Hopkins      10   0-4   0-0   1-2   1   1  5    1
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 26   3-9   0-2   2-2  10   4  0    8
Bowen        16   1-3   1-1   0-0   1   1  4    5
Caprio        3   0-0   0-0   0-0   3   0  0    0
Domingo       3   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Ayegba       14   1-1   0-0   0-1   3   1  3    2
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Hayes
Suspended: Whittington
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       6      
TOTALS      200 19-47   3-8  16-23 48  15 22   67

Post game articles follow below:

Georgetown Announces $4M IAC Gift 1/12/13  

Georgetown University has announced a $4 million gift towards the future construction of the Intercollegiate Athletics Center from Ed (C'66) and Irene Shaw, as per a press release at GUHoyas.com.

"Irene and I have always been firm believers in the value of intercollegiate athletics to gather our community, build school spirit and enhance the undergraduate experience--not only the team members but also for their classmates and friends," Shaw said. "Our commitment reinforces this belief, along with the value of nationally competitive programs to enhance Georgetown University for now and years to come."

An additional $1 million gift from the Shaws will cover the 2012 renovation of the former North Kehoe Field, which has been renamed Shaw Field in their honor.

"Georgetown is deeply grateful to Ed and Irene for their many contributions to our community throughout the years and for their ongoing commitment to our Athletics programs," said University President John J. DeGioia (C'79, G'95). "As a university in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition, we are committed to the `care of the whole person'--to providing our students with the resources necessary for becoming their very best selves. Athletics are one of the most significant ways in which we can provide this support."

This is the first major gift announced for the $60 million project since it was publicly announced in September 2011. No construction date has been announced and it has not been disclosed how much of the $60 million has been raised to date.

Pittsburgh 73, Georgetown 45 1/9/13

"I know this isn't who we are."--John Thompson III

In the worst 40 minutes of John Thompson III's otherwise bright tenure at Georgetown, a punchless and ill-prepared Georgetown team was beaten up, spit out, and left for dead along the early Big East landscape in a 73-45 runaway by a Pittsburgh team which had won just of five of its last 20 games in conference, and had been beaten soundly by Rutgers (yes, Rutgers) just three days earlier. After two games, the Georgetown Hoyas sit at the bottom of the Big East standings.

On the boards, in the backcourt, and in basic offensive sets, Pittsburgh administered the worst beatdown to any Georgetown team in the history of the Big East, and its worst home court loss of any kind stretching back more than four decades. The end of Georgetown's 14 game home win streak is but a footnote mere hours after the streak was stepped over and left for another day.

"It's our last time playing here at Georgetown, and we wanted to make sure we come out with a bang," said Pitt senior Tray Woodall.

This one had the smell of trouble from the start. Georgetown managed just two Nate Lubick field goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Georgetown had no ability to set up offensive plays around the Pitt defense and as leading scorers Otto Porter and Greg Whittington were out of sorts, it spread like a virus across the team. From a 0-4 start of its own, Pitt turned up the heat connecting on six of its next seven to take a 14-4 lead from which they would never be seriously challenged.

Following a basket by Greg Whittington at the 11:23 mark, 14-6, the Hoyas connected on just one field goal over the 8:10, with seven turnovers, spotty play selection, and no shooting from outside, with one three pointer in four attempts. Despite a a first half which seemed to take up residence at the foul line, the Panthers led by just seven with 4:49 in the half, thanks to a lack of interior play by the Panthers and a tangible Georgetown presence inside by Lubick and/or Hopkins. At the 4:10 mark, Pitt forward Talib Zanna began to assert himself, scoring three baskets in as many possessions to push the lead to 30-19 with under three minutes to halftime.

A two pointer and three pointer by Markel Starks, his only baskets of the game, marked the Hoyas' only baskets in the final 8:51 of the first half, but by this point the Panthers were turning up the pressure and converting with relative efficiency, shooting 57 percent for the half and taking a 15 point lead into the break, 37-22. For its part, Georgetown had six baskets, six fouls, and nine turnovers for their 20 minute exhibition.

It didn't take long for this game to get out of hand, if it wasn't already. Porter scored his first basket of the game two minutes into the half but Hopkins soon picked up his third foul and disappeared from view. Greg Whittington, with one basket to his name to date, picked up his own third foul two minutes later. The Panthers led by 16 at 42-26 when Lubick and Pitt center Steven Adams fell to the floor and Lubick was called for the foul; Thompson's three word response earned him a rare technical and Pitt moved the margin to 18.

In a bygone era, this was the time when Georgetown would saddle up the horses and stage a fearsome comeback. But Perry McDonald and Charles Smith aren't walking through that door, and a young and inexperienced Georgetown team had no one to lean on. A brief relief of sorts was found in the play of junior Moses Ayegba, who turned in perhaps the best four minutes of his limited Georgetown career with six points over a four minute stretch when the Hoyas had no other scoring options, and Georgetown then closed to 47-34 on a Whittington three midway in the half. Off a Pitt time out, the Panthers went on an 11-1 run with relative ease, driving inside for dunks and layups while the Hoyas responded with two turnovers, two missed threes, and two missed jumpers.

A Nate Lubick basket at the 6:41 mark was Georgetown's first in three minutes and only its fifth basket since halftime, with the Hoyas now well out it at 55-37.

 13
GU FG's,
third fewest since 1978

37.5%
GU FG defense,
non-conf. games

55.1%
GU FG defense,
vs. Pitt

11
Pitt assists
on 15 1st half
field goals

+7
Pitt adv.,
rebounds

2-12
GU 3-pt shooting,
versus Pitt

7-27
GU 3-pt shooting,
last 2 games

19.7
Average margin of
victory by Pitt
in last three
games at GU

8-4
Pitt record vs.
Georgetown
at Verizon Center

Following Lubick, a D'Vauntes-Smith Rivers basket at the 5:51 mark marked the only time all evening that the Hoyas scored on consecutive possessions. Georgetown then connected on only one basket for the remainder of the game and Pitt cut through the Georgetown defense like an Alabama running back, leading by as many as 30 before Smith-Rivera added two free throws in the final 27 seconds.

John Thompson III called the game "embarrassing". Well, it ought to be. The Georgetown offense that battled the likes of Indiana, UCLA and even Texas never returned from that two week Christmas break: over the past four days, Georgetown has scored just 31 baskets in 87 attempts, and has been held under 50 in consecutive games for the first time since the 1949-1950 season. It has allowed its last two opponents to shoot over 52% in the second half while falling a combined -14 on rebound margin.

The starters combined for an absolutely soulless effort against a inspired but not overwhelming Pitt defense. Porter was contained on nearly every play and had little help in the offensive sets, finishing 2-8 from the field and nine points, marking the second time this season a Georgetown leading scorer failed to crack double digits. Before this season, that last took place on Jan. 23, 1954. Foul trouble and poor shooting appeared to weigh down Greg Whittington (2-6, 6 pts), who never was a factor in the game. The ESPNU announcers literally implored the Georgetown guards to step up in the game, and they failed to do so. Markel Starks, Jabril Trawick, and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera combined to go 4 for 16 and provided not a single assist--not one--between them. Trawick's most memorable play was an inadvertent elbow at the end of the first half and he took just one shot after halftime.

Hopkins played 14 minutes, was scoreless, and did not return after the 17:55 mark of the second half.

The only positive numbers in the game came from Nate Lubick (7 pts, 7 rebs) and Moses Ayegba (6 pts, 4 rebs.), who combined to shoot 5-6 from the floor for a combined 13 points and 11 rebounds. Trouble was, when excepting those numbers, the remainder of the team shot 8 for 32, 2 for 12 from three, and combined for 12 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

The Pitt stat sheet deserves recognition for a true team effort. Talib Zanna led the Panthers with 15 points, on 7-9 shooting. Zanna was assisted with 11 points and seven assists from senior Tray Woodall, nine points off the bench from J.J. Moore, and five points and seven rebounds from 6-5 forward Lamar Patterson. Every member of the Pitt team scored in an effort which saw the Panthers, entering the game 11th of 15 Big East teams in shooting, go for 52 percent in the second half and 55 percent overall, out rebounding the Hoyas 30-23, and forcing 17 turnovers, or four more turnovers than Georgetown managed field goals.

A lopsided game like this will not point fingers at just "a bad night" from Porter, a tepid effort from Whittington, or the continuing questions surrounding Hopkins' ability to be a serviceable Big East-caliber center. Instead, the focus until Saturday's game at St. John's will be directed at the inability of Thompson and his staff to have developed any consistent scoring when {Porter and/or Whittington are struggling, and the increasingly visible lack of bench development from the non-conference portion of the season.

Hopkins' ineffective play over the past two games has only magnified by the fact that Georgetown has two freshmen centers (Bradley Hayes, Brandon Bolden) who are largely unprepared to contribute this season. Of the three players that didn't see time in a game with seven minutes of garbage time, two were Hayes and Bolden. Add in a very inexperienced Stephen Domingo and the stats to prove it (2 for 16 from three point range), and the bench is as unlikely to make a major contribution in Big East play as any in the conference, perhaps outside Providence. That's not the recipe for an NCAA contender.

Pitt fans can relate. The Panthers, 28-6 just two seasons ago, fell apart offensively to open the 2011-12 season, losing its first seven Big East games and finishing 5-13 in the 2011-12 conference race. A year later, at 0-2, this was a win they needed, and they took it. This was a loss Georgetown did not need, and they gave it up far too easily.

"It's not like we're sitting here and are going to put our heads in the sand and say, oh, let's throw that out the window and forget about it," said Thompson. "There's a lot of things that showed up today that need to be addressed, and will be. But we're still the same guys we were a couple weeks ago."

But the opponents are not.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       27   1-5   1-3   1-2   0   0  1    6 
Whittington  31   1-3   1-3   1-2   2   0  4    6
Porter       39   2-4   0-2   5-8   3   2  4    9
Lubick       27   3-3   0-0   1-2   7   0  2    7 
Hopkins      14   0-2   0-1   0-0   1   2  3    0
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 16   1-2   0-3   5-7   2   1  0    7
Bowen         8   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  2    0
Caprio        1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Domingo       1   0-0   0-0   0-0   1   0  0    0
Ayegba       16   2-3   0-0   2-2   4   0  0    6
Trawick      20   1-3   0-0   2-3   0   0  3    4
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Hayes
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       3      1
TOTALS      200 11-25   2-12 17-26 27   5 20   45

Post game articles follow below:

A Historic Loss 1/8/13

Tuesday's 73-45 loss to Pittsburgh is:

  • The largest margin of defeat in the John Thompson III era (2004-present).
  • The largest margin of defeat in any Big East game by the Hoyas (1979-present).
  • The largest margin of defeat in any game since a 104-71 loss to Maryland on Dec. 10, 1974.
  • The third largest margin of defeat in any home game in school history, last reached on Feb. 11, 1950 in a loss to Villanova at the DC Armory by the same score.

Worst Home Court Losses In Georgetown History
Opp GU Diff Opponent Location
12/7/1971 107 67 -40 St. John's McDonough Gym
2/11/1959 102 72 -30 LaSalle McDonough Gym
1/8/2013   73 45 -28   Pittsburgh Verizon Center
2/11/1950 73 45 -28 Villanova D.C. Armory
2/2/1955 85 58 -27 LaSalle McDonough Gym
2/6/1965 95 69 -26 Syracuse McDonough Gym
12/12/1972 99 73 -26 Maryland McDonough Gym
1/14/1978 73 47 -26 South Carolina McDonough Gym
2/24/1951 74 49 -25 George Washington Uline Arena
2/10/2001 103 79 -24 Providence MCI Center
 
Georgetown-Pitt: Ten Memorable Games 1/8/13

No "Gray Out". No "College Gameday".

In fact, there's almost no talk that Tuesday's game with the University of Pittsburgh will be the last scheduled game between the schools in a series that began in 1912 and which has been played regularly for the past 30 seasons. Here's a look back at ten of the more memorable games in the recent series:

  1. Feb. 19, 1983: Pitt's first four years in the Big East were a struggle, with the Panthers solidly in the second tier of the conference. Among its most memorable games in the Roy Chipman era was a 65-63 upset of #14 ranked Georgetown at Fitzgerald Field House, where Clyde Vaughan scored 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Panthers to its first win over a ranked conference foe as a Big East school.
  2. Mar. 5, 1986: The most bizarre finish in the series came in the 1986 Big East quarterfinal, where the Panthers stood on the verge of its first ever tournament win, rallying to within one of the #3 seed Hoyas and holding the ball for the last play of the game. A pass play to the corner for the game winning shot was interrupted by an over exuberant Pitt fan, who tossed a roll of toilet paper onto the floor in early celebration. The game was halted and on the restart, the Hoyas successfully broke up the play and Georgetown survived, 57-56.
  3. Jan. 6, 1988: This was a season where fights interrupted both games in the series and ultimately led to NCAA rules which curtailed on-court disturbances across college basketball--in this game, Mark Tillmon was ejected for taking a swing at Pitt's Jerome Lane six minutes into the first half. Off the bench came junior guard Charles Smith, who added to his growing reputation with 20 points as the Hoyas upset #2 Pitt, 62-57 at Capital Centre.
  4. Jan 10, 1996: Despite winning only five Big East games all season and finishing 10-17, Pitt dealt the #5 ranked Hoyas its worst loss of the regular season, 75-56, before 12,800 at Capital Centre. Allen Iverson was held to 1 for 10 shooting from three point range while Pitt guard Jerry McCullough set a GU opponent record with 13 assists on the evening.
  5. Jan. 20, 2001: Inauguration Day was spoiled by the visiting Panthers, ending the #9 ranked Hoyas' 16 game win streak in a 70-66 win at MCI Center. The Panthers hit ten three pointers while freshman Julius Page scored 19 in the win.
  6. Jan. 25, 2003: With #2 Pitt ascendant, the Hoyas nearly managed its biggest upset of the Craig Esherick era. The teams combined for 57 fouls and 67 foul shots, but two foul shots by Brandon Bowman tied the game with under five seconds remaining. On the ensuing play, referee Tim Higgins called a blocking foul on Georgetown's Drew Hall with a half-second left. Pitt's Julius page made one of two free throws and preserved the win, 65-64.
  7. Jan. 5, 2005: Pitt suffered only its second Big East home loss in three seasons as Ashanti Cook scored 23 points, including 4-4 from outside, as Georgetown earned its first win over a ranked team in nearly three seasons, 65-64.
  8. Mar. 10, 2007: The Panthers made seven Big East finals in an eight year run from 2000 to 2008, but none were as deflating as the 2007 final, where Georgetown crushed the Panthers, 65-47, setting records for the fewest points ever allowed in a Big East title game, the second largest margin of victory in a title game, the largest margin of defeat by a Pitt team in seven years, and the fewest points scored by a Pittsburgh team since 1969. Jeff Green led the Hoyas with 21 points while no Pitt starter had more than two field goals, earning Georgetown its first Big East title in 18 years.
  9. Mar. 15, 2008: A year later the tables were turned. Georgetown entered the Big East final as the favorite, only to see the Panthers dump the Hoyas 74-65 for its second and final Big East title. Georgetown was as close as five in the second half, 65-60, before Dejuan Blair and the Panthers locked down the Hoyas defensively, closing the game out at the free throw line, where the Panthers had 44 free throw attempts in the game to just nine for Georgetown.
  10. Jan. 20, 2010: Chris Wright had the game of his career, a 27 point effort as Georgetown ended the Panthers' 31 game home winning streak, 74-66, at the Petersen Events Center. Georgetown hit 70 percent of its three point attempts (7-10), a school record for Big East play.
Daniel J. Kraus (1923-2012) 1/7/13

Dan Kraus (F'48), co-captain of the 1943 Final Four team, All-American, and Georgetown Hall of Famer, was laid to rest this weekend after he died on Dec. 28 at the age of 89. The Washington Post provided the obituary notice.

Kraus was born in the Bronx on Feb. 13, 1923 and attended DeWitt Clinton HS, earning two time All-City honors as a guard. Recruited by a large number of schools, he selected Georgetown in the spring of 1941, but had met its coach, Elmer Ripley, many years earlier. An Associated Press article provided the context:

"[In 1934], just as a joke, Elmer Ripley pitted a team of 11-year-old New York youngsters against Temple University's famed championship five at a basketball clinic in Madison Square Garden. The purpose was to demonstrate Temple's zone defense, which had baffled the best collegiate teams.

What Rip saw made him gasp. The kids passed the ball in, around and through the zone and scored with monotonous regularity. And Temple wasn't fooling. That was some eight years ago, and Ripley's kept tabs on the kids ever since. When he left Yale, and moved to Georgetown as basketball coach, Ripley sold the young men the merits of higher education at Georgetown."

That team included Kraus, Billy Hassett, Lloyd Potolicchio, Dan Gabbianelli and Miggs Reilly, all of whom Ripley signed to Georgetown. In the 1941-42 season, Kraus starred on a freshman team that went 18-1, losing only to a team of former pros turned soldiers at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. In his sophomore season, Kraus and his varsity teammates were part of something special.

Kraus was co-captain and third leading scorer during the Hoyas' 22-5 record in 1942-43 and its run to the NCAA championship game. The Georgetown Basketball History Project details one of Kraus' game winning feats, a 54-52 win over a team of former college and pro players stationed at Quantico, Virginia:

"The Marine unit had Georgetown's number through most of the game, and even a spirited Georgetown comeback late in the second half could cut the Leathernecks' lead to four, 52-48, with two minutes to play. "At this point Ripley sent Danny Kraus back on the floor...with the team's playmaker back in action, the Hoyas were ready to go. A John Mahnken head fake opened the way for the 6-8 center to pop a jumper, to close the gap to two. A Quantico misfire on their next possession offered Jim Reilly a set shot with time running down to tie the score. Then, preparing for the winning field goal, the Marines' play was picked off by Danny Kraus. With the clock about to turn over, Ripley yelled to Kraus: "Shoot!" As the gun sounded, Kraus' 15 foot jumper was aloft, sailing between the twines and earning Georgetown an improbable 54-52 win. Legend has it that the Marines were so angry at the college boys for the steal and eventual winning score that the Hoyas left the base under armed guard to prevent any hard feelings by the defeated Marines."

At the conclusion of the 1942-43 season, the team disbanded and players enlisted in the armed services, with Kraus serving three years in the U.S. Marine Corps before returning to Georgetown in the fall of 1946 to complete his education. He helped lead the Hoyas to a 19-7 mark in 1946-47, a team which was inexplicably passed over for NCAA and NIT consideration. At his graduation in 1948, he ranked as the third all time leading scorer in school history, and earned second team All-America honors. Kraus was among the charter inductees of the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame at its 1953 inauguration.

Kraus was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in 1948, but pro basketball was a poor fit for the Georgetown graduate. The Bullets were defending champions in what would later become the NBA, but a $57,000 salary cap spread among 20 players made pro basketball anything but a career path. Kraus was a reserve guard behind player-coach Buddy Jeannette (himself a future Georgetown coach from 1952-56) and averaged just 1.6 points in 25 games. Kraus chose to retire from pro basketball and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving as a Special Agent for the FBI until his retirement in 1977. He enjoyed a long and active retirement in the intervening years from his home in Columbia, MD.

Kraus made two appearances at Georgetown basketball games in recent years. In 2003, he joined fellow 1942-43 teammates Miggs Reilly (C'47), Henry Hyde (C'47), Dan Gabbianelli (B'43) and Andy Kostecka (F'48) at a halftime presentation honoring the 60th anniversary of that team. Four years later, on Feb. 9, 2007, he was selected to the All-Century Team at halftime of the Georgetown-Marquette game, the oldest living player selected. Guests at the gala dinner later that evening may remember how Kraus, then 84, sprinted to the podium when his name was called for the All-Century honors, with the quickness of a basketball player many years younger.

Dan Kraus is survived by his wife of 64 years, eight children, 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Marquette 49, Georgetown 48 1/5/13

"The first one, good. The second, good. And following a Marquette time out, [Jonathan] Wallace's third shot hit the side of the rim, bounced one, two and then three times across the cylinder, and dropped in. Overtime!"--HoyaSaxa.com, 3/2/2008

On March 2, 2008, down three, Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace was fouled on a three point shot with 2.5 seconds remaining at Marquette, hitting three shots to force overtime and an eventual 70-68 win, Georgetown's first (and to date, only) win at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Five years later, in the same situation, sophomore Greg Whittington was fouled late on a three pointer down three in the final seconds of the game.

The first one, good.

The second, good.

And following a Marquette time out...

But this is not 2008, and Whittington was not Wallace, as he missed on the third attempt and Marquette upset the #15 Hoyas, 49-48, a defensive struggle throughout.

Defense was the order of the day in the first half, as a tight Georgetown defense was mitigated by a rusty start offensively. The Hoyas missed nine of its first 10 shots while holding Marquette to a similar count, and with ten minutes elapsed, the Warriors held just a 5-4 lead. Marquette guard Vander Blue proved the only reliable scoring option in the half, hitting two threes and 10 points in the half on 4 for 8 shooting, while the rest of his team was, at one point, just 1 for 16.

For its part, Georgetown had shot just 4 for 18 when Otto Porter, scoreless in his first five attempts, got on the board at the 5:45 mark, with Georgetown down 13-10. Porter added a second basket at the 3:35 mark, 15-12, and after consecutive baskets by Trey Lockett pushed the Warriors' lead to 20-14 with 1:12 remaining, a Porter basket and a buzzer-beating three by Greg Whittington closed to 20-16 at the half.

Marquette was held to 7 for 27 shooting (3 for 11 from three) at the half, but opened a 23-16 advantage on rebounds. Georgetown shot just 9 for 26 (1 for 5 from three), but 4 of its last seven attempts. Another key factor for the low score? A lack of fouls. Marquette committed only three fouls for the half while Georgetown did not commit a foul in the final 8:08 of the half, keeping a proficient Marquette free throw shooting team off the line, as the Warriors were just 3 for 4 at the line at intermission.

Scoring began to pick up after the break. Markel Starks scored the first seven points of the half for Georgetown, while the Warriors converted on three straight possessions and held a 28-27 lead at the 15:40 mark. A four minute scoring drought by the Hoyas was not fully exploited by Marquette, who led by as many as five before consecutive baskets by Porter, Whittington and Starks closed back to one, 34-33, at the 11:04 mark.

With an ineffective Mikael Hopkins sitting on the bench, Marquette began to move inside, with three consecutive possessions through Jamil Wilson and Davante Gardner extending the lead to 40-36. Threes by Whittington and Starks tied up the score at 42 with 7:38 to play, answered with a Todd Mayo three 33 seconds later 45-42. From that point, defense held each team scoreless over the next eight possessions before Porter added a pair of free throws and Gardner hit one of two, 46-44.

 11/29/81
Last GU loss
holding opponent
under 50 points
(Ohio State, 47-46)

2-13
GU shooting,
first 10 mins of game

3-10
GU shooting,
last 10 mins of game

+6
MU advantage,
free throw shooting

+9
MU advantage,
rebounding

25.9%
MU shooting,
first half

52.9%
MU shooting,
second half

16-34
GU shooting,
Porter, Whittington
and Starks

2-12
GU shooting,
rest of team

A Markel Starks steal and basket tied the score at the 2:13 mark, 46-all. Back to the line went Marquette, where the normally automatic Davante Gardner scored one of two, 47-46. A Whittington miss from three was bailed out with a Jabril Trawick rebound, but the Hoyas could connect inside when Marquette's Junior Cadougan stripped Markel Starks under the basket with 58 seconds remaining.

Holding the ball late, Vander Blue's drive was closed off by Nate Lubick, giving up the offensive foul that returned the ball to the Hoyas with 24.7 seconds remaining. Off Georgetown's last time out at the 20.7 mark, Porter was contained inside, Jabril Trawick missed the three and Gardner added two at the line, 49-46. With a last second three, Whittington missed the three but was fouled, making the first two before a Marquette timeout led to the miss on the tying third. Down the court with 1.0 second remaining, Todd Lockett missed the first free throw and appeared to fake the second to draw a lane violation, which he did, but missed the second regardless.

Marquette scored its last four points from the free throw line. Its last basket came with 7:05 to play.

Markel Starks led the Hoyas with 18 points, scoring or assisting on 14 of the Hoyas' 18 scoring possessions. However, only four Georgetown players scored all afternoon and only three (Starks, Porter, Whittington) after halftime. The bench was scoreless for the afternoon in two attempts, including Trawick's late three.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Starks       38   5-7   2-5   2-2   1   3  1   18 
Whittington  38   2-5   2-4   3-5   8   3  3   13
Porter       38   4-10  1-3   2-2   6   0  2   13
Lubick       32   0-2   0-0   0-0   4   2  4    0 
Hopkins      18   2-6   0-0   0-3   2   0  2    4
Reserves:
Smith-Rivera 11   0-0   0-2   0-0   1   0  0    0
Trawick      25   0-1   0-1   0-0   2   2  4    0
DNP: Allen, Bolden, Bowen, Caprio, Domingo,
Ayegba, Hayes
Injured: Adams
Team Rebounds                       1
TOTALS      200 13-31   5-15  7-12 26  10 16   48

Post-game links follow below.

For only the tenth time in the Big East era (1,094 games from 1979-present), the bench failed to score a point in today's game. It's also the fourth time since 1979 that as few as seven players saw game action:

Fewest Bench Points (Since 1979)
Date  # Bench Total Mins. FG % FT% Pts. Final
1/30/1991 3 24 0-2 0-0 0 Georgetown 59, St. John's 53
2/9/1991 3 42 0-5 0-0 0 Georgetown 71, Villanova 62
2/23/1992 5 29 0-1 0-0 0 Georgetown 72, Syracuse 68
2/23/1993 3 16 0-3 0-0 0 St. John's 61, Georgetown 56
3/10/1995 4 42 0-2 0-0 0 Georgetown 69, Miami 58
12/4/1996 5 43 0-2 0-0 0 Georgetown 58, Massachusetts 53
2/2/2005 3 37 0-6 0-2 0 Georgetown 61, Seton Hall 51
2/9/2007 4 26 0-2 0-0 0 Georgetown 76, Marquette 58
3/31/2007 4 39 0-2 0-0 0 Ohio State 67, Georgetown 63
1/5/2013 2 41 0-4 0-0 0 Marquette 49, Georgetown 48

Rebounds In Short Supply 1/4/13

Georgetown's inside game was a work in progress in the pre-Big East action and figures to be tested early Saturday. According to the Washington Times Georgetown's numbers are worth a closer look.

"The Hoyas are averaging 33.8 rebounds per game, which is 236th in the country. To put that in perspective, Missouri leads the nation at 47.4 boards per game and Maryland is eighth in the country at 43.0 rebounds per contest," it writes. " Georgetown has struggled even more on the offensive glass, tied for 301st in the nation with 9.0 offensive boards."

"We have to box out our man,” said center Mikael Hopkins, averaging just 3.0 rebounds a game. "When the shot goes up, find our man and box him out. Hopefully, that will stop their second chance shots.”

Report: Georgetown To Add 2014 Transfer 1/3/13

Various media sources report that Josh Smith,a 6-10 center from UCLA, will transfer to Georgetown for the spring 2013 semester.

Smith, who would be eligible after two semesters in residence at GU, should have three semesters of eligibility beginning in the spring of 2014, although a report from the Sporting News stated Smith would have only one semester of eligibility if he played in the spring of 2014 and two semesters if he began play in the fall of 2014.

Smith announced his intention to transfer from UCLA on Nov. 28.

Smith, from Kent, WA, was a McDonald's All-America recruit in 2010 whose weight problems have come to overwhelm his college play to date. Officially listed at 305 lbs. but reported to be as heavy as 350, Smith averaged 9.9 points as a sophomore and only 5.2 points in six games this season, lacking the conditioning to stay in games. He scored four points in 12 minutes during the Nov. 17 game with Georgetown.

Were he to get his weight under control, Smith is a possible pro prospect, and would be the first 300+ lb. player ever for the Hoyas, whose largest players by weight have been 290 lb. Jahidi White (1994-98) and (at least, officially) 260 lb. Mike Sweetney (2000-03).

This transfer has not been confirmed by Georgetown, but if it were to go through Smith would be the fourth inbound transfer in the John Thompson III era, following Patrick Ewing, Jr. (Indiana), Ryan Dougherty (Rochester), and Julian Vaughn (Florida State). The transfer also highlights that Georgetown would now be two scholarships over the 13 man limit in 2013-14 if no one transfers, leaves early for the NBA, or, in the case of sophomore center Tyler Adams, is declared medically ineligible to remain on the team.

 

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