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Hoya Hoops At 103

2/9/10

February 9 marks the 103rd anniversary of Georgetown's first intercollegiate basketball game, a 22-11 win over the University of Virginia. A review of that debut follows at the Basketball History Project site.

The element that separates good Big East teams from great ones is their ability to get wins on the road, especially when they are favored to do so. And if Georgetown's loss to South Florida didn't underscore the narrow margin between the first and second tiers of the Big East, Tuesday's game with Providence ought to. Despite being 12-11, the Friars are every bit as capable as USF of engineering an upset.

Like Georgetown, PC features three dominant scorers that figure to hit the boards and get second chance shots. Unlike Georgetown, its outside shooting is suspect and a source of concern.

PC figures to get good offensive numbers from a trio of guards. Sharaud Curry is the veteran among just three scholarship returnees from last season, shooting 41% from the field but only 32% from three point range. Curry's 23 in PC's last game against Marquette were just short of the margin needed for the upset, but his experience and good court sense figure to be worth following in this one. PC is also getting good numbers from 6-5 combo guard Marshawn Brooks, thanks to a 48% shooting average this season. Brooks had only four points against Marquette and like Georgetown and Chris Wright, PC can't afford a poor shooting effort from Brooks in this one.

More on the Friars follows at the Pre-Game Report page, with pre-game links posted on the HoyaTalk board. A game recap follows late Tuesday night.

"yGreg Monroe's 13 points and 11 rebounds keyed a a second half comeback in an 82-75 win over Providence College Saturday at Verizon Center, ending a two game losing streak for the #9-ranked Hoyas."

A recap of the Jan. 10, 2009 game between the teams can be found at the News Archive pages.

What has marked the difference in the play of this season's team versus the struggling 2008-09 Hoyas? Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated.com notes that if people say it's team chemistry to coach John Thompson III, it's more that that.

"It's natural for people to want to compare and contrast to last year, but the composition of this team is different, the energy is different, the understanding is significantly different," said Thompson. "Chemistry, or a lack thereof, is not even a part of the equation. It's just not."

"Hopefully we've learned some lessons," he continued. "Everyone knows how we felt last Wednesday night and Thursday morning. You have to have a short memory in this league."

After a split with South Florida and Villanova, Georgetown is ranked 8th in the Monday Associated Press poll, down from 7th last week.

Other conference teams in the Top 25 include Syracuse (3), Villanova (4), West Virginia (5), and Pittsburgh (25).

Also of note: Georgetown is 16th in the AP women's basketball poll, up from 18th last week. Other conference teams in the Top 25 include Connecticut (1), Notre Dame (4), West Virginia (9), and St. John's (25).

As always, prior stories over this past week or the last 10+ years of coverage can be found at the News Archive pages, including recaps of all prior games this season. It's a good way to keep up to date if you've visited the site less frequently.

Please take an opportunity to affirm your support for the team by becoming a donor to the Hoya Hoop Club and Hoyas Unlimited, the official support organization for Georgetown athletics. Visit GUHoyas.com for more details, or link here to make an online gift.

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AMDG