Three years ago, Old Dominion came to McDonough Arena and shocked a Final Four-bound Georgetown squad 75-62.
History repeated itself Saturday night in the cozy campus gym, as the Monarchs dealt the No. 11 Hoyas (8-1) their first loss of the season, 61-57.
Even as D.C. suffered from over a foot of continuous snowfall, 2,400 fans made the trek to McDonough, most of them students taking a break from final exams.
The weather may not have affected the crowd, but it looked to have taken its toll on the Hoyas as they came out ice cold in the first half. The Monarchs ran out to a 6-0 lead that they never relinquished.
“Did the slow start hurt us? Absolutely,” head coach John Thompson III said. “They were at the top of their game. They executed for the most part at both ends of the floor throughout the game.”
The Hoyas did not take care of the ball, committing 11 turnovers in the first half en route to a total of 18, and had no hot hand to bail them out. Georgetown shot 30 percent in the first half, with only three players converting field goals.
Meanwhile, Old Dominion forward Ben Finney demoralized the Hoyas with an efficient long-range shooting performance, connecting on 3-of-4 treys to lead the Monarchs with 13 points.
“We had shoot-around today and I was feeling kind of good,” Finney said. “Once I hit the first three I felt like I was hot, so I shot the second one as a little heat check and I hit it. After that I knew I was hot.”
Georgetown sophomore Greg Monroe led all scorers with 15 points, and juniors Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn each chipped in thirteen.
Although the Hoya bigs both reached double figures, neither Monroe nor Vaughn was as effective as they had been in Georgetown’s recent wins. Old Dominion had the size to match up with Georgetown and took advantage, outscoring the Hoyas in the paint 26-22 and matching them on the boards 32-32.
“We like it physical,” Old Dominion forward Frank Hassell said. “We always play physical, even in practice, we go hard on each other. That’s how we like playing, that’s fun to us.”
While a well-rounded attack had been key in the Hoyas eight-game winning streak, they sorely missed contributions from starting backcourt duo Chris Wright and Jason Clark. Wright, despite seven assists, wound up with just four points on the game.
Clark might have been the biggest disappointment. The sophomore has been a revelation for the Hoyas so far this year, emerging as a consistent offensive threat and an energetic, ball-hawking defender. But Clark finished with six points and made none of his signature defensive plays.
“Jason didn’t have one of his better games, but that’s going to happen,” Thompson said. “We are a team, and so when Jason is not having a good game someone has to be there to help him, support him, and pick him up.”
Unfortunately there was no one to pick up the slack against the Monarchs, as the Hoyas got little help off their bench. The reserves contributed just six points.
Clark and Wright did come alive at the end of the game, as the Hoyas broke off a run with about five minutes remaining in the game. The Monarchs had led by double digits for nearly all of the second half, but a flurry of fast break buckets and clutch threes brought the Hoyas within two with a little more than a minute to play.
Ultimately, however, it was too little, too late for Georgetown, as Hassell extended the lead with a tip-in and the Hoyas could not make another shot.
The Hoyas were undoubtedly humbled after triumphantly returning to campus with consecutive wins over ranked opponents. With just one game remaining before Big East play commences, the loss should show Georgetown it still has a long way to go.
