The men’s basketball team had a few problems this week. After defeating UNLV Thursday at the MCI center, the Hoyas had their first losing streak of the season, dropping the team from first to third place in the Big East West Division.
Monday night, Georgetown lost badly to Syracuse, 70-63. Syracuse forwards Preston Shumpert and Damone Brown used their slashing abilities on offense to exploit Georgetown’s young forwards and loose zone defense, each scoring 23 points.
Georgetown’s offense was not up to par, as they only shot 35 percent. Along with 19 turnovers, only four Hoyas scored above three points. Georgetown compounded its offensive difficulties by only shooting 62 percent from the free-throw line, compared to the Orangemen’s 79 percent.
Defensively, the Hoyas could not contain their opponent. Although sophomore guard Demetrius Hunter had four steals, the team lacked its usual inside strength and blocked only two shots. The smaller Orangemen put the Hoyas’ defense to shame with nine blocks and 18 offensive rebounds. Although the Hoyas ended up controlling the boards, Syracuse did a better job at converting their second-chance opportunities for points.
First-year power forward Mike Sweetney opened up Georgetown’s scoring with a strong dunk to tie the game at 2-2. However, the Orangemen took control the rest of the half, outscoring their opponent 37-22. Junior point guard Kevin Braswell made a valiant effort towards the end of the half with two three pointers to push the Hoyas above the 20-point mark.
In the second half, the Hoyas defense improved and helped to chip away at the large Syracuse lead. They cut the margin to as little as four points after Hunter was fouled on a fast break. After Syracuse point guard Allen Griffin was called for a foul, pulling Hunter down on a lay-up attempt, Hunter jumped up from the floor to confront Griffin.
Head Coach Craig Esherick quickly ran to his player’s side to prevent further confrontation, but not before sophomore center Wesley Wilson supposedly shoved Griffin in the ribs. Wilson was ejected from the game, after only scoring three points and pulling down two rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
As a result of the ejection, Syracuse doubled its lead: The Orangemen scored two points on the ensuing free throws and received the ball. On the next play, the Orangemen got to the line again and hit two more charity shots, making the score 52-44 and reenergizing the Carrier Dome crowd of more than 20,000.
Two minutes later, Syracuse built the lead back to ten, thanks to a mini-run sparked by a three pointer from DeShaun Williams. Georgetown made one more run to get back in the game with a three by Hunter with 1:48 left, making the score 64-58. On the next Hoya possession, Sweetney cut the lead back to four. He was able to get free in the low post and finish the play with a dunk. The Hoyas freed Sweetney by first working the ball to the high post, drawing the Syracuse defense and then passing to Sweetney beneath the basket.
Syracuse put the game out of reach on the next possession by breaking the Hoya press with a fast-break dunk, making the score 66-60 and sealing the game for the Orangemen.
Over the weekend, the Hoyas experienced similar frustration. Notre Dame shocked the Hoyas on Saturday at the MCI Center by outplaying them down the stretch despite the absence of forward Troy Murphy, last season’s Big East Player of the Year. The final result was 78-71.
Murphy fouled out with the score tied at 59, but Notre Dame’s other big men?Ryan Humphrey, a transfer from Oklahoma, and Harold Swanagan?hurt the Hoyas down the strech by hitting 11 of 13 free throws. The two forwards accounted for all but six of the Irish’s 19 points after Murphy left the game, as Swanagan added a layup on a three-point play.
The Hoyas held the lead for most of the game behind strong performances by senior big man Lee Scruggs (17 points, three blocks), Wilson (10 points) and Braswell (nine assists).
Despite controlling the game, the Hoyas only managed a six-point lead at the half, 36-30. Early in the second half, Notre Dame’s David Graves hit several outside shots to open things up inside and keep the Hoyas from putting the game out of reach with a run early in the half.
Senior center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje missed all three of his shots, as he did against Syracuse, and played only 14 minutes against the Irish. Sweetney played only 19 minutes but hit four of five shots.
Before the consecutive losses, the Hoyas were able to crush UNLV on Thursday, with a final score of 79-62. They played an all-around better game than the Rebels, pushing for the win until the last second of the game.
Despite the Rebels’ best efforts, the Hoyas held the lead for most of the game. The last two minutes of the first half were controlled by Braswell. He set up three plays in a row to help bring the Hoyas to a 41-35 lead at the end of the half. In the second half, the Hoyas tightened up their defense and took advantage of UNLV’s poor shooting.
Georgetown beat UNLV on boards, out-rebounding them both offensively and defensively. The shorter Rebels attempted to make up for the height difference by fouling, which was answered by excellent free-throw percentages by the Hoyas, giving them 23 free points. Hunter was especially successful at driving and drawing fouls inside.
As Esherick said after the game, Wilson “has a habit for getting up for big teams, big names, big games.” Wilson certainly stepped up strong this game, going 7 of 10 from the field and providing strong defensive support. He helped contain UNLV’s Wooden-Award candidate Kaspars Kambala, who shot a measley 6 of 18 from the field.
Wilson also energized the MCI Center crowd with a game-closing dunk from the left baseline.
