Apparently, it takes 13 minutes to figure out what a Chanticleer is.
The Georgetown men’s basketball team struggled early against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Monday night at the MCI Center, leading only 25-21 with 7:30 left in the first half. The Hoyas then went on a 20-4 run to end the half on the way to an 87-60 victory, upping their record to 4-0.
Junior power forward Mike Sweetney recorded his 24th career double-double and led the Hoyas with 26 points and 10 rebounds in only 26 minutes of action. Junior swingman Gerald Riley added 11, the only other Hoya in double figures, as 10 different players saw double-digit minutes.
“These games are very important to me to see who can run the team and who can’t run the team,” said Head Coach Craig Esherick. “It gives me a chance to play an awful lot of people.”
The Chanticleers (2-3) started the game physically, trying to neutralize Georgetown’s size inside and recording an astounding six team fouls in the first four minutes while keeping the Hoyas in their sights.
“A lot of teams try to initiate contact before us,” said Sweetney. “We are ready for a physical game every night.”
Without the fouls to fall back on, the Chanticleers were forced into submission as Georgetown created 37 points off 30 Coastal Carolina turnovers and scored 16 fast break points to the Chanticleers’ zero. But Coastal Carolina did, outrebound Georgetown 40-28.
“I want to be able to rebound no matter who we have in the game,” said Esherick. “Right now, I’m not too happy with that.”
Georgetown is still auditioning players for its fifth starting slot and point guard position. First-year Brandon Bowman started at small forward, as he did in the first three games, pushing sophomore guard Tony Bethel to the point. Bowman played poorly, missing the rim on his first two shot attempts before Esherick benched him. Aside from Bethel, sophomore Drew Hall and first-year Ashanti Cook played significant minutes at point guard. None of the three played significantly better than the others.
One major positive in the Georgetown backcourt has been Riley’s improved play. An inconsistent shooter last year, he notched a career-high 23 points and six assists against James Madison on Nov. 25 and led the Hoyas in scoring with 22 in Saturday’s 81-52 win over Towson. For the season, Riley is shooting a white-hot 59 percent from the floor, a ridiculous 82 percent from three-point range and has improved his defensive play greatly.
“I’m just trying to do what it takes to get us back to the tournament,” he said. “I worked on shooting a lot this summer, but my defense is the key.”
The play of the backcourt will be vital in the Hoyas’ first major test of the season at 7:30 tonight at home against Southeastern Conference foe South Carolina (4-0), who dominated a depleted Temple team Monday night, 66-47.
Like the Hoyas, the Gamecocks’ strength is size. 6-foot-7 do-it-all senior Chuck Eidson and 6-foot-9 junior forward Rolando Howell lead the way, though another strong player, 6-foot-10 senior center Tony Kitchings, broke his hand in late November and will not play.
South Carolina’s weakness is at the guard positions, where it graduated two 1,000 point scorers, Aaron Lucas and Jamel Bradley. Both players gave the Hoyas fits last year in Georgetown’s 70-68 last-second victory.
“We’ll be playing easily the best team we’ve played this season,” said South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom. “It’s going to be tough for us to play them now especially since we lost [Kitchings].”
Sweetney thinks the game will be competitive.
“We have to really come to play,” he said. “The SEC is a tough conference and they are a tough team.”
If the Hoyas are going to win, it has to take them less than 13 minutes to figure out what a Gamecock is.
Additional reporting by Sean West.
