And now the hard part.
Despite beginning Big East Conference action by suiting up against four of the lesser teams in the conference, Georgetown’s men’s basketball team (10-4 overall, 2-2 Big East) has too often resembled last year’s squad that was prone to late-game collapses. Still, the Hoyas have played well enough to be at .500 in the conference, including a 76-66 victory over Rutgers (8-8 overall, 0-4 Big East) Monday night at the MCI Center, which followed a heartbreaking 77-72 loss to St. John’s (9-5 overall, 2-2 Big East) on Saturday. However, the difficulty of their schedule will increase in the coming weeks: Georgetown will play six games against top-25 foes Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Syracuse.
On Monday, the Scarlet Knights started ugly and continued to play that way for the majority of the game. Georgetown fared marginally better. In the first eight minutes, both teams combined scored 16 points-that’s one basket per minute-and Rutgers led 10-6. The Hoyas played out of their early funk, spurred by sophomore guard Tony Bethel and junior power forward Mike Sweetney.
Bethel broke out of his recent slump in a big way, sparked by throwing down a one-handed jam with five minutes left in the half. He scored 12 of his 20 points in the half and shot 57 percent for the game—a huge increase from his 3-20 output in the previous last two games.
“I’m comfortable every day shooting the ball,” said Bethel. “They just fell in tonight. The dunk definitely energized me.”
Characteristically, Sweetney dominated inside. Like Bethel, he scored 12 in the first half and unlike many previous games he forced all of Rutgers’ inside players into foul trouble. Sweetney finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds, the 28th double-double of his career.
Buoyed by Bethel and Sweetney and the Scarlet Knights’ poor shooting (26.5 percent in the half), Georgetown jumped out to a 32-21 lead with 1:40 left in the half. Still, the team allowed the Scarlet Knights back into the game who went on a quick 6-1 run to reach the break down five, 33-28.
Georgetown pounded the ball inside to start the second half and the Hoyas took an 11-point lead. Then Rutgers clamped on the bane of the Hoyas’ existence: the full-court press. The Hoyas have struggled with the press throughout the year and the Scarlet Knights took advantage, outscoring Georgetown 23-11 in the next eight minutes to take a 51-50 lead.
Fortunately, Georgetown was able to recover. Sweetney hit a layup to put the Hoyas up 52-51 and they never looked back, running away with the game. Still, Georgetown’s comeback was as much a function of its controlled play as Rutgers’ poor shooting and inside weakness. The Scarlet Knights two leading scorers, sophomore guard Ricky Shields and senior guard Jerome Coleman, combined to shoot a pathetic 7-32 in the game, with Coleman shooting only 3-13 in the second half.
“I thought we were horrendous on offense,” said Rutgers Head Coach Gary Waters.
Despite Rutgers’ troubles, it was still a quality win for the Hoyas; Rutgers had played Big East powerhouses Pittsburgh and Notre Dame tough in earlier match-ups this year.
“I thought that when we got down, our guys showed a tremendous amount of courage in particular with some of the things going on in close games,” said Georgetown Head Coach Craig Esherick.
The “things going on in close games” that Esherick was referring to was Georgetown’s five-point loss to St. John’s. Tied at 35 at the half, the Hoyas thundered out of the break and took a 63-47 lead with 7:23 remaining, due to excellent foul shooting and quality ball movement that allowed the Hoyas to take any shot they wanted. Hoyas’ junior swingman Gerald Riley was shutting town the Red Storm’s star senior guard Marcus Hatten, holding the leading scorer in the Big East (29.8 ppg) to 15 points.
Then disaster struck.
The Red Storm began to press and the Hoyas became flustered, turning the ball over and taking quick shots instead of trying to run out the clock. With 4:10 remaining and the Hoyas up 67-55, Riley fouled out and Hatten smelled blood.
“It all started when Riley fouled out and crowd started talking to me,” Hatten said. “I started talking back and said to them, ‘Y’all gonna make me win the game.’”
The Red Storm whittled the Hoyas’ lead to six with 2:49 left, tied it with 2:04 remaining and took the lead for good at 71-70, with 1:27 left.
After Riley fouled out, Hatten exploded and single-handedly outscored the Hoyas during that time 14-5. He finished with 34 points.
“Hatten’s incredible,” said St. John’s Head Coach Mike Jarvis. “I don’t know where he gets the creativity and energy.”
Georgetown did more to help the Red Storm comeback than to stop it. Sophomore guard Drew Hall’s lay-up with 4:22 left was the last Georgetown field goal in the game. After Riley’s exit, the Hoyas also committed seven turnovers.
“Once they put that full-court pressure on, we fell apart,” said Esherick. “We had our chances to win, and we gave the game away.”
Currently in fourth place in the Big East West Division and seventh in the conference, Georgetown cannot afford to fall apart in any more games if they want to contend for the NCAAs. In the Hoyas’ games up to this point in the season, their opponents had a combined record of 105-111. Georgetown’s remaining opponents have a record of 135-65.
Georgetown begins its hard stretch this Saturday at 12 p.m., travelling to No. 2 Pittsburgh. The Hoyas lost to Pitt twice last year and the Panthers are returning all five of last year’s starters, including last year’s Big East Co-Player of the year, senior point guard Brandin Knight.
“Pitt clearly has an excellent team,” said Esherick. “I’ve been very impressed how they’ve kept their level of intensity up from last year. They’re still hungry.”
