After last Saturday’s disappointing loss at Boston College, the Georgetown men’s basketball team needed a little lift. On Wednesday night, the Hoyas got just what they needed as MCI Center played host to Retro Night, a celebration of the championship season of 1984. The festivities seemed to rub off as Georgetown downed the visiting Seton Hall Pirates 61-51 on the strength of superior defense. The game was also Georgetown’s first and only scheduled national telecast.
The Hoyas entered the game fourth in the Big East in scoring defense, allowing just 60 points per game. From the opening tip, the Hoyas’ defense controlled the flow with first-year center Roy Hibbert doing his best Patrick Ewing impression on a block within the game’s opening minute. Not to be outdone, first-year forward and four time Big East Rookie of the Week, Jeff Green,pulled Dikembe Mutombo out of the closet just a minute later with a swarming block on Seton Hall’s first-year guard Justin Cerasoli. After a quiet first half, Green finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
The two plays helped key an 8-0 Hoyas run to open the game. Junior forward Brandon Bowman handled the work on the offensive end, getting a three-pointer and a dunk off of two fast breaks.
“Defense for most of the game was very good,” Head Coach John Thompson III said.
Following a Seton Hall timeout, the Pirates switched to a zone defense, which yielded some success as the Hoyas were forced into several turnovers that led to baskets. Seton Hall cut the lead to 8-4 before the Hoyas, using excellent ball movement, got first-year guard Jonathan Wallace an open look from behind the arc.
Despite a lull in the offense in the middle of the first half, Georgetown’s stingy defense remained constant. Following a steal at midcourt by Seton Hall senior forward John Allen, Green raced back to block the momentum-changing dunk.
The tenacity continued on the next possession as junior guard Ashanti Cook got three the old-fashioned way, grabbing an offensive rebound and taking it straight up for the basket and the foul. A few minutes later, Cook hit from downtown with the shot clock expiring to help the Hoyas take a 27-15 lead into halftime.
After holding the Pirates to a season-low 15 points on 23 percent shooting, it was hard to imagine Georgetown maintaining the first half’s defensive intensity. It proved to be a tough task.
Despite running their lead to as high as 15 in the second half, Georgetown allowed Seton Hall a glimmer of hope in the game’s closing minutes with the help of an uncharacteristic, season-high 17 turnovers in the Pirates’ favor that translated to 16 easy points.
“They just play and find their rhythm as the game goes on,” Thompson said. “Our guys did a good job of being attentive to that.”
With the lead at 13 and 4:39 remaining, Cerasoli hit a three pointer to cut the Hoyas lead to 53-43. Immediately, Seton Hall went into a full-court press that yielded one basket off of a turnover before the Hoyas called timeout.
The Hoyas came out of the timeout settled, but Cook’s three-point attempt was just off the mark. The Pirates came back with a baseline jumper from junior guard J.R. Morris to cut the lead to 53-47 with 3:50 remaining. Morris was unable to hit on his next attempt.
“Our defense gave us a chance,” Seton Hall Head Coach Louis Orr said.
After the teams exchanged misses, Bowman drew a foul and hit both free throws to seal the win with two minutes remaining. He led four Hoyas in double-figures with a game-high 25 points, shooting 14-of-15 from the charity stripe. The Hoyas hit a season-high 22 free throws in the game.
“I’ve been working hard on my free throws because I was slouching there for a bit,” Bowman said. “I took a new approach with the coaches and I was fortunate to get to the line tonight.
Despite being outscored in the second half, the Hoyas offense ran as good as it had all season. Working the clock for good shot selection, Georgetown shot 47 percent in the second-half on just 17 attempts.
It was the defense, however, that clearly won this game as the Hoyas held Seton Hall to 31 percent shooting from the field, Georgetown’s third-best effort of the season.
In addition to the victory, Bowman became the 35th member of Georgetown’s 1,000 point club.
“It’s great, but we still have more games to win,” Bowman said. “It’s an honor with all the great Hoyas who have played, but I didn’t really care about it before and I don’t really care now. Two points or 25, I just want to win.”
