Georgetown had its three-game conference win streak snapped Wednesday night as the men’s basketball team fell 70-64 to host Notre Dame in a game that was not nearly as close as the score indicated. The loss drops the Hoyas to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big East.
The game initially showed promise as the Hoyas took an early 5-3 lead on a trifecta from first-year guard Jonathan Wallace. The lead would be the Hoyas’ last for the remainder of the game.
The Irish began working their offense and getting open looks from behind the arc. The Hoyas, however, were unable to get the long-range game running, going 1-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half. Notre Dame, on the other hand, shot 6-of-11 from downtown for the half led by junior guard Colin Quinn’s 13 points in the stanza. Quinn’s final three highlighted a 17-2 run that gave the Irish the largest lead of the game at 28-12 with just under four minutes in the half. The run was marked by a 10-minute Hoya drought. By halftime Georgetown cut the deficit to 30-17.
“At halftime, they made eight shots and six of them were threes,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “They have shooters and we allowed them to get some looks that if we are going to win, we can’t let them have.”
Despite an early run in the second half that saw the Irish lead cut to six with 17 minutes remaining, the Hoyas simply dug themselves too deep a hole with 11 first-half turnovers. Although Georgetown shot 63 percent in the second half, Notre Dame outscored the Hoyas 25-9 from the free throw line, as well as hitting 10 threes to Georgetown’s five. The win avenged Notre Dame’s 55-54 loss to the Hoyas on Jan. 23.
“[The loss] was definitely some motivation,” Quinn said. “When we were sitting in the locker room after the last game, Coach Brey told us to keep it in the back of our minds because we’d get to play them again at our place.”
In action on Saturday at the MCI Center, the Hoyas played a trademark second-half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit on their way to a 67-60 win over West Virginia. The win extended the Hoyas’ home-winning streak to five games. Leading the way was sophomore forward Jeff Green, who shook off a few lackluster efforts in the past three games to pump in 17 second-half points on his way to 21 for the game.
“Green makes a huge difference,” West Virginia Head Coach John Beilein said. “You got a kid who can pass it, can shoot threes and stretch people a little bit. “
Green’s second-half, however, was overshadowed by some of the veteran Hoyas, particularly the slumping senior swingman Darrell Owens. Entering the game 3-of-26 from behind the arc over the previous seven games, Owens seemed an unlikely hero.
After West Virginia tied the game at 54 on junior guard Patrick Beilein’s three-pointerwith over five minutes remaining , the game deteriorated into a defensive struggle. With just over three minutes left and the score still tied, Georgetown began a possession that was thwarted by the Mountaineers’ stifling 1-3-1 zone defense. With eight seconds remaining on the shot clock, junior forward Brandon Bowman was caught on the sideline and called a timeout. The Hoyas came out of the timeout, and were unable to get a shot off. As first-year guard Jonathan Wallace attempted to drive the lane, Owens kicked out behind the arc where Wallace found him. Just after the ball left Owens’ hands, the buzzer sounded, and the Hoyas went ahead 57-54.
“We drew up a play, but the play wasn’t there and they did a good job of whipping it around,” Thompson said. “No one forced anything, and we got an open shot.”
On their next possession, West Virginia’s junior guard Johannes Herber ran into Bowman at half-court who stripped the ball. Sophomore guard Ray Reed scooped up the loose ball and ran downcourt for the flush to give the Hoyas a 59-54 lead on their way to the victory.
The game’s first half was marked by the usual Hoya anemia, although the West Virginia trapping-style defense did not help. The Mountaineers induced 11 turnovers in the first half, however they converted those into only six points. After West Virginia ran out to an early 16-8 lead, the Hoyas settled into the game and methodically worked their way back by using the clock and getting their shots. It showed, as Georgetown shot a blistering 55 percent from the field in the first half.
“It’s hard to script plays against them because of how they come at you,” Thompson said. “They tweak it and sometimes they’re attacking you out top, sometimes they’re forcing you to dribble in. It’s hard to be pretty against that defense, but if you work the ball around and don’t panic when you get attacked, usually you can get an okay look.”
The Hoyas will look to rebound from the Notre Dame loss this Sunday against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
“We have had some success on the road and Sunday’s game is on the road again,” said Thompson. “We are going to regroup and grow from this and hopefully be better Sunday than we were tonight.”
