The Hoyas recorded an important conference win against DePaul last night at the Verizon Center, a place where they have been less than dominant this year.
The Hoyas struggled early to find their rhythm and settle into their offense. Looking to extend their winning streak to three games, at first the Hoyas looked sluggish on offense and complacent on defense.
But after trailing a majority of the first half, guard Jonathan Wallace hit two quick threes to tie the game at 30 apiece entering the break. Still, the Hoyas found themselves in an unusual position as they entered halftime without a lead for just the second time.
The Hoyas, led by star forward Jeff Green, came out in the second half and used the deft passing and precise back-door cuts of the Princeton offense to pull away from the feisty Blue Demons. Georgetown used a 13-4 run midway through the second half to close out the Blue Demons 66-52, improving to 14-5 (4-2 Big East).
Closing out games has been a recurring problem for the Hoyas, who are often outplayed in the second half. Their solution yesterday was the noticeable improvement in defensive intensity. The Demons scorched the nets throughout the first half, shooting 68 percent from the floor, but the second half was a different story, as they were held to just under 27 percent.
“We wanted to take away their shots throughout the game,” Thompson said of his defense. “Everyone was coming up the court and trying to make a play individually instead of as a team. In the second half we stayed in front of them and their shots stopped falling.”
There were other positives to take away from the Hoyas performance on Wednesday night. Besides putting another Big East win on their resumé, the game served as a reemergence for Jeff Green. Green, who has struggled offensively as of late, led the Hoyas’ with 19 points.
“He [Jeff Green] really picked it up in the second half,” Thompson said of Green. “It was a good mix of inside and outside scoring for him.”
Birthday boy and rising star Dajuan Summers, who is coming off a week in which he made the Big East honorable mention team, also played well for the Hoyas, contributing 12 points. After the game Summers coolly deflected praise, saying that his Big East honorable mention selection was “cool” but that his focus is on “getting another win.”
As they reach the midpoint of their Big East schedule, Thompson said the focus of the Hoyas is “to concentrate on one game at a time.” The next team they will focus on is the Cincinnati Bearcats, whom they will face on Saturday.
