According to JTIII, the Hoyas didn’t play their best basketball against American, but they didn’t need to, handily defeating the Eagles 73-49.
Lynn Kirshbaum: for more game photos, visit blog.georgetownvoice.com
Georgetown demonstrated that they were the superior team from the outset, breaking off a 13-0 run to start the game. The Hoyas would maintain a double digit lead for the rest of the game.By the end of the first half Georgetown led 40-12. The Eagles could not keep up at either end of the floor and allowed the Hoyas to capitalize on numerous mistakes. Georgetown scored 19 points off 12 turnovers in the first half alone.
“They have a very good team, an experienced team, so we knew we had to come out and be focused because they’re a team that doesn’t take shots they shouldn’t take,” said Thompson. “We were fortunate that the defensive end got off to a good start.”
It was the second half that drew most of Thompson’s ire, as Georgetown showed some sloppy play. After the break the Hoyas gave up 10 turnovers while being outscored 37-33. The Eagles also outrebounded Georgetown 30-24 for the game, including 18 offensive boards.
“I think at both ends of the floor we didn’t get a lot of the looks we typically do or typically get,” said Thompson. “Regardless what the numbers are relative to what the score is, I’m a little disappointed how we played today.”
American’s minor resurgence in the second half was led by its undersized backcourt, with seniors Derrick Mercer and Garrison Carr leading the team with 9 points each. Senior forward Brian Gilmore was one of the few Eagles who could compete physically with the Hoyas around the rim, grabbing 6 rebounds to go along with his 8 points.
Georgetown saw significant production from a number of players, but sophomore Chris Wright was the star on offense this afternoon, scoring 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including 3-for-4 on three-point shooting.
“I don’t think I did anything out of the scheme of the offense. I was just taking what the defense gave me,” said Wright. “I was playing how I usual play and got open shots.”
Jessie Sapp and DaJuan Summers were the team’s other top contributors on offense, each scoring 14 points. They too were shooting well from long range, with Sapp going 4-for-5 and Summers 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. As a team the Hoyas went 10-for-20 from three-point range.
Freshman Greg Monroe had a relatively quiet game with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Austin Freeman, who was the team’s leading scorer during last weekend’s Old Spice Classic, played the role of facilitator today, dishing out 6 assists.
Still, Thompson was not satisfied with his team’s performance, expressing frustration with the flow of the game.
“It’s about us, it’s not about the opponent, it is not about the score, it’s us trying to prepare, us trying to get better, us trying to improve,” Thompson said. “We have to execute better and we have to make better decisions.”
With the December 29 Big East opener against UConn looming, and a tough non-conference matchup with Memphis only a week away, the Hoyas will have to improve quickly. But if a 24 point victory is a bad day, Georgetown fans should be excited to see what is possible when this team reaches its full potential.
