In head coach John Thompson III’s six seasons at Georgetown, the Duke Blue Devils have emerged as the Hoyas’ preeminent non-conference rival.
The budding feud dates back to Thompson’s first meeting with the Blue Devils in 2006, when an unranked Georgetown squad toppled then-No. 1 Duke, announcing their return to the national scene. Two subsequent meetings resulted in Hoya losses, including a 76-67 defeat in Durham last season that kicked off an epic collapse.
On Saturday the Blue Devils return to the Verizon Center for the first time since 2006, and once again the match-up has far-reaching implications for the Hoyas.
Coming off a demoralizing loss to rival No. 4 Syracuse, No. 7 Georgetown (15-4, 6-3 Big East) can continue to stake a claim as a bona fide top-10 team with a victory over No. 8 Duke. A loss would likely remove the Hoyas from the conversation as one of the best teams in the country, at least for the time being.
Obviously, the Hoyas can’t afford to dwell on the past.
“The nature of Big East basketball is you cannot—cannot—be successful if you’re stuck on the last game, no matter what the outcome of that game was,” Thompson said.
Georgetown does have to learn the lessons of its 73-56 drubbing at the hands of the Orange, namely that the Hoyas live and die by the fortunes of their big three, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Greg Monroe.
Hilary Nakasone
Freeman was fine on Monday, scoring 23 points. But Monroe had just eight points and fouled out. While the big man sat with foul trouble, his teammates proved incapable of establishing an inside game. Wright, although he had seven assists, was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc and scored just seven points. It is becoming clear that the point guard needs to score for the Hoyas to win—when he reaches double figures, Georgetown is undefeated.
As the season has progressed, it has become apparent that Georgetown will have to ride its big three, as well as solid supporting players Jason Clark and Julian Vaughn.
“We have a core group that’s playing significant minutes, and that’s different than what we’ve had since I’ve been here, but I think that’s probably the best for this unit,” Thompson said. “But at the same time what seems to be getting lost in all that is when there are subs, when those guys are on the bench, I’m just as confident in the guys that are going in and the group that we have out there.”
Despite their coach’s confidence and their continued hustle, the Hoya reserves have so far proved incapable of doing the one thing that matters at the end of the game: scoring. The bench had zero points against Syracuse.
Thus the burden falls on Georgetown’s stars to carry the load. Usually that hasn’t been a problem—four of the top six individual scoring performances under Thompson have come this season.
“It’s great to have a guy [that is scoring a lot of points],” Clark said. “I think that every single one of our players on this team can go for 20 points in any single night. And I think it’s good because some of us are off some nights. Having other guys that are capable of doing that gives you a lot of confidence.”
That may be the case, but against Duke the Hoyas cannot afford anyone having off nights like Monday. The Blue Devils boast one of the country’s most efficient offensive attacks, led by their own big three of Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler. Each averages in excess of 15 points per game.
The real key to a Hoya victory, however, will be whether Monroe and Wright can shake off their performances against Syracuse and bounce back against the ACC’s top scoring defense.
“One thing that we’ve learned is that once you’re in a rhythm you just keep playing and everything will come back to you,” Wright said.
It will certainly be easier in front of a sold-out crowd in the friendly confines of the Verizon Center. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
