Say one thing about this Georgetown team—they know how to make games interesting.
Less than a week after nearly clawing back from a 23-point deficit against No. 5 Syracuse, No. 11 Georgetown (19-7, 9-6 Big East) successfully overcame a halftime deficit against Louisville on the strength of Austin Freeman’s 24 second-half points.
Freeman scored 29 total points on 9-of-12 shooting to propel the Hoyas past the Cardinals 70-60.
While the margin of victory was ultimately comfortable, the outcome didn’t seem likely in the early going, as Louisville jumped out to a 13-3 lead. Georgetown ended the half trailing by six and seemed incapable of stopping senior guard Edgar Sosa, who finished with 24 points in addition to eight assists.
The Hoyas remained close thanks to the efforts of sophomore center Greg Monroe, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. The big man also grabbed 14 rebounds for the double-double.
Louisville had momentum on its side at halftime, but it seemed like the Hoyas forgot that in the locker room. When Georgetown stepped back on the court, they looked like the clearly superior team, opening the half with a 21-2 run.
Georgetown’s sudden dominance was made possible by the emergence of Freeman. After an uncharacteristically quiet first half, the junior guard put on a performance reminiscent of his heroics against UConn earlier this season.
Nineteen seconds into the second half, Freeman knocked down a three. Then he drove for a lay-up, hit another trey, and all of a sudden Georgetown had its first lead. Freeman’s assault would not relent, and neither would the Hoyas, who never trailed again.
The Hoyas needed Freeman to catch fire, because third-leading scorer Chris Wright wasn’t finding the basket. The junior guard did not convert a field goal and was held scoreless until the final minute, when he hit four free throws.
But Wright was hardly a non-factor. While a low-scoring game from Wright has usually correlated to a Hoya loss, on Tuesday he made his presence felt without scoring. He consistently broke down Louisville’s press and did not try to force his offense, attempting only four shots during the game and none in the final 15 minutes.
The win was a big one for the Hoyas, snapping a two game slide and keeping their hopes of a top-four conference finish and a double-bye in the Big East tournament alive.
Georgetown will look to keep rolling this Saturday at noon at the Verizon Center against a Notre Dame squad fresh off a 15-point beatdown of Pittsburgh.
