Austin Freeman came into the Verizon Center sick, and after the game his teammates felt the same.
Freeman was limited to 23 minutes with a stomach virus, and Georgetown (19-8, 9-7 Big East) suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Notre Dame (19-10, 8-8 Big East), 78-64.
The loss left the Hoyas in seventh place in the Big East and all but eliminated their hopes of a double bye in the Big East tournament. The Fighting Irish, on the other hand, got a victory in what was probably a game they had to win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.
“If I were to say today is disappointing that would be an understatement,” head coach John Thompson III said.
The Hoyas opened the game with Freeman out of the starting lineup for the first time all year, allowing freshman forward Hollis Thompson to get his first career start. He capitalized by scoring the first basket of the game—the only lead Georgetown would hold.
“It’s tough to adjust with that, because Austin’s a really big part of this team,” sophomore guard Jason Clark said. “But I think we’ve got really good players that can step up and make plays.”
After the Thompson basket the Hoyas quickly fell behind, continuing a troubling trend of slow starts in recent games. Notre Dame knocked down threes, and when they missed, an Irish player always seemed to be in position for a rebound. The Irish ended the half with a 31-27 lead thanks to ten second chance points off ten offensive rebounds. The Hoyas had seven total rebounds at the break.
Down only four, the Hoyas seemed poised to make a comeback much like they did against Louisville earlier in the week. But this time, it was Georgetown’s opponents who were saving something for the second half.
“You can’t play from behind all the time,” coach Thompson said. “We’ve come from behind in several games, and that’s not necessarily a script we want to keep following. So we have to do a better job early.”
Notre Dame quickly extended its lead coming out of the locker room with senior guard Ben Hansbrough put on a shooting clinic, scoring the Irish’s first ten points. He would go on to lead all scorers with 21 points. Hansbrough’s barrage was a sign of things to come, as Notre Dame would go on to shoot 71.4 percent in the second half.
“They shot the ball extremely well,” Thompson said. “The open shots they got they, put in. The contested shots they got, they put in.”
The Irish’s victory was even more impressive considering they were without former Big East Player of the Year and conference scoring leader Luke Harangody. The senior forward missed his fourth consecutive game due to injury.
The man who replaced Harangody in the starting lineup, however, was no less devastating. Junior forward Carleton Scott had a career game, posting 17 points and crashing the boards for nine rebounds.
“He’s been playing well, [but] I didn’t know he would do this,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said of Scott. “When a young man gets confident and is really believed in its amazing what he can do. He was fabulous today.”
Georgetown showed one flash of the comeback that was to be expected from them, going on an extended 8-0 run in the middle of the second half to cut the lead to four. But the hot-handed Irish had the answer.
“We made a little run there in the second half,” Thompson said. “Then as soon as we got it to four—I don’t remember the exact timeline—but I feel like they got two or three threes, they got fouled shooting a three, right when we got close.”
Four Hoyas finished with at least ten points, led by sophomore center Greg Monroe with 15. But ultimately Georgetown was unable to compensate for a diminished Freeman, who finished with five points.
Freeman practiced during warm-ups, but went back to the locker room for an IV shortly after the opening tip. Normally a sharpshooter, the junior guard was visibly off his game, airballing his two three point attempts.
Freeman’s illness was unfortunate, but there are no excuses in the rough-and-tumble Big East. The Hoyas’ opponents certainly won’t give them any sympathy.
“After what we moved through [with Harangody],” Brey said, “I’m a firm believer of survival of the fittest in this very cruel league.”
