Without Chris Wright in the starting lineup for the third straight game, Georgetown continued to look lost. But in their fourth consecutive defeat, it was abundantly clear that the cause of the Hoyas woes was on the court, not wearing a suit on the bench.
Eighth-seeded Georgetown (21-10, 10-9 Big East) continued its tailspin as it kicked off the postseason, losing to ninth-seeded Connecticut (23-9, 11-9 Big East) 79-62 in its first game of the Big East Tournament.
“When you lose someone like Chris…it’s not a question of who is going to be plugged into his position, but everyone has to step it up a little bit,” head coach John Thompson III said. “Everyone has to be better. Everyone has to produce. And that hasn’t happened yet.”
Only two or three players stepped up Wednesday afternoon in Madison Square Garden. Austin Freeman controlled the first half and Jason Clark tried to save the Hoyas in the second. They finished with 23 and 20 points, respectively. (Hollis Thompson also chipped in a respectable 10 points on 50 percent shooting.)
The rest of the Hoyas contributed more turnovers than points, committing 10 miscues while only scoring nine combined points. With no one else on the roster posing any threat, the Huskies were happy to let Freeman and Clark try to beat them.
“They’re great players and they made great plays, [but] we made it a point that it was going to be Freeman or Clark one-on-one as opposed to their offense,” UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said. “Their offense can beat you. It’s difficult for just two people to beat you.”
Most troubling for the Hoyas was the lack of any semblance of a frontcourt game. Georgetown’s big men were plagued by foul trouble from the early going, but that was just a small part of their disappearing act. Starting center Julian Vaughn played 12 minutes, missing both his shots and grabbing just one rebound. His backup, Henry Sims, was little better, earning just seven minutes off the bench despite picking up only one foul in the course of the game.
“They were not playing well, so we went with a different lineup,” Thompson said of his two centers. “They were not producing. They have to produce.”
The game started well enough for the Hoyas, who hung tight with the Huskies for much of the first half. With just over 11 minutes to play Georgetown tied the game, 15-15. Freeman was heating up, and UConn’s star guard Kemba Walker had been held mostly in check.
After that, things started to get ugly. Walker scored eight of his 11 first half points in the final ten minutes, en route to a game-high 28 points, while the Hoyas couldn’t hold on to the ball. Without Wright manning the point Georgetown looked sloppy, turning the ball over 10 times before halftime. The score was 42-30 at the half, and UConn would lead by double digits the rest of the way.
“We just wanted to pressure them,” Walker said. “We wanted to get into our man and hopefully force some turnovers. I think we did a great job at that.”
The Hoyas weren’t ready to admit that their collection of errant passes and bobbled balls owed solely to the Husky defense, however.
“I think it was us being careless with the ball,” Freeman said.
Even with the loss, the Hoyas are all but assured an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. They will have a long time to prepare before their opening game next Thursday or Friday, and after their recent play, they will likely need it.
“We’re going to take whatever happened in this game and learn from it,” Freeman said. “[We have to] go into practice with a better mindset: everybody come in focused, ready to work, ready to prepare ourselves for the NCAA Tournament.”
Georgetown will have one thing to look forward to about getting back on the court: Thompson said he “absolutely anticipates” Wright rejoining the team for its first game.
The Hoyas have a lot of work to do, with or without Wright. Getting just five bench points won’t suffice in the Big Dance. Connecticut was able to beat Georgetown not just because of their superstar Walker, but because the pieces around him were able to knock down open threes, grab rebounds, and generally not make major mistakes. How much longer the Hoyas’ season lasts depends not on the health of Wright, but the contributions of the players around him.
“When you’re able to manipulate parts, the game is so much easier for you,” Calhoun said. “When you’re desperate and don’t know what to do when then it’s difficult, or you don’t have answers.”
