In the final game of a three-game road trip, the Georgetown men’s basketball team (11-5, 3-2 Big East) surrendered a 17-point second half lead in a loss to Xavier (14-4, 4-1 Big East), falling 80-67 on Wednesday night. Down 67-64 with 6:14 left to play in the game, the Musketeers closed the game on a 16-0 run en route to their decisive victory over the Hoyas, who missed their final eight field goal attempts.
The Hoyas struggled to stop a well-balanced Xavier offense, with four Musketeers scoring in the double figures. Xavier sophomore guard Semaj Christon led the way with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. His penetration especially caused problems for the Hoyas defense, as six of his nine field goals came via dunk or layup. Junior guard Dee Davis added 17 points, on 5-of-6 shooting.
The Georgetown backcourt, senior guard Markel Starks and sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, rose to the challenge, especially early on the game, and gave the Hoyas a 42-29 halftime lead. However, their hot shooting abated in the second half, with Starks missing his final six attempts from the floor. For the game though, Starks had a game-high 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting, and Smith-Rivera scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Both players combined to shoot 7-of-13 from three-point range, in a game where the Hoyas converted ten three-pointers, their second-highest of the season. Starks also added seven assists and five rebounds.
Georgetown freshman forward Reggie Cameron and senior forward Aaron Bowen continued their strong play in the absence of junior guard Jabril Trawick for the second consecutive game. Trawick is out indefinitely with a broken jaw. Cameron, in the first start of his career, stepped up and scored a career-high 13 points, shooting 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point land. Bowen provided nine points off the bench, shooting an efficient 4-of-5 from the field.
The Musketeers’ frontcourt, however, overwhelmed the Hoyas’ frontline at times, especially on the boards. Xavier outrebounded Georgetown 36-25, including 11 offensive rebounds. Junior center Matt Stainbrook had a game-high eight rebounds to accompany his seven points and six assists. Senior forward Isaiah Philmore added 14 points and five rebounds, all offensive, and junior forward Justin Martin also tallied ten points and seven rebounds.
For the third consecutive game, Georgetown missed the low-post dominance of junior center Joshua Smith, who did not travel with the team due to an academic issue. He has no set timetable for his return. When asked before the game if Smith’s situation is as serious as former Hoya Greg Whittington’s indefinite suspension of last season, which sidelined him for the entire second semester of 2013, Head Coach John Thompson III declined further comment.
As a result, the Hoyas struggled to counter this behemoth frontline. The Georgetown frontline trio of senior forward Nate Lubick, senior center Moses Ayegba, and junior forward Mikael Hopkins all combined for an underwhelming eight points and ten rebounds for the entire game. All three struggled with foul trouble the entire game, with Ayegba eventually fouling out.
With the continued absence of Trawick and Smith for the near future, Thompson expects his other players to step up and fill their voids.
“We’re a tough group, a resilient group. Guys are going to get opportunities now that haven’t had them in the past, but they practice hard every day, they show it every day what they can and can’t do in practice,” said Thompson during the team’s media availability this past Tuesday. “As long as everyone plays as has hard as they can within themselves – we don’t need anyone to now try and step out and not be who you are.”
The Hoyas concluded their three-game roadtrip with a disappointing 1-2 record. After a resilient overtime victory against Butler and a blowout loss to Providence, this last game fit into a pattern of inconsistencies./* The Hoyas will now return home, for the first time in two weeks, to play Seton Hall (10-7, 1-3 Big East) on Saturday afternoon and Marquette (10-7, 2-2 Big East) on Monday night.
A marquee win still remains elusive for the Hoyas, who find themselves on the cusp of NCAA Tournament viability as they enter the heart of their schedule. Following their two-game homestand, the Hoyas face Big East contenders, No. 20 Creighton and No. 6 Villanova, and No. 4 Michigan State in a rare, mid-season non-league matchup in New York’s Madison Square Garden the day before the Super Bowl on February 1.
