After a four-game winning streak that sparked renewed hope in the possibility of an NCAA Tournament appearance, the Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team (15-10, 6-7) received a humbling wake-up call Sunday night, after suffering an embarrassing loss at the hands of St. John’s (17-9, 7-6) 82-60.
The St. John’s Red Storm jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the game’s first six minutes, holding the Hoyas without a field goal until the 12:55 mark in the first half, when Markel Starks connected on a three-pointer. At the half, the Hoyas faced an 18-point deficit, trailing at 46-28.
“We weren’t playing,” said Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III, “[A team] that’s playing as well as they’ve been playing, you can’t spot them that many points.”
Early in the second half, the Red Storm lead swelled to as much as 20, before a long-awaited Hoya run cut the deficit to just seven points with 10:49 left to play. The Hoyas, however, went cold from the field, and were outscored 26-11 over the course of the game’s final eleven minutes.
“We chipped away, we chipped away,” Thompson said. “We got it to a workable number…At that point we made some bad decisions, which allowed them to pull it back out.”
A crucial moment came late in the second half when a double technical was called on Hoyas’ guard Jabril Trawick and St. John’s forward Chris Obekpa. The technical foul on Trawick was also his fifth personal foul, ending his night with just over six minutes to play in the game. For Thompson, Trawick’s benching was a major blow to the Hoyas down the stretch.
“Jabril breaks his jaw and we lose five in row,” Thompson reminded the media. “So when he’s not on the court, we are not the same team. His energy and his toughness are contagious…It probably gave [St. John’s] courage as much as it sacked us.”
The Red Storm were led by two dynamic scoring performances from backcourt mates D’Angelo Harrison and Rysheed Jordan, each of whom tallied 24 points in the game. The pair shot a combined 15 of 26 from the field, including five of 12 from beyond the arc.
“I think D’Angelo and Rysheed’s performances were emblematic of our team tonight and really set the tone,” St. John’s Head Coach Steve Lavin said. “Rysheed, early in the game, and D’Angelo in the second half after Georgetown made a run helped our cause. Their aggressiveness and purposeful play made a big difference for us tonight.”
For Georgetown, an utter no-show from the frontcourt was the story on offense. Starting forwards Nate Lubick, Mikael Hopkins, and Reggie Cameron accumulated more combined fouls than they did points—eight and six respectively. Virtually all of the Hoyas’ scoring came from Markel Starks, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, and Jabril Trawick, who racked up 41 of the team’s 60 points combined.
“Offensively, as well as defensively, we have a small margin of error,” Thompson said. “You can’t have breakdowns.”
The result of this game was a 360 degree turn from when Georgetown and St. John’s last met on Jan. 4. The Hoyas dominated the Red Storm, 77-60, thanks to a career day from D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who notched 31 points.
“When a team beats you, as Georgetown did earlier this season, you want to come back and beat them,” Lavin said. “I think the bigger picture here is that the team is continuing to make strides in a positive direction. It’s a team that…has continued to improve on a daily basis and now we are seeing the dividends of that hard work.”
The loss comes at a crucial point in the season for the Hoyas, who continue to fight for an at-large bid to this year’s NCAA tournament. After impressive wins against national powerhouse Michigan State and Big East rising star Providence, Sunday’s loss pushed Georgetown into the bottom half of the Big East standings, with difficult matchups against Marquette, Creighton, and Villanova looming. All three teams have already beaten the Hoyas once this season.
First up, however, is a matchup this Thursday night at 9 p.m. on the road against the Pirates of Seton Hall (13-12, 4-8). In their last meeting, the Pirates stunned the Hoyas at the Verizon Center, totally controlling the pace of the game, leading to a 67-57 win.
After the loss, the Hoyas lost three consecutive games, all part of the five-game losing streak that first cast serious doubt on their hopes for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. On Thursday, Georgetown will be looking for increased production from Starks and Smith-Rivera, who combined to shoot 7-of-24 in the teams’ Jan. 18 meeting.
Following Thursday’s game the Hoyas will return to D.C. for a matchup with Xavier (17-8, 7-5) at Verizon Center on Saturday. The Hoyas lost 80-67 against the Musketeers earlier this year.
