On Wednesday, the Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team (14-8, 4-5 Big East) will travel north to take on the Providence Friars (13-9, 3-6 Big East) at Dunkin’ Donuts Arena. Both teams are looking to get back into the win column after losses in their most recent games. The Friars are also looking to avenge their double-overtime loss at Capital One Arena back on January 12.
Georgetown hits the road again after visiting Villanova (18-4, 9-0 Big East) on Sunday. After a back-and-forth contest, the Wildcats pulled away at the end, taking a 77-65 victory. ‘Nova’s effort was led by sophomore guard Collin Gillespie, who put up a career-high 30 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep. Preseason All-Big East selection redshirt senior forward Eric Paschall also recorded 24 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman guard James Akinjo picked up 19 points and four assists for Georgetown on his way to his third Big East Freshman of the Week selection. However, the two other spark plugs for the Hoya offense, senior center Jessie Govan and freshman guard Mac McClung, played poorly. Govan had arguably the worst game of his career, fouling out without recording a single point. The 6-foot-11 big man was 0-for-9 from the field. McClung did not fare much better, finishing 2-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from deep, despite his improved shooting of late. A rare bright spot for the afternoon was the Hoyas committing just six turnovers.
Providence, meanwhile, is on a two-game losing streak after dropping games at Seton Hall (13-9, 4-6 Big East) and at DePaul (12-9, 4-6 Big East). The Friars fell to the Blue Demons on Saturday by a score of 67-55. Preseason Big East Co-Freshman of the Year selection guard David Duke scored 17 points and grabbed five boards, while preseason All-Big East selection junior guard Alpha Diallo scored 15 points and recorded eight rebounds. However, the Friars committed 16 turnovers. The Providence defense was unable to contain sophomore forward Paul Reed, who played a monster game for DePaul. Reed scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, and had a perfect 7-of-7 on free-throw attempts. Saturday was Reed’s fifth double-double on the season.
Govan will be a pivotal factor in Wednesday’s rematch. Although he is coming off a disastrous outing against Villanova, he notched his career-high of 33 points in the first game against the Friars. He also grabbed 14 boards in that matchup. Govan’s ability to bounce back against a familiar foe will have a crucial impact on Wednesday. In addition, expect Duke to have a larger impact on Wednesday than he did in the first matchup. On January 12, Duke scored just two points despite being in the starting lineup.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. In addition, the game can be streamed on Fox Sports Go. For continuing coverage of all Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
