The Georgetown Hoyas (7-23, 2-17 BIG EAST) dropped their final home game of the season 88-68 to the No. 20 Providence Friars (21-8, 13-5 BIG EAST) in a sloppy game. Senior forward Ed Croswell led the Friars with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore guard Primo Spears led Georgetown with 26 points and four of the Hoyas’ 14 turnovers.
Once again, the most noteworthy part of the game for Georgetown were the question marks surrounding the center position. Senior center Qudus Wahab, who had been starting regularly, was not seen after his senior day recognition. Backup center sophomore Bradley Ezewiro picked up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in the game, and eventually fouled out. This is how senior center Malcolm Wilson, who wasn’t even on the roster to start the season, ended up playing double-digit minutes, over sophomore center Ryan Mutombo.
The first few minutes saw the teams trading points, but at around the 15-minute mark of the opening period, Providence started to pull away. The Friars went on a 13-0 run that wasn’t interrupted until a layup by Ryan Mutombo brought the score to 21-13, Providence.
For most of the rest of the half, the Hoyas did just enough to keep the Friars from truly running away with it, but couldn’t cut their lead to less than 10. However, with three minutes to play, Providence launched a 7-0 run thanks to a pair of Croswell layups and a dunk and free throw from sophomore guard Devin Carter to close out the half 46-27.
Despite going into the second half down 19, the Hoyas didn’t seem to have lost any motivation. Croswell opened up the frame with a layup, but then the teams went back and forth for a bit. Georgetown’s first 12 points of the half came off of alternating 3-pointers from Spears and junior guard Jay Heath. Less than three minutes into the half, the Blue and Gray had managed to close the gap to 49-39, Friars.
For those few minutes, it seemed like Georgetown might be able to come back.
But Providence responded with a huge run. With 11 minutes left, Croswell hit a pair of free throws that put Friars up by 27, 69-42. The Hoyas wouldn’t pull within 16 for the rest of the afternoon. Defeated, with just over a minute to play, head coach Patrick Ewing sent in the freshmen. It was guard Denver Anglin’s first time seeing action since Jan. 21, and forward D’Ante Bass’s first time since Jan. 7. The Friars closed it out 88-68.
On a team with three other quality centers, there is no reason Wilson should be getting serious minutes in conference play unless it’s a blowout win, which is something the Hoyas haven’t seen in a couple of years.
Sophomore center Ryan Mutombo played just eight minutes despite pulling down four rebounds and snagging two steals in his limited playing time. A returning player of his caliber should be seeing more minutes when the two regular centers aren’t playing.
The Hoyas have one last chance to show what they’re made of before the BIG EAST Tournament. They take on the Creighton Bluejays (18-11, 12-6 BIG EAST) on Wednesday, March 1, in Omaha to wrap up their regular season. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. For continued coverage of Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
