In the semifinal round of the BIG EAST tournament, Georgetown men’s basketball (15-17, 6-14 BIG EAST) fell 67-51 to the University of Connecticut Huskies (28-4, 17-3 BIG EAST), dashing Hoya championship dreams.
In the first two meetings of these teams this season, UConn won by a combined total of six points—giving the Hoyas hope in the semifinal game. In those two games, junior guard KJ Lewis was a key offensive player for the Hoyas. In the Feb. 14 matchup, Lewis led all scorers with 24 points. His absence in today’s game left a hole for the Hoyas to fill—and while they have been successful in recent games, they were unable to close the gap against the Huskies.
The game started strong for the Hoyas—they forced a shot clock violation on the Huskies’ first possession of the game. However, after these thirty seconds, nothing seemed to go right for the Hoyas. Georgetown was scoreless for the first three-and-a-half minutes until sophomore center Julius Halaifonua put the Hoyas on the board, 2-7, with a resounding dunk.
The Hoyas’ biggest problem was finding the back of the net, shooting 1-11 on three-pointers and just 32.1% from the field in the first half. While Georgetown has recently improved ball movement and finding their big men in the paint, the first half Hoyas looked like they did back in November. The Hoyas’ individual offensive lightened the pressure on the Huskies’ defense and led to four UConn blocks in the first half.
While the Hoyas didn’t have much going for them, one thing that kept them in the game was the foul trouble of the Huskies’ leading scorer, junior guard Solo Ball. While Ball was UConn’s leading scorer in the teams’ last meeting, he picked up his second foul with 13:47 left in the half and promptly sat on the bench for the rest of the half.
With Ball’s absence and mediocre shooting from the Huskies, a game that could have seen a twenty to thirty point gap instead kept the Hoyas within reach. The Hoyas trailed 21-32 entering halftime.
Coming out of the half, Georgetown looked like they were ready to stage a comeback—for about 25 seconds. Graduate guard Jeremiah Williams weaved through the Husky defense for a driving layup to bring the Hoya deficit to nine. However, after sitting for most of the first half, Ball was quick to quiet Hoya hopes by sinking a pullup three.
The Hoyas were able to pick up their offensive game in the second half, though they couldn’t seem to close the gap on the Huskies. For the first thirteen minutes, the gap fluctuated painfully between eight and twelve points.
Ultimately, the Hoyas could not find an answer for UConn, nor their freshman guard Braylon Mullins. Mullins led both teams in scoring with 21 points, and proved a strong defensive matchup for both Halaifonua and senior center Vince Iwuchukwu.
With three minutes left in the game, the wheels completely fell off the Georgetown bus. Either from exhaustion or frustration, Iwuchukwu committed two off-ball fouls, the second of which was called a flagrant for pulling Mullins to the ground. These fouls along with sloppy rebounding left the Huskies free to extend their lead.
In the end, the Hoyas were unable to put a significant dent in the Husky lead, and the game ended 67-51 in favor of UConn.
While the loss dashes Hoya hopes of a shot at March Madness, and possibly the end of their season if they fail to qualify for College Basketball Crown postseason tournament, their performance in the BIG EAST Tournament cannot be overstated. Ranked last in the conference, the Hoyas’ upsets put Georgetown back on the conference radar and left fans optimistic that Georgetown basketball might be back.
The Hoyas were never supposed to make it this far, but the efforts of head coach Ed Cooley combined with well-rounded play towards the end of the season gave a look at what the team could have been doing all year. Strong performances from Halaifonua, junior guard Malik Mack, and sophomore guard Kayvaun Mulready in recent games demonstrate the Hoyas’ potential to reach new heights next season.
To do so, head coach Ed Cooley will need to recruit talent, especially to replace senior Iwuchukwu along with whoever else enters the transfer portal. Additionally, the Hoyas will need to start next season committed to playing team basketball rather than relying on individual talent. Assuming this happens, Georgetown has a real shot at being a factor in the BIG EAST next season.
In Friday’s game, the announcers remarked, “Connecticut, they’re supposed to be here.” Hopefully the same can be said about Georgetown in a BIG EAST semifinal or championship next year.
