In Must-Win Game, GU Falters Down the Stretch
Marquette 78, Georgetown 72
In some ways, the game was a microcosm of the season. Georgetown needed to heighten its intensity and improve its execution down the stretch, and the Hoyas couldn’t do it.
During the final eight minutes against Marquette, Georgetown showed its talent, but also the many reasons why, after this loss, its 11th of the season, the Hoyas will likely miss the NCAA tournament.
Georgetown battled the No. 10 Golden Eagles for over 30 minutes, but plagued by a team-wide inability to finish at the rim, too many defensive lapses, and a disappearing act by leading scorer DaJuan Summers, the Hoyas lost what many considered a must-win game against the Golden Eagles, 78-72.
For the fourth time in six games, Georgetown had a chance to seize control of the game down the stretch, but failed.
“In many ways it's experience,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “They, coming down the stretch…they executed well down the stretch of the game and we had ⎯ we had some chances, we definitely had some chances, had a few bad bounces, but it comes to experience.”
The Hoyas fall to 14-11 overall and 5-9 in the Big East, while Marquette improves to 23-4 and 12-2.
Leading 59-58 with eight minutes remaining, Georgetown allowed senior guard Jerel McNeal to get open for a huge go-ahead three. On the Hoyas’ next trip down, Summers drove to the bucket with the shot clock under 10 and charged wildly into the Marquette defender.
Then, McNeal made a strong move to the hoop to give the Golden Eagles two more. After freshman guard Jason Clark pulled the Hoyas within two, Summers committed his fourth foul, sending Jimmy Butler to the line, where he made both his free throws with 6:07 left.
The ball went back to Summers on Georgetown’s next stand, and this time the preseason all-Big East selection lost the ball going up to shoot. Senior guard Dominic James missed a three at the other end, but the Golden Eagles grabbed one of their 12 offensive rebounds and Butler ended up scoring to put Marquette ahead 67-61 with 5:20 left.
Fast forward three minutes, with Georgetown trailing by four, Monroe posted up on the right block, found an open Chris Wright on the left block, and he found Summers cutting baseline. Summers could not control the pass and lost the ball to the Marquette defender, then committed his fifth foul on the loose ball.
The Hoyas got the ball back after a Dominic James missed free throw, but Wright could not finish in traffic with 2:32 left. Georgetown had another chance to pull within two, but Monroe missed a five footer, Marquette rebounded, and Butler capitalized at the other end to make the score 73-67. The Hoyas would get no closer.
Until his miss with 1:27 left, Monroe, who scored four points in the first 1:30 of the second half, had not attempted a shot in 17 minutes.
“They did a good job of pressuring and pushing Greg off the block,” Thompson said. “They did a very good job of making it difficult to get it to him. We tried to bring him in high and then rolling him down, starting in the high post and instead of just going right to the block, bringing him high and then rolling him back down low.”
Asked if he was surprised that Georgetown did not get the ball to Monroe more, Golden Eagles Head Coach Buzz Williams dodged the question, but did lather the praise onto the Hoyas’ young center.
“I think he’s the best freshman post player that I’ve ever seen in my career,” he said. “His skill set is such that in their distinct style of play ⎯ his skills are accented even better because of how they play. … He’s really difficult for us to guard.”
Summers finished with 12 points and four rebounds but he had five turnovers, five fouls and sat on the bench for the final 2:47.
For the third-straight game, Wright led Georgetown with 17 points. Fellow sophomore guard Austin Freeman added 16 and Monroe chipped in 13 and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Marquette was buoyed by senior guard Wesley Matthews, who scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, and McNeal, who scored 22. Junior forward Lazar Hayward turned in 17 points and 11 boards.
Both teams got off to a fast start. Marquette shot 60 percent in the first half, while the Hoyas hit at 53.1 percent. Georgetown made seven first-half threes and scored 12 points on offensive boards before the break, at which point the two teams were tied at 44.
“I thought in the first half we were getting whipped on the offensive glass,” Williams said. “They had six offensive rebounds that led to 12 points, they also had seven threes, so they had 33 of their 42 points on offensive rebounds and threes. We weren’t very aggressive defensively, and then in the second half, I thought the key to the game was they only got one three, which was the last three of the game, shot, with three seconds left, and we only allowed two offensive rebounds.”
To make the NCAA tournament, Georgetown now probably must win out in the regular season or make a run to the finals of the Big East tournament. For Thompson, whose teams have been No. 2 seeds each of the past two seasons, not even being on the bubble is largely unfamiliar territory.
He was asked after the game if this was his toughest season leading the Blue and Gray.
“Period. Not just at Georgetown. Yes, but we’ll get through this,” he said. “We will get through this. Yeah it’s trying, but we’ll go to work tonight, these guys will come to work tomorrow.”
The Hoyas return to action Monday night against Louisville. If this was nearly a must-win game, there is no wiggle room in that one. Georgetown cannot afford another loss.
Feb 22 2009 at 1:39 a.m.
Perhaps I'm an inveterate optimist, but this was a pretty good game against an experienced, Top 10 team. If you look look at the scoring stats, the Hoyas came out on top. Turnovers and free throws do make a difference, however, and they made a difference in today's game.
Turnovers gave Marquette extra shot attempts and the free throw imbalance meant that Marquette stopped the Hoyas from going to the rim.
So that's game over, but not season over.
Practice hard, play harder. Good luck.
Feb 23 2009 at 12:15 a.m.
I AM SO PISSED OFF WITH THE EFFORT FAR AS DEFENSE. THE HOYAS LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE QUIT AS A BASKETBALL TEAM. IN MY OPINION THESE PLAYERS DONT WANT TO PLAY THAT PRINCETON STYLE BASKETBALL. WHEN I WATCH THE HOYAS PLAY THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE A BOARD MEETING INSTEAD OF A BASKETBALL GAME. IF YOU LOOK AT HOW UCONN,PITT,WVU,VCU,OR MISSOURI THEY PLAY THE WAY THE HOYAS USE TO PLAY AND THATS WITH DEFENSE.
Feb 23 2009 at 2:22 a.m.
it just doesnt make any sense the way the hoyas have lost the games they have lost. they give away games like people donating clothes to the salvation army. it was bad even big john went to sleep during the game. this 2/3 zone that they play is awful. the hoyas are not syracuse and they are not playing in the ivy league this is the big east. i have not seen so many lay ups in my life. they have to let greg monroe and dejuan summers loose. you have a 6'11 guy and a 6'8 250lb guy who should be averaging 20pts 5reb being held back because of this system. greg monroe need to stop passing the ball when he is 5 feet from the basket and slam the ball with authority. greg should be dominating the paint like blake griffin does for oklahoma. dejuan summers should be let loose and playing like reggie williams did in his day. i dont care what anybody says but if they keep playing like this you are going to see more players transferring and potential recruits not wanting to play for the hoyas. remember it took a while for big john to get players after 1986. i am a hoya fan for life but you have to call a spade a spade.
Feb 23 2009 at 7:24 a.m.
I think that this team has in no way given up or abandoned the Princeton Style offense (I do feel that they are beginning to look visibly frustrated because their efforts are not resulting in wins). Instead I feel that this is a young team with a propensity for making bad decisions and my biggest issue is (1) the lack of communication on the defensive end, (2) missed free throws at crucial times, and (2) the lack of consistent rebounding. If you watch tape from the 2007 Final Four run you will see that that team had intangibles that only come from (1) learning to trust each other through (2) time together (2) overcoming adversity. I think it is also worth noting that, as a group, JTIII has never had this much pure talent to run his offense and often time these young players are relying more on their talent then the system. It will take some time for both players and coaches to adjust to this because this is such a young team (Team USA with all of its talent had to grow up before they were able to win a Gold)that has to go through the growth process. For me it will be interesting to see what the comments are like when this young team begins to mature and combine talent and solid decision making with JTIII's version of the Princeton Offense...it is such a beautiful system...that took the Hoyas from a sub .500 record in 2004-2005 to a final four in 2007 (As well as two Big East Regular Season Titles and the 2007 Big East Tournament title). Let us see where this young team, if given time to grow together, is in the next two seasons. I close with this thought; many of the Hoya Nation have not studies history. What JTIII has done in his first four years is nothing short of remarkable and the fact is that many great coaches did not have as much success in their first five years (100 Wins, 2 Conference Titles, 1 Conference Tournament Title, 4 Post Season App., 2 Sweet Sixteen App., Final Four). The lessons in all of this are: (1) You can’t rush maturity no matter how much talent you have, (2) each season is unique in its own right so you must not stay in the past or look to far ahead in the future, and (3) learn to appreciate the journey for perseverance through adversity is only preparation for greatness!
Feb 23 2009 at 2:03 p.m.
This team has suffered all season from two interrelated problems: (1) inexperience and (2) a leadership vaccuum. No offensive or defensive formula in the world can fix those things, because it takes leadership to capitalize on experience, and it take experience to make good leaders. The only cure is a losing season, and Georgetown's got the cure. Note, however, that the the JTIII system works pretty well in tournaments (where opponents have less time to scout it), so we could see a nice run in the NIT.