Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Men’s Basketball | GU Falls to St. John’s in MSG for 2nd Straight Year

FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera earned a game-high 29 points in the Hoyas' loss to St. John's.
FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA
Junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera earned a game-high 29 points in the Hoyas’ loss to St. John’s.

If the result of Saturday’s game felt familiar to Georgetown, that’s because it was.

Last season, Georgetown cruised to a 17-point win over St. John’s at Verizon Center in the teams’ first meeting. But the rematch was a different story, as the Red Storm jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead over the Hoyas in New York nearly two months later and never looked back, winning 82-60.

Only 11 days ago, Georgetown blew out St. John’s 79-57 at home. Prior to travelling to Madison Square Garden this weekend for the rematch, junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera was wary of the Hoyas repeating their mistake.

“Last year it was kind of the same scenario,” Smith-Rivera said. “We beat them pretty bad up here, and we went there and they did the same thing to us. Hopefully this time around we understand how to withstand the fight.”

Awareness of the possibility that the Hoyas would fall to the Red Storm in New York for the second year in a row was not enough to prevent it. St. John’s (20-9, 9-7 Big East) seized control early on and turned much of Saturday’s matchup into a formality, downing Georgetown (18-9, 10-6 Big East) by a final of 81-70 and snapping the Hoyas’ three-game winning streak.

“At Georgetown, they slugged us from start to finish,” St. John’s Head Coach Steve Lavin said. “[Today] was a complete reversal.

The afternoon got off to a fortuitous start for the Hoyas as St. John’s senior guard D’Angelo Harrison was whistled for two fouls in the first 25 seconds of the game. With Harrison, the Big East’s second leading scorer, sidelined for the rest of the half, Georgetown took a 3-2 lead. It would be the Hoyas’ last advantage of the contest.

For St. John’s, the ideal game resembles a pickup contest at Yates Field House, so the Red Storm were pleased with the up-and-down pace during the opening minutes of Saturday’s tilt. Much like a hastily assembled pickup team, the Hoyas made only one of their first nine shots and turned the ball over nine times before the third media timeout of the half, where St. John’s led 32-18 with 7:17 remaining.

“We made poor decisions offensively,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “You have to give [St. John’s] credit for their defensive communications, and their rotations were good, which caused us to have a bad day.”

Thompson tried various fixes, but nothing seemed to work. Two early fouls on senior center Joshua Smith forced Georgetown to play a smaller, quicker lineup that helped St. John’s grab eight first-half offensive rebounds.

A switch to a 2-3 zone in the last four minutes of the period generated some defensive stops, but the Hoyas were unable to capitalize on offense and entered the locker room trailing the Red Storm 43-32.

Although Georgetown was able to prevent the St. John’s lead from ballooning in the second half, it could not generate the extended run needed to climb back into the game. The best the Hoyas could muster was a quick 5-0 spurt that culminated with a three-point play from Smith and cut the Red Storm lead from 16 to 11 with 9:12 left to play.

The play was the lone bright spot for Smith, who finished with five points and fouled out after playing only eight minutes of the game. Moreover, despite Smith’s play was immediately answered by a three-pointer from St. John’s senior guard Phil Greene that killed any momentum Georgetown had gathered.

“[Smith’s foul trouble] hurt us a lot,” Thompson said. “You have to give St. John’s credit for that, they went after him and they attacked him.”

Greene finished with a team-high 26 points on 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, and Georgetown did not come within 10 points for the rest of the game.

On offense, Smith-Rivera led the Hoyas with 29 points. The co-captain also tied a school record by making seven three-pointers, but — in a departure from recent games — received little help from his teammates.

Georgetown had seen a combined 10 scorers in double digits in its last two games, but Smith-Rivera and senior forward Mikael Hopkins, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, were the only two players to reach that mark on Saturday.

With only a week left to play in the regular season, Georgetown is in good position to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but seeding in the Big East Tournament is not as clear.

The Hoyas entered Saturday’s game in control of their fate — win out and receive the two-seed in the conference tournament — but that is no longer the case. Georgetown will now have to battle for positioning with No. 23 Butler (21-8, 11-5 Big East) and No. 25 Providence (19-9, 9-6 Big East).

Tuesday night’s road trip to Butler will go a long way in determining who Georgetown plays when it returns to Madison Square Garden in less than two weeks for the Big East Tournament. Given Georgetown’s struggles in the building the last two years against St. John’s, the Hoyas will likely be hoping that opponent is not the Red Storm.

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Hoya

Your donation will support the student journalists of Georgetown University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Hoya

Comments (0)

All The Hoya Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *