Teams

Georgetown:
For the second time in a week, the Hoyas looked totally superior to a team with a similar ranking in the polls. This time it was the PAC-10 defending champs Washington. Despite the coast-to-coast travel and the 11am tip-off in Anaheim, the Hoyas looked pretty sharp throughout.

The turnovers were a little high for the second game in a row (21 vs Butler and 17 vs. Washington), but the Hoyas still managed to create more turnovers than they committed, and the ease with which the team scored in the second half – and the incredible 22-point run to start the half – decided the outcome by the 10-minute mark which is a rare treat.

Washington:
For the opening portion of the game, the Huskies stuck to their game plan of fast paced play and one-on-one offense with Quincy Pondexter. When the pace slowed down they became much less effective. When the Hoyas controlled the tempo it was clear that Washington was going to struggle to score in their half court sets.

They had one flurry at the end of the first half, but their defense was never as solid as the offense. Washington is a good team with a pair of very good scorers, but it seems like they will win a lot of games by out-scoring people and not by out-defending them.

Players

Georgetown:
All five starters scored in double figures for the Hoyas, but it was the least heralded who made the biggest impact in this one. During the huge run to start the second half, Julian Vaughn scored three hoops, including two powerful dunks.

The Hoyas were picking apart the Washington defense at will. It was layup, after dunk, after layup for the Hoyas who pounded the ball inside the entire second half. Vaughn was a key to the Hoyas breaking the game open, but he also had 6 points in the first half (4-4 FT), including the free throws at the end of half number one that gave the Hoyas the lead for good. I mentioned a couple weeks back that Vaughn can be effective when single covered, and his confidence continues to be on the rise.

Washington:
The Huskies are pretty much a two-weapon offense, but those guys can really fill it up. Quincy Pondexter (who they call Q-Pon) scored 23 points and Isaiah Thomas scored 21. Pondexter showed some pretty solid NBA-type moves at the start of the game, but then went over 25 minutes of game time without a hoop. That was the period of the game when his team fell behind by 20. Thomas made a pair of threes during the Washington comeback to help close the final margin, but both of those guys needed to help their team when the game was still in question.

Referees

The refs made a number of mistakes, mostly on out-of-bounds calls. The funniest and most glaring error came in the first half when Greg Monroe was brutally hacked on a breakaway dunk attempt. The referee called it a clean block, but the color analyst Marques Johnson noted while looking at the replay, “Wow, that looks like a lot of wrist! I know the hand is part of the ball, and I guess the forearm is part of the ball, too!”

Number of the Game

25: Number of turnovers that the Hoya defense forced. Washington had all kinds of trouble getting into any offensive rhythm, and rhythm can be the most important element when your offense depends almost entirely on two players.

Home Away From Home

It seemed like a pro-Georgetown crowd in Anaheim. There are a lot of Hoya alumni that come from or have settled in the L.A. region. There were also a number of famous Hoyas of the past that were in the house: Ronnie Highsmith, Irvin Church, and Ashanti Cook. There was also a loud cheering section for Hollis Thompson, making his first trip back to his home town as a Hoya. Thompson scored 4 points for the Hoyas.

Images via Sports Illustrated (Photos by Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo and Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)