Teams

Georgetown:
What a game! The Hoyas showed a lot of heart, coming back from a 19 point deficit to beat Connecticut. After the tough loss to Marquette, Georgetown found themselves down 15 at the break, and it would have been easy to let thoughts of last season come creeping back into their minds. Instead, they rallied, rekindling their offense thanks to Austin Freeman, and putting the clamps on the Huskies defensively.

It’s one thing to come back from a 19-point deficit, it’s another to hold on for the win. A lot of times teams will expend so much energy just to make the game close that there is nothing left in the tank for crunch time. This was not the case for the Hoyas. After going ahead by four points with five minutes to play, the Hoyas found themselves behind several times late in the game, but Georgetown came up with a huge bucket to retake the lead each time. It was a clutch performance from the Hoyas in a must-win game.

Connecticut:
The Huskies are one of the most athletic teams I’ve seen in college basketball this year. They are incredibly fast, and they turn defensive rebounds into transition layups so quickly, it makes you feel like you must score every possession just to give you time to set up your defense. However, they are not great shooters, going 33% on the day from beyond the arc, including 0-4 in the second half. For this reason, they rely so heavily on fast break points, of which they had 44. But once Georgetown limited the run-outs, Connecticut’s offense floundered, and the Hoyas were able to come back.

Players

Georgetown:
I’m sure that Austin Freeman had some trouble sleeping after the Marquette game, since he had a shot to help the Hoyas pull out a win and came up short. It looked as if Austin was determined not to let that happen again. Freeman had a monster game, scoring a career-high 33 points on 12-20 shooting, including 5-9 from downtown. He scored in all type of ways, off of screens, from kick-outs, driving to the basket, and the Huskies had no answer for him. I’m sure Austin Freeman slept like a baby last night.

Connecticut:
Stanley Robinson is a senior at Connecticut, but in the past he has been overshadowed by Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. This year his numbers are up, averaging almost 10 minutes more per game and scoring twice as many points as last season. He had an number of thunderous dunks, including an amazing put-back slam in the first half, but the Hoyas did a good job of putting him under wraps in the second half. He only had four points after the break.

Coaches

I don’t know what Coach Thompson told his players in the locker room at halftime, but whatever it was it certainly lit a fire under their bellies. We have mentioned numerous times on this site that the trademark of a JTIII-coached team is the calm composure, sometimes bordering on indifference, shown by the players. Being down 15 points at the half, and 17 early in the second, many teams might have panicked and started jacking up threes or speeding the game up. But the Hoyas stuck to their game plan, or rather, refocused on their game plan, and ran their offense very effectively. And despite Connecticut’s athleticism, Georgetown’s half court defense totally dominated in the second half.

Fans

Georgetown does not start classes again until the middle of the week, and students are not allowed back into their on-campus housing yet, so the student section was only half full. However, the crowd as a whole was very loud the entire game. It seemed like everyone in the arena knew the importance of this game, and even early in the second half when Georgetown started their run, Verizon Center was on its feet cheering on the Hoyas. And, by the time Greg Monroe made the layup to put Georgetown up by three with six seconds left, there was not a person sitting.

Number of the Game

9: Minutes between field goals for Georgetown in the first half. After Austin Freeman hit a three to give the Hoyas a 19-18 lead with 10:17 left, Connecticut went on a 22-2 run, during which Georgetown missed 11 straight shots. Chris Wright scored with 50 seconds remaining in the half to break the drought.

Play of the Game

With six minutes left in the game, Austin Freeman tracked down a rebound, and while falling out of bounds passed it to Chris Wright for a two-on-one with Greg Monroe. Wright lobbed the ball to the rim and Monroe was there to send it home. Georgetown’s three leaders combined for the basket, taking back a two point advantage. These three players will determine how well Georgetown does this year, and that play symbolized the potential.