The Mountaineers managed to keep Connecticut at arms length for most of the second half. A.J. Price scored a team-high 22 points for the Huskies, but shot only 5-13 from the field. The loss is the second in the last three games for Connecticut, and the loss could damage its seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia improved their already strong case for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid by collecting their 24th win of the season. West Virginia will take on the #1 seed Georgetown Hoyas in the first Big East Tournament semifinal Friday evening at 7:00 PM.

There is a historical debate about why the Hoyas were known as “The Heart Attack Hoyas”. Some say that it was because they used to win so many close games down the stretch that the fans would all have heart attacks while cheering them on. Others say that the heart attack refers to the reactions from the opposing team’s predominantly white fan base when the 12 strong, powerful, black dudes came out onto the court. For our purposes here, we’ll presume the name was from the close games.

The 2007-08 Hoyas have won two games this season in classic Heart Attack Hoyas fashion: Hibbert’s game winning three pointer against UCONN, and the OT thrilling two-point victory on Monday against Syracuse. If you try to remember back a few years, the Heart Attacks have been coming pretty regularly, and with an excellent winning percentage, too. In Coach Thompson III’s second year at Georgetown, the Hoyas made the NCAA Tournament. Since the start of that season (2005-06), the Hoyas have played in 12 games decided by three points or less or in overtime. In those 12 games over the past three years, the Hoyas are 11-1. Eleven wins and only one loss in those close games. That’s an incredible percentage. The wins have come against some great teams as well, including Duke, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, and Syracuse. Four of those wins have come in the post-season.

There’s no way to predict the outcome in a game that goes down to the wire, but like any situation, the more experience you have, the better off you’ll be. The Hoyas have now won six games in a row when the outcome is decided on the final possession, and as mentioned above, 11 out of their last 12. The stats don’t mean that the fans will be relaxed if there’s another game up for grabs with 5 seconds to play. But, with the confidence and courage that the Hoyas have shown with the game on the line, maybe instead of a heart attack it’ll just lead to a slight increase of blood pressure.

Teams

Georgetown:
The Hoyas showed good composure down the stretch in this one. They were trailing by six with under four minutes left and continued to run their sets. The result was an 11-2 run to close out the game. Lots of Hoyas made big shots when it mattered and did a good job getting stops and securing the rebounds on the defensive end.

Connecticut:
The Huskies played well, and they will be dangerous come tournament time. They got out in transition for some easy baskets, went 49% from the field against the tough Georgetown D, and they blocked a lot of shots - not just Hasheem Thabeet, but all their players. Fortunately, a few of those shots were on the way down, the most important one being the goldtending on Ewing’s shot that tied the game at 69.

Players

Georgetown:
Roy Hibbert scored 20 points, including the game winner, but I would say Austin Freeman was the one who most impressed me. He made two clutch threes with the Hoyas down and was willing to take another that would have given Georgetown the lead with about a minute to play. His shot was off, but he had the confidence to take it. He is a freshman beyond his years, and that will help immensly come March.

Connecticut:
Doug Wiggins made huge shots throughout the game. He was 6-7 from the field for 15 points and pulled down six rebounds. His only miss was the baseline jumper with under a minute in the game that would have given the Huskies the lead.

Coaches

Jim Calhoun was not on the bench tonight due to flu-like symptoms, leaving the Huskies under the direction of George Blaney. But I am not convinced that even Calhoun would have had Thabeet out covering Hibbert beyond the arc. As for Coach Thompson, I don’t think that was exactly how he drew up the final play, but Hibbert was so open partially because UCONN was guarding against a backdoor layup.

Referees

The refs were bad, but thankfully it didn’t negatively affect the result. The game started with six consecutive fouls called on the Hoyas. This led to a mock cheer when the Huskies were finally whistled for a foul 40 feet from the basket. In the second half, they settled down a bit. The most controversial call came with under two minutes left. Ewing drove to the basket and appeared to travel, then had his shot blocked by Thabeet. Then John Cahill called goaltending to tie the game up at 69. Looking at the replay, it looked as though both calls were correct, but it angered the UCONN faithful.

Fans

It was a sellout crowd at Verizon Center, and while there were some Huskies fans making some noise near the end, when Jessie Sapp’s three pointer tied the game with a little under 2:30 remaining, the crowd erupted and was definitively pro-Georgeotwn down the stretch. I was sitting in the lower bowl, and we were all standing for the final portion of the game. It was a great atmosphere, and hopefully the Goergetown fans will keep coming out throughout the rest of the season.

Number of the Game

10: The Hoyas had 10 more field goal attempts than UCONN. This is a result of hard work on the boards, both in limiting Connecticut to only five offensive rebounds, but also in crashing on the offensive end to give the Hoyas second chance opportunities.

New Jack City

The face of Jack the Bulldog has changed again. A few seasons ago, they changed from the classic bulldog head to a more wolflike head. Well, it has changed again, returning to a bulldog look, but whereas the original Jack had totally black eyes, the new head has whites of eyes, giving him a more modern look.

Georgetown led by as many as nine points on two occasions in the first half, but Connecticut scored the final five points of the half to trail by only four at the intermission. In the second half Connecticut continued their run through good three point shooting and fast break opportunities and took the lead. Hibbert finished with a game-high 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half as the Hoyas stayed within striking distacne. Georgetown suffered a cold spell in which they didn’t score a field goal for four and a half minutes, but managed to keep the game within reach before their final run.

Georgetown goes back on the road to take on Pittsburgh on Monday at 7 PM, before returning to Verizon Center for two games in a row.

Last year, the Hoyas defeated the Huskies in their last Big East game of the season 59-46. This is a different UCONN team, and Georgetown will have a battle on their hands in their Big East home opener.

I’ll check back in with lineups and any other info I pick up before game time.

To start the season, the Hoyas looked strong in almost all aspects. Good early season performances, a high ranking, and an 8-0 record - it looked like all the pieces were there for a championship run. But, they had not been truly tested. Then in the Memphis game, everything seemed to fall apart in the second half. The Hoyas were outrebounded and outhustled, struggled mightily from the free throw line, and endured a poor showing from Roy Hibbert. The game led some to question whether Georgetown even had the right pieces, much less the ability to solve the puzzle.

In recent games, the Hoyas had continued to struggle in certain areas. Rebounding was still the biggest area of concern, as evidenced by the much smaller American side holding its own against the Hoyas on the boards. The culmination of these woes was the game at Rutgers, in which all the flaws of the Memphis game resurfaced. Hibbert was a non-factor, the free throw shooting was abysmal, and the rebounding was unacceptable. Even the defense, which held Rutgers to 31% shooting, was not perfect, as the Scarlet Knights missed some wide open attempts. The saving grace was the team’s ability to make shots from downtown, but we know that the three-point shot is a fickle friend and should not be relied upon to win games. While winning despite playing poorly is encouraging - and an important trait for a contender - the game still left questions. Despite the win, one got the feeling that performances of this nature would not bode well for the rest of conference play.

Then came the DePaul game. All the previous troubles seemed to be a distant memory, as the Hoyas came out of the gate and looked unbeatable. Hibbert established his dominance in one of his best career performances: 17 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. The Hoyas were 9-11 from the free throw line and won the battle of the boards. The defense closed down the opposition, and on offense, Georgetown got back cuts to the rim for high percentage shots.

While the DePaul game was a good sign, there is still work to be done. One game does not always mean a team has turned the corner. Also, it is easy to let one’s guard down after a big win. Consider last year, when a tour-de-force pounding of Notre Dame was followed by a lackluster showing in a loss at home to Villanova. The Big East does not allow a team to let its guard down. The Hoyas need another strong, team effort if they wish to start 3-0 in the Big East for the first time under Coach Thompson. Connecticut has size, so Georgetown will again need strong rebounding, and if the game is close, free throw shooting will be key. It will be a hard-fought game, and the Hoyas will have to put all the pieces together in order to get the win. But, if the game against DePaul is any indication, at least the Hoyas have the pieces.