Teams

GU:
I think the Hoyas were a little nervous at the start, perhaps because emotions were running high after last year’s game. But come the second half, Georgetown settled down and pulled away, using an 11-1 run to start the half and put the result beyond doubt. The young guys got a lot of minutes and did more than hold their own. With Freeman, Wright, and Macklin on the floor, it is a very different look than with Sapp, Wallace, and Hibbert. If the underclassmen can continue to get good minutes, the Hoyas will cause opposing defenses lots of problems. My only complaint with the team’s performance is the free throws. 65% is not going to cut it once Big East play rolls around, so the Hoyas need to right that ship, the sooner the better.

ODU:
Give Old Dominion credit - they are not afraid of the big dogs. They played three of the top 10 teams in the nation back to back to back. They came out ready, they were fired up, and they played hard. Unfortunately for the Monarchs, their shots never really started falling, and it was only a matter of time before they would have to make some shots or fall behind. We know which happened.

Players

GU:
Austin Freeman is my player of the game. He had 11 points on 5 for 7 shooting in 23 minutes of action. He looked like he found his stroke today and had a monstrous dunk in the first half. If he continues maturing at this pace, he will be getting big minutes very soon. He must also be doing the right things at practice, since Coach brought him in as the first guy off the bench today.

ODU:
The only choice is Gerald Lee. He single-handedly kept Old Dominion in the game for the first half. But, whether due to fatigue or a better gameplan for the Hoyas, he seemed to have little impact in the second half. He did lead all scorers with a career high 24 points, but he was the only Monarch to score more than six points and that was not enough.

Coaches

JTIII must have given the players an earful at halftime, because they came out flying to start the vespers half. He also did a good job of getting the younger players lots of minutes - not only when the game was out of reach, but also in the first half when it was close - and he was rewarded with very good all-around performances by the underclassmen.

On other end, maybe the ODU coach, Blaine Taylor, waited a little too long to use a timeout to stop the Hoyas’ run. By the time he did use it, it was a 17 point game, and it never got closer than 12 after that.

Referees

At first, it looked as though the refs were gonna call lots of touch fouls, which would have changed the complexion of the game. As it turned out, they let the players play, which is what the refs should do. Nothing too atrocious sticks out in my mind, other than the offensive foul they called on Hibbert when he spun away from the defender and was still whistled for the charge.

Fans

The crowd was very energetic to start the game. When Sam Harris made the first basket of the game, the crowd went crazy. They understandably quieted down a bit after the Hoyas took over, but even after that the fans were consistently making some noise, so props to them.

Number of the Game

21: Score for both teams with 3:51 left in the first half, before the Hoyas went on a 20-3 run to put the game out of reach.