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.