Teams

Georgetown:
Georgetown gritted out another win, but the Hoyas have much to improve on. They committed 18 turnovers, some on the mild press, others due to poor passing. They also gave up 16 offensive rebounds, which made it hard to pull away. On the bright side, the team got a defensive stop when they needed one, and are able to walk away from this game with a victory.

Villanova:
The Wildcats had a poor shooting night, making just under 25% of their attempts from the field on the night, and connecting on only three of the 23 shots taken from beyond the arc. If not for the aforementioned turnovers by the Hoyas, this game might have been a blowout.

Players

Georgetown:
Perhaps Jonathan Wallace is not out of his shooting slump quite yet, but he certainly made some strides to returning to last year’s form. He scored a team-high 15, which include his clutch game-winning free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining. It was good to see him make some threes, and this game should definitely serve as confidence boost to one of the greatest shooters in Georgetown history.

Villanova:
Scottie Reynolds is a one-man show for Villanova. He led all scorers with 24 points and played 39 minutes, but got little help from his teammates, most notably freshman Corey Fisher, who finished the game shooting an atrocious 1-16 from the field. Even without any support, Reynolds still had a chance to be the hero in this one, but Jeremiah Rivers denied him the pleasure with his stalwart defense on the last possesion.

Coaches

Jay Wright was working the officials all night long, but it did not wind up helping him in the end, as the last call of the game went against his Wildcats. To be honest, I was a little surprised he was not given a technical foul at some point during this game, as he was really getting into it with the referees on several occasions.

Referees

A poorly officiated game on many levels. People will no doubt point to the questionable foul call at the end of regulation that went in favor of the Hoyas, but the game was called tightly the entire game, which hurt the flow. There was one sequence near the end of the first half where Villanova was whistled for a loose ball foul and two offensive fouls in a 90 second span. The Wildcats also got their fair share of beneficial calls, as the refs called lots of ticky-tack fouls, and both teams were in the bonus before the nine minute mark of the second half.

Fans

The students were back in full force after sub-par showings against Seton Hall and South Florida. A sizeable crowd at Verizon Center, but with a few too many Villanova fans. But, for the first time in this building, the Nova supporters went home disappointed.

Number of the Game

11:56: Consecutive minutes in which the Hoyas held the Wildcats without a field goal in the second half. During that span, Villanova missed 19 shots from the field.

Jay Wrong

I was sitting in section 120, which for those who know the Verizon Center layout is right by the tunnels that lead to the opponent’s locker room. After the game, the students were taunting the players and coaches as they left. One of the students must have said something particularly bad, because after Jay Wright passed by, he turned around and angrily moved back towards the student. Several security guards had to restrain him, and he even asked the guards to let him say one thing to the student. Eventually, he gave up and returned to the locker room. I could not hear what the student said, but based on the reaction, I would guess, “I’d rather take the shirt off your sister.“