Teams

Georgetown:
The biggest problem for the Hoyas in this game was rebounding. They allowed Pittsburgh to get 18 offensive rebounds, and even when they didn’t lead to second-chance points, it made the Hoyas exert themselves on defense, which in turn made the offense struggle.

Pittsburgh:
The Panthers played a great game on the defensive side of the ball, rarely leaving Wallace open and collapsing on Hibbert at times. However, their free throw shooting was abysmal, missing 22 free throws and shooting only 50%. It’s a shame the Hoyas couldn’t take advantage.

Players

Georgetown:
Big Roy had another good night, scoring 17 points on 8-14 shooting. But he was scoreless for long stretches of the game, and Pittsburgh used physical play to disrupt him offensively. Perhaps if the Hoyas had made a more concerted effort to get him some touches, the offense might have found its rhythm.

Pittsburgh:
Ronald Ramon led the team with 17 points, his most critical basket coming in the final five minutes of the game. The Hoyas began to mount a comeback, but Jonathan Wallace had just missed a three-pointer that would have cut the lead to four. IN transition on the other side of the court, Ramon makes a three of his own to push the lead back up to 10. The game got closer afterwards, but it was a clutch shot that in my opinion won the game for Pittsburgh.

Coaches

One criticism I had for Coach Thompson was that he was not whistled for a technical foul. When the fouls are going consistently against your team, sometimes a tech will help get you a few calls, at least temporarily. But, Coach chose against it, and by the time the fouls started going Georgetown’s way, it was already too late.

Referees

While the referees are not to blame for the loss, they certainly did no favors to Georgetown. At one point in the second half DaJuan Summers had committed as many fouls as their entire team. The refs were a factor in the loss, but in the end the missed free throws by Pittsburgh almost neutralized the foul imbalance.

Number of the Game

35: Difference in the free throws attempted. Granted, Georgetown was fouling for the final few minutes of the game, but the Panters still attempted nearly five times as many free throws as the Hoyas, 44 compared to just nine for Georgetown.

Revenge

We talked about revenge earlier, and Pittsburgh was the one to get it. Hopefully, the Hoyas will be able to shake this loss off quickly and make a strong run in the NCAA Tournament.