Teams

Georgetown:
In this critical game for their postseason hopes, the Hoyas started flat, not looking at all focused, turning the ball over and allowing Louisville to jump out to a sizeable first half lead. The team then regained focus and scrapped to get back into the game, but spotting one of the best teams 17 points is not a formula for success. Neither is shooting 31% from the field in the second half.

Louisville:
Louisville executed nearly flawlessly in the first half, running their half court offense to perfection. They were 6-6 from three point land in the first, and were it not for their nine turnovers, they probably would have had a larger halftime lead. In the second half, Georgetown never seriously threatened, and any time it looked as though the Hoyas might be mounting a run, the Cardinals made a big play to swing the momentum back in their favor.

Players

Georgetown:
Greg Monroe showed some toughness, attacking the basket like he hasn’t in recent games, sending in two monstrous dunks. He finished with 10 points on 4-7 shooting. I would have liked to see him take a few more shots.

Louisville:
All of the Cardinals were on fire from the start of this game, as the team was 70% in the first half. Earl Clark was the most damaging on the night, scoring a game-high 22 points including a perfect 3-3 on three pointers.

Coaches

Coach Thompson’s team was down 10 with four minutes to go, and elected not to foul. Louisville ran the shot clock down and eventually got a layup with about two seconds on the shot clock. On the ensuing possession, the Hoyas used another 30 seconds just to cut the lead back to 10. Given how long it takes to run our offense, something the coach should know, giving the foul that early against a below average free throw shooter is not a bad idea. Instead, he elected to wait, and the Hoyas lost a minute of game time with nothing to show for it. I have noticed this attitude in other games as well, but in a game of this magnitude, you have to do anything to win, even if means fouling earlier than you would like.

Fans

It was only a half-full Verizon Center, as even the student sections looked pretty sparse. The crowd started very tense, not making a lot of noise, and even the student section was not in unison for even the simplest cheers. Eventually, though, the fans got into it, realizing the severity of the situation. On a number of possessions early in the second half the crowd was on their feet, urging their team forward. Unfortunately, they were more often than not sent back to their seats disappointed.

Referees

As seems to be the trend of late, the refereeing was again pitiful. They called the game pretty loose, which is not a criticism, but it did favor the more aggressive defensive style of Louisville. They missed a lot of calls. There was a clear travel on Louisville in the first half which resulted in a wide open three point look for Earl Clark. Then Chris Wright was mugged inside with no call and then Louisville got a lay-up in transition. The half-full crowd made enough noise for a sold-out arena as the boos reigned down on the officials.

Number of the Game

7: Assists for the Hoyas. Just one more sign of the struggles Georgetown has been having over the second half of the season. The Hoyas pride themselves on being team-oriented, on sharing the ball and finding the open man. It seems like either the open man is missing his shots, or the team is not moving the ball well, because this was the lowest assist total for a game all season.