Teams

Georgetown:
Georgetown is a good basketball team. They just have a tendency to try and hide that fact. There are a lot of reasons why the Hoyas lost this one – Austin Freeman was sick and nowhere near 100%, Notre Dame has a lot of motivation without Luke Harangody and they are better than they get credit for – but those are just excuses. The Hoyas needed a win, and they came short.

Now that it’s March, Georgetown needs to start winning a bunch of games in a row if they want to come out of the season with anything to show for it. The problem is, the Hoyas haven’t won three straight since Harvard, St. John’s, and DePaul.

Notre Dame:
Like I said, Notre Dame is a better team than they seem. With Harangody out, they came out more focused than the Hoyas, and they’re tenacity on the offensive glass really deflated the Hoyas, especially in the first half.

Players

Georgetown:
Hollis Thompson got his first start with the Hoyas as Austin Freeman was a last minute scratch. And with that, Hollis had one of his best games of the season. He scored 12 points off of 5-7 shooting, and he used his long arms effectively on defense.

Notre Dame:
Ben Hansbrough scored the first 10 points of the second half for the Irish, and his hot shooting put this game out of reach. The Hoyas had cut the lead to four to end the half, but the Hansbrough 10 – Georgetown 2 run to open the second put the Hoyas back into a hole.

After struggling to get the game close with five minutes remaining, it was Hansbrough once again who killed the home side, hitting a three-pointer and then stealing the ball from Monroe for a three-point play on the next possession. After that, the Irish’s 13 point lead was insurmountable.

Coaches

When trailing in close games in the past, Georgetown has opted not to foul, and to play tough defense instead. What’s resulted is that the Hoyas have ended up with very little time to try to win the game, and if the other teams managed to score, then the Hoyas were in big trouble.

Against Notre Dame, the Hoyas were down big, and Coach Thompson decided to start fouling with three minutes left. It doesn’t really matter that the game was quite possibly out of reach. It’s important that the team learns how to foul when it matters because without practicing that scenario in an actual game, valuable seconds can roll off the clock in games the Hoyas can’t afford to lose.

Fans

For the second straight home game, Hoya fans left the Verizon Center hearing the chants of their Big East rivals. That is not good.

Number of the Game

23: Minutes played by Austin Freeman. In a game where Austin needed an I.V. before the opening tip to help get him the fluids he needed while suffering with a stomach virus, it seems unusual that Coach Thompson would force him to play over half of the game. It was particularly confusing since Hollis had been playing well, Austin had been suffering, and the game was slipping out of reach. Hopefully Austin got the rest he needed on Sunday, because the Hoyas are going to need him against West Virginia.

Bye Bye Bye

If Georgetown had beaten Notre Dame, they would be in good position to earn a double-bye in the Big East Tournament by ranking in the top four in the conference. They would have had to have beaten West Virginia, but they would be coming off of three straight victories, and it would be March.

Now, that’s not going to happen – I’m not actually going to look at all the possibilities to see if there is any mathematical chance, but believe me, there’s no chance. Currently sitting in 7th in the conference, it is more likely that the Hoyas fall below #8 and have to play on Tuesday in the tournament. For a team thgat hasn’t won three straight since December, that would be devastating.