Teams

Georgetown:
After a pair of uninspired losses, the Hoyas showed their resilience and put forth a solid performance to get back on the winning track. Georgetown struggled early but eventually settled down for a 69-49 road win over St. John’s. It was certainly a team effort, as the freshman bench chipped in 23 points and 21 rebounds. And despite a short lapse where the Red Storm used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three with under seven minutes to play, Georgetown answered right back to regain control of the game, and for the first time during this year’s Big East season, the fans did not have to sweat it out in the final minutes.

The Hoyas won this game thanks to great defense and rebounding. They held the Red Storm to 31.5% from the field on the day, and forced 14 turnovers on which Georgetown scored 16 points. The Hoyas also worked the glass, outrebounding St. John’s by eight and pulling down 19 offensive boards which lead to 21 second chance points. Add to that the 55% that Georgetown shot from the field in the second half, and you get a satisfying 20 point win over a classic Georgetown foe.

St. John’s:
The Red Storm are even younger than the Hoyas, with seven freshmen, four of them starters. Combined with the fact that St. John’s is a poor three-point shooting team, and you can understand the frenetic pace with which the Red Storm played. They tried to use a transition offense to generate points. However, their transition defense was not equipped to handle the Hoyas’ counterattacks, which allowed the Hoyas a number of easy baskets. And since the Red Storm were not rebounding well, it made it difficult for them to even get out and run as much as they would have liked.

Players

Georgetown:
The Hoyas received offense from a variety of sources, which is what contributed to the strong effort. Jason Clark had the most complete all-around performance, with 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Hollis Thompson’s line of 20 points, five rebounds, and four steals is even more impressive given he was held scoreless in the first half.

But perhaps the most important performance of the day came from Otto Porter, who had his second double-double of his young career with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was not just the rebounds or points but how he got them. He was working the offensive boards and putting back the rebounds, and six of his points in the first half came during the critical 16-2 run that helped the Hoyas gain control of the game.

St. John’s:
The Red Storm’s two leading scorers are Moe Harkless and D’Angelo Harrison. Harrison made the first basket of the game for St. John’s, but then went 0-11 from the field the rest of the game, ending with just five points. This meant that Harkless had to step up his game, which he did, scoring a game-high 21 points. He might have had even more had he not fouled out with five minutes to play. After that point, the wind was out of the sails for St. John’s and the Hoyas pulled away.

Referees

This was an old-fashioned Big East game; it was a physical contest, with high-pressure defense, lots of fast break opportunities, and plenty of contact. The referees were in keeping with the old-school mentality and allowed the two teams to play without calling much, which made the game much more fun to watch and gave it a nice flow. The officials were also consistent for most part, except for a brief stretch in the second half where there were a few too many touch fouls called. But, overall, I thought the refs did a good job.

Number of the Game

0: Three pointers made for St. John’s. The Red Storm are the worst three-point shooting team in the conference by far, and the Hoyas guarded them as such. With no legitimate outside threat, Georgetown packed it in, which in turn made it very difficult for St. John’s to score. It is rare in this age to find a team that is under 26% from beyond the arc, so while leaving the opposition open from beyond the arc was a successful strategy in this game, the Hoyas shouldn’t get used to it.