Teams

Georgetown:
The past few times that Georgetown made the trip to Chicago to take on DePaul, the Hoyas had returned home with easy victories, with the result almost a foregone conclusion. This game had a very different feel, as even when the Hoyas extended to a double digit lead, you weren’t convinced that DePaul was done for. As it was, Georgetown was able to add another road win to its resume and returns home with a deserved 83-75 win over DePaul.

There were a few points of concern about the game, however. First, the normally solid free throw shooting was atrocious, as the team shot 57% from the stripe on the night. Those misses contributed in part to DePaul hanging around in the game. Also, the Hoyas struggled breaking the Blue Demons’ full-court press, despite easily handling similar pressure in the St. John’s game (perhaps this was partially due to the missing Markel Starks, who was a last-minute scratch). Georgetown successfully managed it early in the game, but in the second half the team squandered a number opportunities to take a stranglehold on the game and ended the game with 18 turnovers.

On the positive side, Georgetown continues to rebound the ball very well and absolutely dominated the Blue Demons on the glass, winning the battle of the boards by a whopping 22, 47-25. Also, the Hoyas were over 52% from the field and an even more impressive 53.8% from downtown. When the Hoyas are shooting and rebounding this well, we might be able to forgive them a lapse or two from the free throw line.

DePaul:
This DePaul side is improved from years past, and they fought harder than I was expecting. Their press was effective, as the very high-intensity pressure generated lots of steals and offense for them. Their half-court defense was far less effective, however, and Georgetown took full advantage.

Players

Georgetown:
Jason Clark, who turned 22 on Monday, celebrated his birthday by putting on an offensive show. He scored a career-high 31 points on just 14 shots, making three pointers as if they were layups and driving to the basket for inside scores as well. He also chipped in five rebounds and four steals. The only blot on his performance was his free throw shooting, where he was just 4-9. But, other than that, Clark certainly had a birthday to remember.

DePaul:
Moses Morgan came off the bench to score 17 points for the Blue Demons, with most of his damage coming from beyond the three-point arc. He was 5-8 from downtown, including two threes in a 32 second span that cut Georgetown’s lead to two midway through the second half.

Number of the Game

3: Misses from the field for Jason Clark. On a night where the hoop looked as big as an ocean, Jason Clark made 11 of his 14 shots, including five of his seven three-point attempts, and one of those misses was halfway down. Many Georgetown fans have known of Clark’s explosive scoring ability, and perhaps this game will ignite similar offensive displays in upcoming games.

Fresh Start

For the first time this season, Markel Starks was not in the starting lineup, as a late illness kept him sidelined for the entire game. Freshman Otto porter started in place, earning the first start of his career. He had another stellar rebounding performance, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. The Hoyas’ solid play despite its starting point guard is a testament to versatility of the team, that the players are able to adjust seamlessly to whatever role they are asked to play.