Thursday night, Georgetown shook off nearly 30 minutes of ineptitude to make a furious comeback, pulling within one point of Syracuse, only to fall just short, losing 75-71. Like the rest of Georgetown’s season, it was a confusing mix of inspired and inspiring play and sloppy carelessness, maddening inconsistency with just enough hope to keep you hooked.
The Orange came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, taking leads of 15-3 and 40-24. The early deficit was as much Syracuse’s bulls-eye shooting (5 of their first 6) as Georgetown’s miscues (two early fouls on Greg Monroe, several rushed shots). Andy Rautins, who finished with 26 points, was particularly on fire for the Orange, draining several deep balls.
Chris Wright was largely responsible for what offense the Hoyas could muster, scoring 12 first-half points. As a whole, though, the Hoyas were awful: hurried three-pointers, blocked lay-ups due to their inability to make a shot fake, (Wesley Johnson alone blocked 5 Hoya shots in the first half) and horrendous turnovers. Austin Freeman’s last-second 3 made the deficit 13 going into the half, which seemed oddly close given the hopelessness of much of the half.
After the break, things got worse before they got better. The Hoyas came out ice cold, making just three shots in seven and a half minutes. The Orange continued to find holes in the Hoya defense, stretching their lead to 60-37 with 12:30 remaining.
No sooner had the nadir arrived than hope arrived. The comeback started modestly, with two Wright free-throws, but then the Hoyas proceeded to score on their next four possessions to make the run 10-0 and cut the Orange lead to 13. Rautins hit another 3, and made two free-throws, but the Hoyas again scored on six straight possessions to bring them within 65-60 with 5 minutes remaining, and bringing the crowd to its feet repeatedly. Again, Wright was outstanding, leading the way with 8 points during the run.
After a pair of Orange free-throws, Austin Freeman converted a three-point play then, after a Wright steal, a scintillating fast-break dunk to pull the Hoyas within 67-65 with just three minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets, then an opening: Kris Joseph made just one of two at the line, 70-67. On an inspired drive, Monroe made a ridiculous lay-in between two Orange defenders, 70-69.
Rautins was fouled but also made just one of two, 71-69, with about a minute and a half left. Establishing position in the post, Monroe was fouled, sending him to the line. He made the first, 71-70, but then missed the second, the last of his six misses from the line. Atoning for his brick, though, Monroe grabbed the rebounda away from a momentarily inattentive Rautins, and quickly called a time-out, giving the Hoyas the ball, down one, with one minute left.
Out of the break, Georgetown worked the ball around the perimeter, finding Clark open for a deep three. But that shot clanged off the back rim, and Syracuse regained possession. Facing a nine-second differential between the game and shot clocks, JTIII chose not to foul, leading to Joseph, mis-matched at the top of the key against Monroe, getting the step and banking home a lay-in, 73-70 with 10 seconds left.
As soon as the ball was inbounds, Rautins wisely fouled Clark, who made just one of two, 73-71. The Hoyas had to foul Rautins, who made both free-throws to end it.
All in all, a frustrating, maddening, exhilirating, and tantalizing game. Some quick thoughts:
- Star–Rautins; that creep can roll. He drained five threes, scoring 26 points in all to go with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.
- Star (Georgetown edition)–Wright. He kept the game semi-respectable in the first half and finished with 20 points and 5 steals. He also appeared to be the only Hoya who cared for much of the game, showing passion and grit that seemed more like “Chris Wright is a leader” than the sometimes-seen “Other Hoyas might not like Chris Wright.”
- Honorable mention–Monroe (20 points, 9 rebounds) and Freeman (21 points, 6 rebounds, several charges drawn) were both great during the comeback. Which of course made it perfectly logical for Clark (2-of-8) to take the game’s biggest shots. More on that below.
- Achilles’ heel–well, besides 28 minutes of inability to crack Syracuse’s zone, the free-throw shooting down the stretch was terrible. Monroe missed one to tie and made just 8 of 14 for the game, while Clark missed one of a pair to pull the Hoyas back within one. For the game, the Hoyas made just 16 of 24, while the Orange made 27 of 30.
- Achilles’ heel (part 2)–18 turnovers to Syracuse’s 10.
- Achilles’ heel (part 3)–any game in which the Hoyas trailed by 23 deserves 3 Achilles’ heels. Everyone not named Wright, Monroe, Freeman, and Clark — congratulations, you contributed 2 points. Vaughn–goose egg. Hollis Thompson–zero. Jerrelle Benimon–nope. The rest of the line-up was shut out, save for a Henry Sims sighting that featured him draining a miracle short J that went in, followed by Hank getting a little too excited and shooting a 17-foot jumper roughly 21 feet. 8 missed free throws plus 10-12 points we can normally expect from Vaughn through the end of the bench equals an L.
- Disturbing trend–In each of the last two games, the Hoyas have had the ball, down one, in the last minute of play. In each instance, Monroe had taken control of the offense in the last minutes. Both times, the Hoyas settled for a deep (as in, several feet behind the line) three-pointer. Both times, the three missed.
- What’s next–Georgetown is 8-6 in conference, with four tough games remaining. Tuesday, the Hoyas head to Louisville, before hosting Notre Dame, traveling to West Virginia, then hosting Cincinnati. All of those teams remain tournament hopefuls, and Louisville and West Viriginia loom as particularly tough opponents. What will happen? After Rutgers, predictions are useless, but…
- Reason for hope–To quote JTIII post-game, “I’m proud of our guys. Losing is hell. And after a loss, there is nothing but misery and pain. And there is misery and pain right now. I’m proud of how our guys responded. And in no way am I trying to imply it’s a moral victory; we don’t believe in moral victories. But I’m just proud of our guys.”
Me, too.
