Georgetown hit 14 three-pointers Thursday afternoon and shot fifty-six percent from the field overall, beating Coastal Carolina going away, 80-61. Jason Clark led the Hoya scoring attack with 22 points and five three-pointers, while Chris Wright had 12 points (fittingly, all on three-pointers) and 12 assists, the most helpers for a Hoya since Kevin Braswell notched 16 (??) in 2002. The Hoyas also notched their place in the program’s record books, hitting the third-most three-pointers by a Hoya squad in any game. There was a lot more to like about this game, including a sterling performance by Austin Freeman (8 of 10 FG, 20 points), major interior contributions by the recently reactivated Julian Vaughn (11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks), and solid contributions from the Hoyas’ role players (six points and five rebounds from Hollis Thompson, nine bench points). The Hoyas built up multiple double-digit leads, then relaxed a bit too much, before rattling off a 16-4 second-half run that put the game out of reach. A few quick thoughts:
Hero. Clark has turned in back-to-back stellar performances, notching his second 20-point game shortly after nabbing 11 rebounds against Tulane. Through 3 games, he’s averaging 19 points per game on 58% shooting from the field. But Wright deserves equal mention: after a terrific game Thursday, he’s dishing out 7 assists per game, running the offense while letting his scoring take a back seat thus far. Honorable mention: Freeman, whose 20 points against Coastal is even with his average thus far. Over/under on one of the Clark-Wright-Freeman troika not being the team hero? April 7.
Goat. None, to speak of. The Hoyas struggled through some sluggish stretches, but played a relatively flaw-free game.
Half Empty. The Hoyas got to the line just five times, while allowing the Chanticleers 23 free throws. Coastal was aggressive going to the hoop, and in attacking the boards, but Georgetown made a number of careless fouls that made the game closer than it should have been.
Half Full. Georgetown managed an astounding 26 assists on 32 made baskets, sharing the ball consistently. While Wright led the passing game, he was not the sole distributor, with Clark (4 assists), Freeman (3), and Vee Sanford (3) all getting in on the action. Honorable mention: For all the moaning about the Hoyas’ lack of interior presence, they were more than competent today, out-rebounding Coastal 33 to 17.
Conclusion. Georgetown took care of business again Thursday, notching their second win this week, with two games left to play. They made the game closer than it should have been in spots, but tore off several runs that were as good as anything the team put together last year. Ultimately, the Hoyas’ weekend will be judged by their overall performance, so, while today’s win was nice and, in many ways historic, more important tests await.
The Hoyas return to action tomorrow at 2:30 EST on ESPNU, when they will face Wofford. A game preview follows tomorrow morning. Until then, the box score from today’s game is here, while a sweet photo of Vaughn and Thopmson’s defensive dominance is here.
