Downing the Eagles: Hoyas Crush Coppin State, 80-48.
Let's do that again soon, huh?
Writing about Georgetown basketball is much more enjoyable when I get to write about Georgetown wins. So a big THANK YOU to our mighty Hoyas for getting a convincing win over Coppin State last night to allow me to write the first Hilltop Hoops newsletter about a Hoyas win!
What You Need to Know:
Georgetown beat Coppin State last night, 80-48.
Jamorko Pickett had one of the best performances of his career, scoring 19 points and pulling down 18 rebounds.
A 16-3 run to close out the first half pushed Georgetown out in front for good.
Chudier Bile had his best game in a Hoyas uniform so far, scoring 13 points, to go along with 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
Freshman forward Kobe Clark left the game with a foot/ankle injury.
Coppin State head coach Juan Dixon had a very weird postgame press conference.
Game Recap:
For the first 12 minutes of the game, it looked like Georgetown was going to be in for a dogfight with the visiting Eagles of Coppin State, as the hosts trailed Coppin State 16-13 six minutes into the game.
The usual suspects were to blame for the slow start for Georgetown. Turnovers, bad defense, and lackluster effort. But a coaching adjustment made by Patrick Ewing turned the tide in favor of the Hoyas midway through the first half, when Ewing put Chudier Bile in at the center position with Qudus Wahab off the floor.
Georgetown’s switch to a small ball lineup countered the undersized lineup for the Eagles, who were playing a five-out lineup, and using their center to take Wahab away from the rim so their guards could attack it more confidently.
Bile, who was off to a slow start in a Georgetown uniform, keyed a 14-2 Georgetown run that gave Georgetown the lead, 29-20, with 3 minutes left in the first half. Bile’s outside shooting (2-of-3 from downtown) along with his hustle on the boards (eight rebounds) galvanized the Hoyas, and helped them assert dominance over the Eagles after a shaky start.
The trio of Jahvon Blair (9), Jamorko Pickett (9), and Bile (10) paced the team in the first half with 28 of the team’s 38 points in the opening half, putting Georgetown up 38-25 at halftime.
The Hoyas didn’t look back in the second half, stretching their lead to as many as 34 points, behind 10 second half points from Pickett, and 13 from Blair.
The kids even made their debut, including freshman forward Jamari Sibley, who had yet to see the floor yet in a Georgetown uniform.
Hoya fans got a sneak peek at the future that awaits them in 2021 and beyond, as players like freshmen guards Dante Harris and T.J. Berger impressed at the end of the game, with Harris confidently nailing a long three-pointer, and Berger showing off his sweet jumpshot with a three of his own, as well as a smooth finish on a drive into traffic.
Player of the Game
Jamorko Pickett
Pickett was excellent in this one. He didn’t dribble with the ball too much, he took confident shots, and he was a beast on the boards. His 18 rebounds were the most by a Georgetown player since Mike Sweetney grabbed 19 in overtime against Syracuse in 2003, per Bobby Bancroft of SBNation.
Pickett scored the second-highest points out of Georgetown’s players tonight, despite having a modest usage percentage of 13.9%, which was third on the team, behind Blair and Jalen Harris. That efficiency is a promising sign for a player who is at his best when he is moving the ball quickly, whether that be in the form of a pass or a shot.
Ewing’s Thoughts:
On his decision to go small with Bile at the 5: “They were small. They went small, two of their bigs weren’t here. One of their bigs that we thought would have been there wasn’t there. They were shooting, trying to spread us out and shoot the three, going against Q, so we mixed it up. We went zone some, we went five-small just like they did, we switched everything. We just tried to do a lot of different things and it worked.”
On Jamorko Pickett’s career night: “He has to continue to do the same things he did today. He didn’t just rely on his three-point shooting. He was able to get to the basket and make some plays, and he was great on the glass.”
On Chudier Bile: “He has a lot of ability. He can do a lot of different things. I thought he settled a little bit when he got it in the post, instead of jumping over them he double-clutched a couple of times. But he’s very talented. He can do a lot of things that we’re going to need for him to do going forward. Scoring the basketball, defending, blocking shots, he has that ability to do all of that… He can do a lot of damage for us.”
Up Next:
The Hoyas start Big East play on Friday night, when they play host to the #9 Villanova Wildcats at 7 PM. Villanova is coming off a strong 68-64 win against the Texas Longhorns, and is led by senior guard Collin Gillespie and sophomore center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. We’ll have more on that matchup later this week.