Un-Paused: The Hoyas Are Back!
After a three-week COVID hiatus, the 3-8 Hoyas return to action against the Providence Friars.
It’s been so long since last we met, lie dow— well, you get the rest… Anyways, it’s GAMEDAY! Welcome back, everyone!
It’s been a long, hard 21 days without Hoyas basketball, but the Blue & Gray will finally return to the court on Saturday afternoon, when they welcome in the 9-7 Providence Friars to McDonough Arena. With a measly 1-5 conference record, Georgetown will be looking for a win to spark the second half of its season.
But before we go any further on Saturday’s opponent, let’s take a few seconds to refresh everyone’s memory on what has happened since January 6th.
Georgetown picked up its eighth loss of the season when it fell to Syracuse on the road, 74-69. Jamorko Pickett had a team-high 17 points to go along with nine rebounds, while Jahvon Blair had his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists (a career high).
The Hoyas cut the Orange lead to four points with five minutes to go, after trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half, but the Hoyas couldn’t get closer than that.
The Hoyas’ season was then put on pause on January 13, when their home game against DePaul was postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test in the Georgetown program. It is still unclear who in the program tested positive, and whether they were a player, coach, or other team personnel. Patrick Ewing did not give any added details during his media availability on Thursday afternoon.
Patrick Ewing did say that his team was required to quarantine inside their dorms/apartments 24/7 during this pause, outside of stepping outside to be tested for COVID-19. Yeesh!
Opponent Preview: Providence Friars
Head Coach: Ed Cooley (282-198 Career, 190-129 Providence)
Current Record: 9-7 (5-5 Big East)
Projected Starting Lineup: PG David Duke, SG Alyn Breed, SF A.J. Reeves, PF Jimmy Nichols, C Nate Watson
Friars By the Numbers
KenPom Rank: #60
KenPom AdjO: 110.5 (#53)
KenPom AdjD: 96.4 (#72)
KenPom AdjTempo: #281
FG%: 44.2% (#174)
3FG%: 32.1% (#239)
FT%: 73% (#92)
Three-Point Attempts per Game: 19.1 (#279)
Total Rebounds per Game: 36.0 (#162)
Players to Watch
David Duke, Junior, Guard: 19.5 PTS, 6.1 REB, 4.8 AST
Nate Watson, Senior, Center: 18.0 PTS, 6.8 REB, 0.5 AST
Alyn Breed, Freshman, Guard: 5.0 PTS, 2.6 REB, 0.6 AST
Jimmy Nichols, Sophomore, Forward: 6.1 PTS, 2.5 REB, 0.7 AST
Keys to the Game
Limiting Watson
Qudus Wahab will get a chance to show he is the next best thing at the center position in the Big East when he faces Nate Watson, the current best center in the Big East.
Watson is, simply put, a beast. He’s a talented scorer for his position, and at 6’10”, 260 lbs. uses his bulk to muscle through his opponents. Wahab could struggle to stay out of foul trouble in this one due to Watson’s style of play, and that could put Georgetown in an early bind.
However, giving Georgetown cause for optimism is the fact that in two games against Wahab last year, Watson averaged just seven points and five rebounds, and shot 60% from the field on just 10 field goal attempts.
Providence is a two-man show, with Watson and David Duke. If Wahab can limit Watson again, that would help the Hoyas greatly.
Defending the Paint
Providence is not a good three-point shooting team. They are 239th in the nation in three-point shooting percentage, and only average 19.1 three-point attempts per game, which is 279th in the nation.
The Friars don’t have many players that can stretch the floor, so Georgetown will need to keep them out of the paint to limit what they do best, which is scoring around the basket.
The defensive efforts of Wahab, Malcolm Wilson, Jamorko Pickett, Chudier Bile, and possibly Jamari Sibley will be key in this one, to limit looks from the paint for Providence’s forwards (Nichols, Horchler, Gantt) and center (Watson)
Conditioning?
As Ewing said on Thursday, his players have been stuck in their rooms for two weeks, with no access to a basketball court, or even a weight room. Conditioning will be a major concern for the Hoyas in this one.
Luckily, the Friars do not play fast, by any means, but their physical brand of play may wear the Hoyas down over the course of the game. Georgetown will come into this game at a disadvantage from the get-go, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them get out to a slow start due to the lack of basketball activity the last few weeks.
Prediction: Providence 72 - Georgetown 67
Homefield Apparel Drop
Homefield turned into Hoyafield on Friday morning, as they dropped their Georgetown apparel line, full of some sweet throwback apparel featuring the old-school Jack the Bulldog mascot.
Our pals over at Casual Hoya have a 15% discount code for the apparel, “GUHOYAS”.
Go get you some fresh Georgetown throwback threads before they run out of stock!
Big East Standings
Believe it or not, there are just 10 scheduled games left for Georgetown this season, not including the Big East Tournament. Here’s what the Big East standings currently look like:
Villanova: 5-0 (10-1 overall)
Creighton: 8-3 (12-4)
Connecticut: 5-3 (8-3)
Seton Hall: 6-4 (9-7)
Xavier: 3-2 (10-2)
Providence: 5-5 (9-7)
St. John’s: 4-6 (10-7)
Marquette: 4-6 (8-8)
Butler: 4-6 (5-8)
Georgetown: 1-5 (3-8)
DePaul: 1-6 (3-6)
It’s not a great spot to be in, and it’s evidence of the lowly state of this program, but if the Hoyas can avoid 11th place, that has to be considered a success for this team, based on how disrupted this season has been for the Hoyas. Welp.
