A Growing Beard: Tyler Beard Erupts For a Career-High 23 Points to Assist Ailing Hoyas
With only seven scholarship players available on Wednesday night, freshman guard Tyler Beard answered the bell, scoring 23 points to help Georgetown beat Howard, 85-73.
Two weeks ago it was sophomore wing Collin Holloway stepping up to help Georgetown beat Longwood. Over the weekend, it was Aminu Mohammed turning in a dazzling performance against Syracuse.
Today? It was Tyler Beard’s turn. With Georgetown down to just seven scholarship players against Howard, Beard turned in an impressive performance to help his team take down the Bison. The Chicago native scored a team-high 23 points, along with four rebounds and two assists, in a season-high 30 minutes.
The freshman point guard, who has been serving as Dante Harris’ backup to start the season, had seen uneven playing time so far this season, averaging just 9.1 minutes per game before Wednesday night’s game.
With Kaiden Rice and Jalin Billingsley out due to non-COVID illness, and Jordan Riley set to undergo shoulder surgery for a torn labrum on Friday, Patrick Ewing had little choice but to give big minutes to Beard as the only guard off the bench, and boy, did Beard deliver.
While he has mainly played the role of facilitator when he’s seen the floor so far this season, Beard showed that there is more to his game, taking on a heavier scoring load for the Hoyas on Wednesday night.
The role was more akin to what he did in high school at Whitney Young, before he took a postgrad year at Hargrave Military Academy, where he focused more on his development as a point guard.
With Riley likely out for the remainder of the season, Beard is going to play a significant role off the bench moving forward, as one of only two guards on the bench for the Hoyas, alongside walk-on Chuma Azinge.
Beard’s performance against Howard showed that he’s ready to take on added responsibility on this team, and that he has more room to grow as the season progresses. It’s an exciting development for a Georgetown team that could use another playmaker in its backcourt. In Beard, you have someone who has shown the ability to run the offense as both a scorer and facilitator.
“A big part about it for me, and the coaches have been preaching this too, is just to stay ready,” said Beard after the game. “Knowing that Dante was going to start, obviously, I didn’t have a problem with that, but it was just being ready when your turn is called and playing hard.”
Beard has experience in a two-PG offense too, having played with former Duke point guard DJ Steward while at Whitney Young. That ability to slot in alongside another ballhandler like Dante Harris has been evident in the minutes the two have shared together on the court, and is an exciting combination to continue to experiment with as the season goes along.
Per EvanMiya.com, the Harris-Beard duo leads Georgetown in adjusted team efficiency margin out of all two-man combos (min. 15 possessions). Having those two on the floor together allows the Hoyas to play fast like they want to, and also keeps the ball moving at a steady clip on offense.
As the Hoyas get ready to take on their Big East opponents while also trying to get healthy, revelations such as Beard on Wednesday night give hope both in the short- and long-term for Georgetown. Performances like tonight are why you give opportunity to young players like Beard and Holloway, and how you develop role players into key fixtures for your program.