Your Georgetown Hoyas traveled to Chicago on this cold winter night to take on the DePaul Blue Demons, losing 56-50. The second half in particular was offensively poor to an extent that defied all logic. Georgetown was 1-23 from the field after halftime.
Prior to the tip-off, Vince Iwuchukwu was no longer listed as ‘Out’ on the availability report for the first time since around mid-November. This match felt important as a chance for a viable road win and a return to a .500 BIG EAST record. That didn’t happen.
It took almost two minutes for Mack to float in a jumper to open the scoring for both teams. The sloppy start was something the Hoyas would rather forget, and they temporarily managed that during the first half after trailing DePaul by double digits with just six minutes gone.
Back-to-back contested buckets from Lewis and Langston Love put the Hoyas back on the path to stability, a pair of long jumpers from Jeremiah Williams further cut the deficit, and when Mack found Iwuchukwu inside with 8:09 to go, he put the Hoyas ahead 21-20.
Georgetown didn’t find their defensive stride until late in the period. Iwuchukwu’s length and lateral mobility and combination with Jayden Fort up front looked effective in hampering the Blue Demons; DePaul did not score from the field in the final six minutes of halftime. The Hoyas had a 35-32 lead going into the break.
Both teams came out aggressively after the break, but it was the Blue Demons who took advantage of a series of Georgetown misses – including a few from close range – to regain the lead. The Hoyas trailed by two, 40-38, in the under-16s. Neither team scored over the next few minutes of play. It was DePaul who finally broke the drought at 13:22, with Ed Cooley immediately calling a timeout.
Unusual turnovers from Mack and one from Iwuchukwu gave them a breather. It paid off as Love got to the line and a block from Julius Halaifonua forced a turnover that ultimately gave him a pair of (converted) free throws at the other end. That made it 42-42 with 11:38 left.
KJ Lewis drove to the basket, grabbed his own rebound and fought his way in to put his team back on top with the and-1. After ten points in the first half, it was almost halfway through the second before he found the bottom of the net again. DePaul had endured a 1-for-11 stretch of its own, including one basket that was prevented by a deft block from Iwuchukwu.
Neither team scored for more than three minutes. A Mack steal that he took to the basket was a painful miss, and Lewis’ follow-up wasn’t good either after he collected the offensive rebound. Ultimately, a field goal and a pair of free throws for DePaul put them back on top, 47-45, with 6:05 to play.
Georgetown’s deficit grew to five after DePaul hit a long three; they trailed 46-51 with 2:21 to play. When Iwuchukwu was blocked from behind with two minutes to go, it felt over, even as a few miscues from the Blue Demons left the door ajar.
The shooting was colder than a night in Chicago in January. The overall offensive execution was yeeeesh. The revenue struggle was widespread. The Hoyas scored just one field goal on 23 attempts in the second half. They have now lost four in a row to DePaul. The team should be (much, much) better than this.
After what I believe will be a long and painful trek back to DC, Georgetown will host Seton Hall on Saturday, October 1 at 6:00 PM, airing on FS1.
Burn the tape. And the device used to play it.
#Gruesome #Hands #Hoyas #fourth #straight #loss #DePaul