Georgetown keeps growing, edges Seton Hall for its fourth win in six games
“We had three terrible practices,” Ewing stated. “And today they came out and competed their asses off. I don’t know if I can say ‘ass,’ but they competed their asses off.”
Still, the maturation of Ewing’s Hoyas continued in spectacular and shocking style Saturday. The Hoyas beat the Pirates, 81-75, knocking off the third-place group in the convention and a squad that’s on the NCAA match bubble.
The Hoyas (7-10, 5-7) have received 4 of their previous six games in by far their finest stretch of the season. They will attempt to preserve it going when Connecticut visits Tuesday night time.
Senior Jamorko Pickett scored a season-high 20 factors for Georgetown on 8-for-11 taking pictures; the Hoyas’ main rebounder additionally grabbed seven boards. Chudier Bile added 16 factors, and freshman level guard Dante Harris arguably had his finest all-around sport with 14 factors, eight assists and 7 rebounds. Qudus Wahab completed with 11 factors and 11 rebounds, and Donald Carey scored 11 factors off the bench because the Hoyas put 5 scorers in double figures for the second consecutive sport.
The Hoyas’ Jahvon Blair, who entered because the No. 4 scorer in the Big East at 17 per sport, scored simply three factors on 1-for-6 taking pictures, nevertheless it didn’t matter (and he dished out 5 assists).
“I wasn’t really hunting shots. I just let the ball come to me,” Pickett stated. “The opportunities on offense presented themselves, and I took advantage of it. [Blair] is top five in scoring in the Big East. Teams have definitely took notice to that. The defensive scheme is really revolved around stopping him. . . . So it’s the next man up. If he can’t get it going, then it’s on me next.”
Sandro Mamukelashvili led Seton Hall (13-9, 10-6) with 22 factors, and Shavar Reynolds Jr. had 13.
Georgetown took a 38-35 lead into halftime that really felt like a disappointment. The Hoyas had began sturdy and environment friendly on offense, utilizing a 12-1 run to take a 28-16 lead. Everyone was contributing: Pickett had three fast baskets, and Harris acquired to the rim for a layup on a dribble drive. Carey had a pleasant feed for a Bile layup earlier than following with a step-back jumper from the baseline.
“We let them get off to too good of a start shooting the basketball,” Seton Hall Coach Kevin Willard stated. “Then we just had some breakdowns in the second half and they hit some really tough shots.”
Everything gave the impression to be going the Hoyas’ method earlier than Seton Hall determined to get extra aggressive on protection, and that flipped the momentum. Georgetown started to show the ball over, and the Pirates had three straight tip-ins to chop their deficit to 28-22. Mamukelashvili had back-to-back three-pointers that left Seton Hall behind by three at halftime.
“We were confident,” Harris stated. “We stayed poised. I tried to get my guys together, tell them to keep fighting, don’t worry about it.”
The Pirates opened the second half with a 7-0 run that gave them their first lead because the opening minutes. Ewing referred to as a timeout after an Ike Obiagu dunk, a Mamukelashvili three-pointer and a Myles Cale layup.
Mamukelashvili, the Big East’s second-leading scorer, discovered life in these first-half three-pointers after being pretty quiet early. His shot in the paint put Seton Hall up 45-40 for its greatest lead, however the Hoyas didn’t roll over.
The groups went forwards and backwards, and the rating was tied at 67 earlier than Carey transformed a four-point play, Wahab banked in a hook shot and Harris completed a dribble-drive layup throughout an 8-2 run that gave the Hoyas a 75-69 lead with 2:32 remaining. The Pirates acquired no nearer than 4 factors from there.
“Keep our composure,” Ewing stated he advised his gamers throughout that timeout early in the second half. “Basketball is a sport of runs. We made our run first; they made their run. The team that makes the run at the end is usually the team that wins. We were able to keep our composure and make our run at the end.
“I still think our biggest win has yet to come. We beat a very good Seton Hall team that kicked our butts the first time we played them [in a 78-67 road loss Dec. 23]. . . . If we take care of our business and go into the Big East tournament on a high note, then anything is possible.”
