LINKS: Can Georgetown Spoil Someone Else’s Season for Once?

Hoyas host Providence on Tuesday and visit St. John’s Saturday

This has to have been a tough season for the student-athletes of your Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team (9-20, 2-16), and these last two games before the BIG EAST Tournament could really go either way in terms of energy and effort. Hopefully the Hoya faithful will be treated to another solid stretch of fun-to-watch basketball over these last two games against Providence (Tuesday in DC) and St. John’s (MSG on Saturday). After all, it is March.

After the seriously strong start against Xavier, the Hoyas reverted in the second half to poor ball movement and lousy defense. The question is whether fans saw a glimpse of what Georgetown might be able to do next season or merely a hot-shooting apparition against a struggling Musketeers squad. We may not know until next December or January.

Georgetown should play like they want to spoil someone’s bubble hopes in these last games, but the collapse to Xavier (among others) reflects that another win is not likely in the cards. The Hoyas simply cannot sustain great shooting enough to withstand the physical and strategic adjustments by BIG EAST opponents. The Hoyas can try to race any team in this conference to 80 points, but that might only work against one opponent. This humble lunch blog contributor has been beating the drum about Georgetown’s defense having metrics point to a decline from last year, where it set record lows.

In the post-game press conference after Xavier, Cooley was asked, “What is the answer to [fixing the defense] … ” and he flatly replied “Recruiting.”

It’s disappointing to think that personnel is the driving factor for defensive failings—be it mental, physical, and/or team-chemistry limitations—but with two games left, this is where we are. There’s simply no use in criticizing the staff for coming up shorthanded in building this roster. Hopefully they learned their lesson with purposefully leaving scholarships empty.

Cooley likened the defense on Saturday night to “old ass men” trying to guard out there, and he’s not wrong. But can such a defense be turned around before November?

Adding a rim protector (or two) would go a long way. Cooley’s defensive plan appears to funnel the action to the basket, but no one is available to help. The current forwards/centers do not have the size to block shots or force adjustments consistently, and that’s being kind. I’m sure Ed Cooley would agree that the required physicality is lacking.

But one man does not maketh a defense. Adding a freshman center can’t flip the switch on this 329th ranked defense. Other defensive-minded-high-basketball-IQ players need to be added—if they even exist in a transfer portal situation often filled with many spotlight-driven players. But roster spots may need to open up if “recruiting” is really the only answer to fortifying the defensive end.

With the “Senior Night” list perhaps fans got a glimpse. While guys like Cam Bacote, Jon Kazor, Ismael Massoud, and Jay Heath Jr. were not a surprise in the “senior” honors, a couple fan-favorites in Wayne Bristol Jr. and Ryan Mutombo both likely have eligibility left and appear to be moving on. Frankly, there’s a dude successfully suing the NCAA for his 8th year of eligibility, so I tend to believe 5 years is available to anyone. Loved for their personalities and fan interaction, it’s also tough to point to losing these two as roots of the defensive evils on this team. Still, while they will be missed (if this is good-bye), two scholarship spots don’t hurt.

There is plenty to say about the portal and recruiting moving forward, but these last two games need to be about re-recruiting your core and finding something (anything) to hang your hat on for a positive outlook for the future. I would expect some more zone looks, some more pressing to ignite some energy on that end, and probably some pushing of the pace. While I expected a slower, methodical play this season—more akin to the early JTIII seasons of laying their foundation—there’s no reason to not steer into the skid in these last games and see what can happen.

The last thing to note is that, as the 11th seed, Georgetown is expected to face the 7th seed in Game 2 of the BIG East Tournament on Wednesday. The 4th seed may be: Seton Hall 0%, St. John’s 11%, Villanova 14%, Providence 54%, or Xavier 21%, or Butler 0%.

Here are the links:

Hoyas Close Home Slate with Providence | GUHOYAS

Epps is currently fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring, averaging 18.0 ppg in 26 outings. He leads a trio of Hoyas in double figures while Styles pitches in 13.1 ppg and Cook adds 11.1 ppg. Cook’s 8.3 rpg ranks third in the BIG EAST Conference and is fueled by his league-leading 4.1 offensive boards per game, which ranks fourth in the country. Additionally, the East Orange native leads the squad in efficiency, knocking down 58.6% (119-203) of his shots. He has tallied eight double-doubles on the season, with the most recent coming against Xavier (15P/14R) on March 2. Epps dishes out 4.4 apg, holding on to eighth in the conference, while his 2.2 3-pointers made per game also ranks eighth in the league

Providence aims to brighten resume with Georgetown clash | FIELDLEVELMEDIA

A win over the lowly Hoyas (9-20, 2-16) wouldn’t strengthen the Friars’ resume much, but it would propel Providence into its regular-season finale against No. 2 UConn with some much-needed momentum. “We have two great opportunities in front of us,” English said. The Friars beat Georgetown 84-76 on Jan. 27 in Providence. That meeting marked Hoyas coach Ed Cooley’s first game against his former team. Cooley won’t have to worry about facing the same hostile Friars crowd that harshly greeted him in his return to Providence in January, but he still has major concerns entering Tuesday’s home tilt.

Men’s Basketball Game Notes At Georgetown – Providence College Athletics | FRIARS

*Devin Carter is the only player in the nation in Division 1 to score 900+ points, make 100+ steals and block 60+ shots since the start of the 2022-23 season – in the last two seasons (61 games), Carter has 964points, 105 steals and 62 blocks. *Devin Carter was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on 2/19 for the second time this season. *Devin Carter was 1 of 30 players named to the Naismith Player of the Year Midseason Team on 2/15. *Devin Carter was 1 of 15 players named to the Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year Watchlist on 2/7. *The Friars have posted a 2-1 mark this season against former coaches (1-0 vs. Cooley, 1-1 vs. Pitino).

Villanova’s big second half results in 71-60 win over Providence | VUHoops

The Wildcats emerged out of the halftime break and rattled off a game-changing 18-2 run to storm ahead.

“We really didn’t change anything schematically,” Neptune said. “We did what we do. We told our guys it’s going to take 40 minutes. We knew they’re a tough team, they made some timely shots and they have great players. We had to take some punches and go from there.”

After a back-and-forth first half, the Wildcats didn’t look back once they took control of the game.

“Just taking pride in defense and knowing that we have to get stops and rebounds so on offense we can play freely and just share the ball,” Villanova guard Justin Moore said.

The Wildcats clamped down in the second half and restricted the Friars to 23 second-half points and limited them to shooting 26.9% on the floor.