PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a Big East that is once again very strong and has some very good teams at the top, Georgetown is starting to assert itself as a contender once again. Tuesday night’s 79-70 win at Providence may be a microcosm of the team’s season, one where they got stronger as the game went along.
Georgetown isn’t without its flaws, and they’ve had a few games in the Big East where they didn’t play well. Notably, Syracuse beat them convincingly at the Carrier Dome and the loss to South Florida was a surprise to many. But take away the South Florida game, and over the last week and a half this team has looked stronger than at any time this season. Convincing wins over Duke and Villanova will do that for you.
A strong defensive team, the Hoyas allowed Syracuse to shoot 53.3 percent from the field and South Florida to shoot 49 percent. That means the defense can have an off day, but it’s been very rare, and when it goes south so does the team’s hopes of a victory. An opponent has shot 45 percent or better just seven times in 23 games against them, and their 18-5 record (8-4 Big East) is further proof of it.
The defense was certainly there on Tuesday night against a Providence team capable of putting points on the board. Providence is second in the Big East in scoring, averaging 82 points per game, and the Friars have scored less than 70 points just twice in Big East play.
“That is a very good offensive team,” head coach John Thompson III said of the Friars. “They can put four and five guys on the court that not only can make shots but also take you off the dribble, and the do a very good job of spacing and moving it around.”
That offense met its match, though, as the Friars shot just 34.4 percent from the field and committed 14 turnovers. In the second half, Georgetown held them to 31.3 percent, and that went a long way toward winning despite being out-rebounded 42-31.
Meanwhile, the other reason this team looks like a contender was in full effect. The Hoyas shoot better than 50 percent from the field on the season, and on Tuesday they shot 51.7 percent to keep that going. The offense appeared to be clicking on all cylinders in the second half, as they shot 60.7 percent and turned the ball over just four times.
Greg Monroe was the big reason. The sophomore big man’s talent is hardly a secret, but it’s still worth noting that getting the ball to him can make a big difference. After foul trouble and a lack of touches even while in the game limited him in the first half, he came alive in the second half en route to 12 points and a career-high 12 assists, with eight and nine, respectively, coming in the latter frame.
“(Greg) was in the game a lot more in the second half,” said Thompson. “We wanted to get the ball into the paint, and we wanted to throw it down and let Greg and Julian (Vaughn) made decisions after that.”
Monroe and Vaughn had quite a two-man game going in the second half, and Vaughn rode that and a few transition baskets to a career-high 19 points on 9-13 shooting. Monroe got him several easy shots in the offense, as well as some others, from reading the defense and finding cutters.
“Playing with him, it’s a lot of fun, and when he gets the ball, your eyes kind of light up, he always makes good passes and decisions,” Vaughn said of Monroe.
Monroe’s main complements at the offensive end have been Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. Freeman is averaging nearly 20 points per game in the Big East, while Wright had 21 on Tuesday night and can be more of a scorer with Monroe’s passing ability. Recently, Jason Clark looks to be emerging as a fourth main scoring option along with Vaughn, although he had just six points on 2-9 shooting against Providence and was hampered by foul trouble. Clark, who had 24 points on 6-7 shooting from long range against Villanova, is shooting just under 50 percent on three-pointers in Big East play.
Last season, Georgetown started Big East play with a surprising win over Connecticut that gave the impression that they would be a contender. But they fell apart not long after that and finished 7-11 in the Big East en route to the NIT. This time around, the Hoyas already surpassed their Big East win total of last season. More than that, as the season goes along they look more and more like a Big East contender and a team capable of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. They are getting stronger and asserting themselves once again.
