March 3, 2019 - At intermission, Jessie Govan had a lamentable statline, having produced zero points on 0-7 shooting, two rebounds in over 16 minutes of play. Afterward the senior Hoya center said of his play “I was missing shots, turning the ball over, and not playing like myself”.
Jessie was on a bad trajectory, particularly given Georgetown was just a half game above their opponent Seton Hall in BIG EAST standings and needs every win possible to secure an elusive NCAA Tournament bid.
Govan, who has previously allowed offense to dictate his overall impact saw the ball go in the rim, and out constantly. He admitted asking himself “Man, what’s going on”, but took solace in the shots being good ones that almost scored, and the fact head coach Pat Ewing and teammates desired he remain offensively aggressive.
Eventually those buckets started to count, as Govan and the Hoyas took down Seton Hall 77-71 in double overtime before 13,753 Capital One Arena fans.
Govan notched 15 of 21 points in the bonus periods (11 during double OT), five of 12 total rebounds. His was a performance that demands respect, coming during Govan’s final regular season home game.
“I just wanted to put the game away for my team. I had a chance at the end of regulation, missed that shot” he recalled. “I had a chance to extend it to three at the end of the first overtime, missed one free throw.
“And then the second overtime I said ‘This is the time when great players make great plays’. I felt like I did that. My teammates found me in spots. I just tried to make quick moves, on the rebounds holding on strong, and was fortunate enough to get fouled…It feels good to end it that way”.
Head coach Pat Ewing lavished praise on Govan, stating “To me, that was Jessie’s best game of his career” since “there’s been games in the past when he let that affect him (not scoring). And tonight he didn’t. He just kept persevering. If it wasn’t for his points, rebounds and timely blocks at times, we wouldn’t have won”.
Though Govan’s dramatic showing will and should be focused upon, he had help: Freshman forward Josh LeBlanc finished with 14 points and a game and career best 17 rebounds, leading Ewing to remark “His energy. He did for us what he always does” when asked what LeBlanc brought to the table.
Freshman point guard James Akinjo logged 15 points, four assists and four steals, with others like senior wing Greg Malinowski (six points, two rebounds, two assists), junior guard Jagan Mosely (seven points, five rebounds) and freshman guard Mac McClung (eight points, five rebounds) all chipping in.
As did senior forward Trey Mourning, who had five boards and three rebounds, though four came at the end of first half action, reducing his team’s deficit to a more manageable 28-24.
“It definitely was” a big boost, “especially going into the half” opined Mourning of his small scoring spree. “We needed that momentum to kind of push us through”.
Georgetown shot 35.1% for the game, canning just 19% of their three pointers. Seton Hall was marginally better from the field (36.7%), and worse beyond the arc (17.2%).
All of the Hoyas’ scoring was needed to combat junior Pirate guard Myles Powell’s 35 points. In 44 minutes and 43 seconds, Powell shot 14-27 from the field and pulled down five rebounds, all while being Seton Hall’s numero uno scoring threat. Sophomore forward Sandro Mamukelashvili had a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double, while freshman wing Jared Rhoden was close with nine points and nine rebounds.
In terms of his own contribution, Govan agreed with Ewing.
“I feel like It was one of my best games too, especially with the magnitude of this game, what we’re trying to do, make it to the NCAA Tournament. We needed this win, so I knew I had to come out and play hard and play strong”.
What about the Big Dance for Georgetown, now 18-11, 8-8/4th in the BIG East?
Govan admitted “We look at it a lot” and understand an invitation “starts with whatever team we have next”, specifically a win against that foe.
“We knew we had to lock in on them today” continued the Queens, NY native. “Then we play DePaul, at DePaul. We just played them, and they are trying to you know, get us back”, as the Hoyas prevailed 82-73, Wednesday.
Govan summed his team must bring the “same intensity. Can’t be a let down…keep this momentum”.
Wednesday, March 6th in Chicago, Georgetown gets the chance to see, with an 830p EST tip off.
That game stands as a huge chance to gain more traction going into March 13th-16th's BIG EAST Tournament, possibly securing a bye in it, which may propel the Hoyas to a BIG EAST Tournament final – something Govan expressed “I hope I can experience it”.
Seton Hall (16-12, 7-9, sixth) also in must win territory to meet national postseason tournament aspirations, next lines up against league leading Marquette, a 630P EST, March 6th start.
