January 31, 2019 - After going scoreless in the first half during over sixteen and quarter minutes of play last night, Georgetown freshman guard James Akinjo sat on the bench, awaiting the start of second frame action. He didn’t start taking shots until around four minutes before the game actually resumed, instead seemingly thinking, concentrating on what was needed and his role in it.

Whatever was ruminated, well worked, as Akinjo was the game’s best player in the last stanza, helping lead Georgetown, down 36-28 at intermission, to a strong 80-73 win over Xavier. A stated Capital One Arena crowd of 7,636 witnessed the Hoyas’ +15-point second half scoring advantage, one fueled by Akinjo.

“James played a big game” summed his coach, Pat Ewing, afterward. “Twenty-three points in the second half and four assists, I didn’t think he had any assists either (during the first frame)”.

Akinjo did not, as he contributed just three rebounds, two steals and two turnovers during the first 20 minutes. His stat line for the game ended as those 23 points and four helpers, along with that pair of giveaways, five rebounds and five steals. James paced the team in rebounds, was second in assist honors, while being credited with more steals than any participant. He was dominant.

“I didn’t have to say anything to him. He believes in himself. Sometimes to a fault. But he thinks he can leap tall buildings” said Ewing, before lumping Akinjo with a pair of frosh , Josh LeBlanc and Mac McClung with “All three of those freshmen think that”.

LeBlanc, a forward, contributed 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals, including two dramatic first half swipes one resulting in a fast break dunk. McClung, a guard, logged 11 points, four rebounds and a game best five assists, including his deft no-look feed to LeBlanc for a rousing dunk, the clock reading 6:05 before intermission.

Ewing’s team, which shot 50% from the field (40.7% in the first half) and 40% on three pointers (none made in first 20 minutes), was outrebounded 37-26, to which he noted “We didn’t win the rebounding battle like I wanted to”. Nevertheless, he indicated “we did enough things to come away the win over a good team”.

Travis Steele, Xavier’s head coach, saw his team shoot 46.6% overall and 48% on three balls. The Musketeers raced to a nine-zip run, eventually besting G’Town by as much as 10 in the first half.

How did Ewing address his team after calling timeout when getting blanked over the contest's first three minutes and 39 seconds?

It went something like “’We have to get it going. This is a great opportunity to build on what we did against St. Johns’” he recalled. Personally “I thought…We staggered, but they weren’t able to put us away” crucial in being “able to come back in the second half and get the win”.

Steele lamented his team not securing “the things we can control”, like turnovers, where ‘X’ committed 14 to G’Town’s seven. He additionally identified a lack of connectivity on both sides of the floor and “the first time in a while we had some selfishness creep in on the offensive end, when we drove the ball. You’re not gonna finish one on three”.

Sophomore Xavier guard Naji Marshall led his team with 16 points and added five rebounds, while class and backcourt mate Paul Scruggs followed via 15 points. The latter’s seven caroms were a game high. Junior guard Quentin Goodin finished with 14 points, four assists and four rebounds for Xavier, now 11-11, 3-6 in the BIG EAST and currently slotted 10th or last in the conference.

The Muskies have fallen four consecutive times, and next take the court Sunday, February 3rd at Creighton, a 1p EST tip-off.

Georgetown (14-7, 4-4, third in conference)-, which got a solid yet under-average 12-point, six rebound performance from senior center Jessie Govan – he came into the game leading BIG EAST play in rebound (9.7 rpg) and slotting third among scorers (22.6 ppg) – will need more of they are to vanquish their next opponent.

“We’re right there” in the standings, and “We have a big game coming up on Sunday versus Villanova” said Ewing. “They’re at the top of the BIG EAST. So we have to go out there and bring our A game, our A-plus, if we want to come out of there with a win”.

That tilt, a road, Wells Fargo Center affair, begins noon EST, also on Sunday.