December 29, 2019 - Yesterday the Georgetown Hoyas (10-3) ended their out-of-conference schedule by pasting American 80-60 in front of 7,245 fans at Capital One Arena. As AU head coach Mike Brennan noted afterward, his Eagles “were overwhelmed”.

A look at the numbers ratifies this:

Keep in mind Georgetown managed this production despite the absence of second leading scorer, sophomore Mac McClung, who went down early via an eye injury. His totals were eight points, three rebounds and three assists.

What about the right eye damage, incurred during a loose ball effort with 10 minutes, 17 minutes to go in the first half?

“We’re not sure, he went to the doctor” revealed Hoya head coach Pat Ewing, “to get his eyes checked out. So hopefully it’s not going to be too bad, he won’t be out too long. That’s what I’m hopeful for”.

Individually, senior center Omer Yurtseven, as is his practice, led Georgetown in scoring and rebounding, this time logging 17 points, eight boards. Both senior guard Terrell Allen and junior guard Jahvon Blair accounted for 14 points, the latter adding six rebounds, the former five assists. Junior forward Jamorko Pickett put together seven rebounds and nine points.

Though Allen (34 minutes) and Blair (37 minutes) played nearly the entire game, Ewing’s guys were able to otherwise catch a break on playing time: McClung’s injury forced him to only 15 minutes, while Pickett was sub-30 at 27 minutes, as was Yurtseven (22 minutes).

Illustrating the extended opportunities were freshman pivot Timonty Igohefe, who in five minutes put up eight points, along with the three walk-ons, senior forward George Muresan, (two points, two rebounds, six minutes), plus Jaden Robinson Jaden and Chuma Azinge . The last two are guards, with Jaden being a sophomore, Azinge a freshman.

For context after four December departures, Ewing’s rotation has pretty much been seven players, maybe 7.5 if Muresan is included.

Ewing’s comments about group impact revealed a level of contentment, as he noted “I thought they did a good job. Jahvon stepped up in his role...Omer played well when he was in there. Terrell did an outstanding job. I thought everybody did something positive to get us the win”.

He continued, identifying Pickett, who was saddled with a pair of first stanza fouls “did a much better job in the second half. The bench, George did an outstanding job in the first half, when he came in to help us pull away. So I thought it was a total team effort”

American got 17 points, four rebounds from senior guard Sa’eed Nelson. Mark Gasperini, a senior forward, accounted for 2 points, four rebounds. Junior guard Stacey Becton paced the team with five boards.

The Eagles shinning moment came in the initial frame, when Brennan’s crew led 28-24 at 5:28 in the half. That was the result of 14-4 run over nearly five minutes, coinciding with McClung’s departure.

American (4-7) next plays Colgate. The tilt, a 7p, January 2nd , on the road affair, is AU's first Patriot League matchup of 2019-20.

Georgetown is off until Tuesday night, when they travel to Providence, the team’s' initial BIG EAST contest of the season.

"The best is yet to come" said Ewing of his team's impending conference slate. "As Omer said, the BIG EAST is one of the best conferences right now. Every team is playing extremely well, so we're going to have our work cut out for us.

"And it starts...tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll start preparing for Providence, hopefully for a great BIG EAST run".