DSR, Smith power Hoyas to Garden win

December 27, 2014 - Down 10 at intermission and having ceded seven first three pointers, things were not rosy for Georgetown. The Madison Square Garden attendees supporting Indiana had much to be happy about.

Fans of both teams had their moments in the second half and overtime, but Garden denizen's supporting the Blue and Grey cheered last, as the Hoyas rode a pair of standouts to a 91-87 win.

After scoring only five first half points, ex-UConn Hall of Fame coach and current TV analyst Jim Calhoun noted almost prophetically of junior Hoya guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera "You want to get him going. You need him in the second half". The Indianapolis native answered ,taking over with two three pointers in the back stanza's first ninety seconds and scoring nine of the team's initial 11 points in that period. Smith-Rivera led all scorers with 29, season high points - seven being half of his team's overtime output - also adding four rebounds and three assists.

Senior center Joshua Smith also got uncorked in the second stanza; after suffering first half foul trouble, Smith entered the game with around 14 minutes to go, quickly scoring four points. Contributing only two points in the first half, Smith not only finished with 14 for the game, but was the Hoyas' focal point in the second stanza and overtime, where he drew at times three Hoosiers, scoring or making plays for others. Add six rebounds, two assists and two steals to his output for head coach John Thompson III's squad.

G'Town needed the contributions of Smith and Smith-Rivera. Junior guard Yogi Ferrell, whose 27 points paced IU was electric, scoring 11 of the Hoosiers last 13 regulation points, including three long balls. One was a rare bank shot, the last occurring with twelve clicks on the clock and Ferrell confidently rising up to exploit a Hoya defensive gaffe.

His teammate, sophomore forward Troy Williams was also a force for Tom Crean's crew, scoring 23 points on 8-12 shooting, while also tying Hoya senior swingman Jabril Trawick with a contest high seven caroms. His was a break out performance; over greater than three minutes starting at 7:07 on the clock, Williams scored seven of IU's 13 points, and assisted on a three pointer by freshman guard James Blackmon (22 points, six rebounds). That run righted things for Indiana - G'Town gad engineered a 19-9 scoring advantage - placing the Hoosiers three points ahead and forcing Thompson to call timeout with 4:03 remaining.

If Smith-Rivera, Smith, Trawick (who scored five of his 12 points during the last 3:35 in regular time) and senior swingman Aaron Bowen (a career high 20, energy driven points) are cited as reasons for Georgetown's win, so must Thompson's defensive switch to a 2-3 zone in the second half. Prior to the change IU utilized great spacing to create shots against a man to man scheme, looks that were not there in as much abundance for around three quarters of the second half when a zone was opted for.

Around the time of the adjustment Georgetown was down at 11 points. Without it victory would likely not have occurred, 17 turnovers forced wouldn't be on the stat sheet and IU's 46.7% mark from the field would surely have been higher, as would their 13-30 three ball mark.

The Hoyas finished 54.8% from the field, with 63.6% (7-11) of their three balls being sank - Smith-Rivera took seven of them, splashing five in. The Hoyas left 12 free throws on the court, shooting an abysmal 53.8% from the charity stripe.

IU (10-3) next takes the court New Year's Eve for their first Big Ten match up of the year, an 530p EST tip-off at Nebraska.

Thompson's Hoyas (8-3) also strap 'em up for league play on Wednedsay, their date being a visit to BIG EAST foe Xavier. That tilt starts at 10p EST.

Calhoun, himself a former BIG EAST coach and national champion, doesn't envy the task of G'Town's opponents.

"If I'm a BIG EAST coach right now looking at John Thompson's team - no thanks" he said during the telecast. "Their good and tough".

He later commented on the Hoyas' penchant to push the ball, saying "Watching Georgetown run like this, to me is the last missing star to their team sometimes. And they ran like crazy".

Will that be prophetic also? The answer starts to be known this week.