Hoyas take down Aggies, Orange up next
December 10, 2017 - Georgetown (8-0) held an 18 point lead with around four and a half minutes to play against visiting North Carolina A&T, took their pedal off the gas slightly, yet still held on for an 83-74 win at Capital One Arena, yesterday. Over 5,100 fans saw the win, which was essentially salted away during first half action.
How?
The Aggies’ leading scorer, junior forward Femi Olujobi, was held to just four points in the first half – he came into the game averaging greater than 25 each time out. Though he finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, the latter a team high, Olujobi’s lack of early offensive production was key, particularly given his team being down just 11 at intermission. The Oakland University transfer went 1-5 in the first stanza, evidence overall Blue and Grey defensive impact.
“First half we were playing great defense, but we weren’t scoring” said Georgetown head guy Pat Ewing, answering a question about his team’s improved offensive fortunes in the second half, yet touching upon G’Town’s getting stops. “We got six fast break points, and we stopped them like 19 times”.
Did his team focus on stopping Olujobi specifically?
Not exactly per Ewing, as “I’m not going to say we packed it in to stop him. Our goal is to shrink the floor and protect the paint, then close back out to the three point line. I think we did a pretty job of doing that. Jessie (Govan) for the most part did a very good job of defending him, making things hard on him”.
NC A&T’s acting coach, Jack Agnostino in the first chair due to a knee injury suffered by head coach Jay Joyner, acknowledged the Hoyas’ packing the paint, saying “It was very hard to score inside. That’s why we started off 14 nothing. We couldn’t score…taking it to the basket, trying post ups. They were altering all our shots”. Agostino admitted “We probably should have started outside a little bit more, but our philosophy is inside out”, which was altered in the second half.
NC A&T mustered only 30.3% from the field during the game’s first twenty minutes, including a paltry 11.1% from three point land. In the final tally, they logged 42% from the field and 27.8% on long balls.
Scoring a season high 21 points for the Aggies was Milik Gantz, a junior wingman who came off the bench. Junior guard Aaren Edmead contributed 14 points for North Carolina A&T, now 5-4 on the season. The Aggies next play Tennessee State, a Friday, 6P EST home tip-off.
Offensively, the Hoyas scored 46 points in the second half yesterday, helping Ewing’s bunch to 48.4% shooting from the floor, though only 26.7% of their three pointers scored. He suggested “We got a few more transition points, our bench came in and played great. We got a few more offensive rebound-put backs” all conspiring to help his team offensively during the last 20 minutes.
Junior center Govan again led his team (the game) in points with 22 and rebounds (15). A pair of wings, Freshman Jamarko Pickett and junior Kaleb Johnson, followed him in double figure scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
One Hoya sore spot, again letting teams make late runs; NC A&T took an 18 point deficit to the final nine point differential, starting with 3:31 remaining.
“They’ve been exhaling. We’ve been doing a good job of going out to leads, and then…we’re letting teams back in”, lamented Ewing. Continuing, he noted “We have a good team coming up next Saturday. If we do that against them, we won’t win”.
Who is that? Arch-rival Syracuse (8-1).
Though Ewing hasn’t fixed his gaze fully on the Orange, saying “I look at it game, by game, by game. I don’t think about teams that are coming up”, he of course has “seen Syracuse play”, and noted “they’re well coached, led by a Hall of Fame coach (Jim Boeheim).
Ewing et al have a week before that December 16th, 1230p, Capital One Arena tip-off. On having a week before the Hoyas next compete, Ewing indicated “It’s kind of a mixed bag…They have a lot of exams, they have practice. It’s a catch-22”.
Having competed in epic battles versus Syracuse as a Georgetown player, Ewing recalled “we used to love to play. I remember back in the day an orange flying and hitting the backboard”. He plans to relay some of those his experiences to the team this week, while believing “I’m sure the guys will be ready to play”.
Govan, who at 2-0 has never lost to Syracuse, knows what to expect next weekend and plans to impart that knowledge to his teammates that don’t, as “We have a lot of young players on our team, a lot of new guys on our team that are not used to the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry and are not used to how big it actually is. So we have a week to prepare for them and get ready for them”.
Discuss the game on Premium Court.