December 3, 2019 - A dejected, palpably frustrated Pat Ewing addressed the media Saturday afternoon, his team having just surrendered a disappointing 65-61 defeat to visiting UNC-Greensboro. Ewing’s press conference was a direct indictment of his team.
“Like I told them, ‘Whose going to go get it’?” said Ewing the hall of famer, commenting directly on rebounding – his team fell 40-39 in that regard – but really can viewed as a microcosm of the squad's state. “I can’t play anymore. I can’t go out there and rebound and do the things we need to do to win. It’s got to be them”.
Regarding cleaning the glass, Ewing specifically bemoaned the 16 offensive rebounds surrendered to UNCG. It’s been a pattern as “We gave up 19 to Duke (an 81-73 loss)”, manifesting itself Saturday in surrendering “two crucial free throw rebounds”, with “The one at the end” being the most severe.
That was UNCG corralling senior guard Malik Massey’s missed free throw with 27 seconds remaining, G’Town down just a pair of points, effectively stunting a Hoya comeback from seven down. Eleven seconds later freshman Spartan guard Keyshaun Langley sealed the win with two successful charity stripe attempts.
Turnovers were yet again, another bone of contention. This time Georgetown coughed it up 19 times, versus 16 by UNCG. The Spartans did deploy a 1-2-2 ¾ court press, which Ewing correctly diagnosed as “really a press to slow you down”. In his mind to commit that many turnovers “Against a press that’s not aggressive. That’s disheartening”.
Statistically the Hoyas shot comparably to UNCG – losing 36.8% vs. 38.1% overall, besting 31.3% to 28% on three pointers – yet held the Spartans to only 65 points, 8.3 under their season average. Betraying the Hoyas’ cause were missed scoring opportunities.
“We got great shots. We didn’t make ‘em” dejectedly relayed Ewing. Omer (Yurtseven) was three for 12. James (Akinjo) was four for 15. Mac (McClung) was three of 10. When your best players are not going to shoot a good percentage, then it’s going to be hard to win”.
Illustrating their collective rough outing, Ewing spotlighted Yurtseven, sharing “They got good shots for the most part. Especially Omer. We were able to get him the ball deep a few times, made good moves, just couldn’t finish it”.
Akinjo, a sophomore guard led the Hoyas with 12 points, while classmate and fellow backcourt guy McClung logged nine points. A senior center, Yurtseven had 10 points and a game high nine rebounds.
UNCG enjoyed Langley’s 11 points, six rebounds, along with ten each from Massey and senior forward James Dickey, the latter pulling down eight rebounds, along with sophomore center Mohammad Abdulsalam.
Up next for UNC-Greensboro (6-2) is a December 4th home tilt with Kennesaw State. Tip-off is 7p EST.
Georgetown (4-3) travels to Oklahoma State the same day, with festivities beginning at 7p EST. His team, now beset with defections (including Akinjo) and turmoil, must approach that game differently.
“Today we didn’t show up. And I’m disappointed in that” noted Ewing, who later revealed what was stressed to his team: “One of the things I tell my team is, until they…stop thinking about me, and start thinking about we, that’s when we are going to win. Right now, we’re too selfish. We need to be more unselfish”.
