This and That: UMBC '22
Check out observations and anecdotes from Georgetown's 79=70 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Postgame pressers are here.
Heath Heated Up
Early and often, junior guard Jay Heath had answers for what UMBC'S defense. He got buckets. Like when he scored 10 of 16 Georgetown points in the first half, keeping his Hoyas down just five points.
After scoring 16 points personally in the first stanza, Heath continued tickling the twine, with his likely most impactful post-intermission work being back-to-back free throws, ending a 14-3 UMBC run with 48 seconds to play. Those charity stripe attempts were his only of the contest. .
Heath's final statline - 25 game best points on 9=18 shooting, 5-6 from three ball land and four rebounds - stands as really good work, his highest point total in Blue and Gray. What happened?
"The coaches and the team were telling me be aggressive, be myself" shared Heath. The last game, I didn't play (effectively), the team didn't play as well as we'd want to. Just wanted to bounce back.
"We knew it was going to start with me and Primo (Spears) right here. So we wanted to start early an not dig ourselves into a hole".
Spears, who finished with 20 points, six rebounds and six game best assists, along with Heath, got verbally applauded by their coach, Pat Ewing, who noted "i just thought that these two guys right here, played big for us".
His UMBC counterpart, Jim Ferry was not surprised by what transpired, as "Well you know coming in, Primo and Heath that's their first thought, to score. And a lot of times play with multiple dribbles. We were like 'Hey man, these guys are looking themselves, for shots".
He continued, saying "We were really talking about protecting the paint. Heath's first shot he got off was uncontested, and I thought he got hot a little bit. And his ability to play one on one (hurt UMBC).
"I did think he made some tough shots as well. But I thought that first one got him going a little bit".
Bench Bump
Ewing has never played less than nine people this year, yet his rotations are not necessarily expanded, since the minutes have been heavily skewed towards starters. Four first team guys played at least 28 minutes yesterday, with three ranging above 32, including Heath and Spears clocking in at 37 minutes. Two more put in 24 minutes of work (one starter), with the remaining trio to get slotted at eight, six and four.
Let's look at those bottom three. These are the guys that Ewing probably should groom for more minutes this season, along with junior pivot Ryan Mutombo who was a DNP coach's decision yesterday. .
Sophomore big man Bradley Ezewiro accounted for that eight minute output, putting up two points and a rebound in that time. Over the course of Georgetown's seven games this season, he saw action just once before, logging no points or rebounds in three minutes.
Such a lack of game tape had an expected result - UMBC's Ferry admitted the 6'9", 250 pound Ezewiro wasn't on his scouting report, though the coach labeled him "a beast". When Ferry "saw him in warm ups" he was compelled to query an assistant coach who Brad was. Ezewiro is bouncy off the ground, has size and aggression.
Slotting at six minutes was frosh guard Denver Anglin (6'2", 175 pounds), who came to Georgetown with the reputation of being a heady, marksman that desires to lead. He contributed eight points in six games previously, though vs. UMBC outside of a rebound had an o-fer. Nevertheless Ewing was pleased, saying "Denver, he didn't make a shot but i thought that he played fine".
Sophomore guard/forward Jordan Riley has averaged 12.3 minutes per game this season, though only logged four yesterday. He's a 6'3, 200 pound uber-athlete. Ewing acknowledged Riley's fewer clock ticks, seeming to attribute it to searching for answers as "I'm giving guys opportunities as I see fit".
Expect more of that. Ewing on his thought process: "Everybody has to be ready".
Up Next
Georgetown, now 4-3, travel to Big 12 stalwart Texas Tech for a Wednesday 8p EST start.
Yesterday, Ewing's guys shot 41.2% overall, 50% on three balls.
UMBC (3-4) next takes on Baltimore-area rival Coppin State. Wednesday, November 30th is also the day, while 7p EST stands as start time.
Jet over to Premium Court for how UMBC's torrid shooting cooled, or was cooled, down.
