Two runs seal it in Brick City

February 11, 2015 - Georgetown's 86-67 win at Seton Hall last night was one of runs. The Hoyas, 16-8, 8-5 and fourth in the BIG EAST), simply had more.

Starting the game, G'Town raced to a 27-7, making it look easy in the process. Seton Hall's defense was a sieve, allowing the Hoyas easy, relatively uncontested looks at the basket. The Pirates also gave the ball away repeatedly, to which Georgetown took full advantage; in a marked difference from a dismal performance at Villanova on Saturday, the Hoyas scored on the first eight Seton Hall turnovers, the first time failing to do so occurring at the period's 2:57 mark. Georgetown logged 20 points via turnovers in the first half, 27 in the game. John Thompson III's team managed seven steals in the first 20 minutes, 10 overall.

Game over? Not, as the Pirates would finish the first half on a 31-16 run, fueled in part by their nagging full court pressure, sagging man-to-man defense, G'Town's frontcourt foul trouble and the play of freshman forward Angel Delgado. The latter was a thorn in the Hoyas' side, contributing 10 points, 10 rebounds during first stanza action, 12 and 15 for the game.

During Seton Hall's comeback, a Hoya switch to zone at just over 16 minutes into the initial stanza seemed to slow the Pirates, as did a sequence with 1:13 left in the half; A technical foul assessed junior guard Sterling Gibbs turned into four Georgetown points - a pair of D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera free throws and a basket by him on the subsequent in-bounds play, pushing the visitor's lead to 43-33.

Nevertheless Seton Hall ended the half with a Delgado score and three pointer by classmate and guard Isaiah Whitehead, leaving the home team down just 43-38 at halftime. Both teams ended up shooting well in the first half - 49% for G'Town to Seton Hall's 48% - with points off of turnovers being the obvious difference.

Kevin Willard's team returned from intermission with momentum, knotting the score at 44 with consecutive three pointers from senior forward Brandon Mobley (11 points) and Gibbs (17 points).

Turning point in the game? Again, not, given Georgetown's immediate response - senior swingman Jabril Trawick (12 points, four rebounds) shot an errant three pointer, yet rushed back in transition to steal Gibbs' outlet pass. The resulting possession saw Smith-Rivera bang in a three after receiving a pass to the right corner. Georgetown never looked back.

"There was nobody near me. At that point, it was just like stop the bleeding. Make a play, do something to get our team back together, try to get the energy back" told Smith-Rivera to NJ.com. He would lead all scorers with 23 points, also adding four rebounds and a game tops five steals.

Smith Rivera's team went on a 25-10 run, offensively getting seemingly whatever they wanted, while stymieing the Pirates with their man to man defense. The Hoyas forced Seton Hall into 15 turnovers for the game.

Freshman forward Isaac Copeland was solid throughout in his second start, scoring a career high 20 points on 8-13 shooting, while also nabbing a team high eight rebounds. After Smith-Rivera's three ball, Copeland notched 12 straight points, including a three ball, two layups, a jumper and an and-one opportunity.

Smith-Rivera on Copeland, via an AP news story: "Isaac today played like a man".

In the article, Copeland indicated he "wanted to be aggressive and do what my team wanted me to do", in part motivated for desiring to "make up for the last game I started", a late January home loss to Xavier.

The Hoyas, who are off for a week before welcoming St. John's at 7p EST on February 17th, finished 52.5% from the field, 45.1% on three balls.

Seton Hall logged 38.5% overall shooing and 47.1% from beyond the arc. The Pirates, 15-9, 5-7 in the BIG EAST, seven in the conference have lost three straight and must regroup for Saturday's 4p EST, road contest versus Providence.

See Premium Court for game discussion and comments from Thompson on Seton Hall's first half run, his team's offensive flow and a week off while preparing for SJU.