Second half pressure sunk the Hoyas. Again.
The one that got away. Your Georgetown Hoyas traveled up I-95 to the Garden for a mid-week match against the St. John’s Red Storm, once again starting strong only to crack in the second half, ultimately falling by a score of 63-58.
Micah Peavy led the Hoyas’ scoring, with 21 points/7 rebounds/3 assists. Curtis Williams Jr. joined him in double figures, bringing 11 points off the bench. Malik Mack brought 13 points/6 assists/4 rebounds/2 steals, while Drew Fielder grabbed a whopping 12 rebounds. Thomas Sorber added 10 rebounds and three blocks, even as he contended with foul trouble and possible injury.
Jayden Epps was back in the starting lineup tonight, a welcome sight after limited & ginger minutes over the past couple of weeks, showing promising mobility in navigating around his defender to attempt to drive to the basket on an early possession.
Malik Mack opened scoring for the Hoyas with a pull-up floater from the elbow after making a good recovery when the ball was nearly tipped/stripped away from him near midcourt. St. John’s was struggling to score from the floor at all early, missing 6 consecutive shots after making their first.
Thomas Sorber muscled his way to an and-1 heading into the first media break, and Georgetown took an 8-2 lead as play resumed. While the Hoyas were not shooting with notably greater accuracy than usual, the team — and particularly Drew Fielder — were doing well at corralling offensive rebounds and deflections to open up additional shooting opportunities.
Curtis Williams Jr. continued his contributions by knocking down a pullup three, followed by a defensive stop and transition layup from Mack, making it 13-3 as the Red Storm passed more than 8 minutes (and more than ten attempts) without a field goal. A hooker from Sorber and a pair of free throws from Epps extended the Georgetown run.
The Johnnies finally scored near the midway point of the period when Ejiofor was able to capitalize off a defensive miscue slam down a dunk. A layup from Epps and another long jumper from Williams Jr. ensured that the momentum could not shift far. Wilcher fouled Mack as he was attempting a triple, sending the Hoyas into the U8 ahead 21-9 while anticipating three freethrows (of which two were made).
Richmond cut to the basket and passed it off to Ejiofor for the finish and the foul, on possibly the cleanest play executed by SJU to that point in the game. Once again, Williams Jr. had the response. Luis hit the first from beyond the arc for the Red Storm, but a pair of layups from Micah Peavy (the second off a steal from Jordan Burks) continued to stretch the Hoyas’ advantage.
A triple and a well-drawn play out of a timeout for SJU cut the lead to 11, which Georgetown answered with back to back buckets from a driving Williams Jr. and a dunking-on-your-face Peavy. There was a brief pause in the action with only 2 seconds to play in the half, as Mack was driving toward the basket when Luis attempted a block. Both players were slow to get up but stayed in the game. Georgetown took a 37-27 lead into the break.
Williams Jr. got the scoring rolling for the Hoyas only 15 seconds into the next period, followed by a smooth floater from Mack. Luis, Richmond, and Scott all hit for SJU, cutting the difference down to six as the Hoyas came up empty on a few trips, including a point-blank miss from Sorber.
Peavy got the emphatic breakaway dunk finish, but in admiring their own work the Hoyas left it wide open for Ejiofor. A successful screen prevented Fielder and Sorber from being able to defend, setting up Richmond who pulled the Johnnies closer, 43-39. Notably, Epps was sitting on the bench in his warmup gear after halftime, signaling (correctly) that he might not be available for the second half.
Multiple consecutive misses from the Hoyas opened the door. Richmond scored from under the basket, then Scott hit a corner three for the Red Storm to take their first lead since their first basket. Meanwhile, it had been well over four minutes since the Hoyas had a field goal.
A smart, well-timed screen from Caleb Williams set up Peavy to end the 19-2 run for our opponent. Off the poke-steal that set up transition, Mack handed it off to Peavy who elected to give it to Fielder for an emphatic two-handed slam. Georgetown was back on top by the slimmest of margins, 47-46, with 10:58 remaining. Another shot from Peavy rolled wide, but at least he was fouled while doing it. If I’m not mistaken, this was the first foul called against St. John’s in the half…(nearly midway through the half…in a distinctly physical game. Hmmm.)
A driving layup from Peavy off the glass extended the Hoyas’ lead to four. Both Ejiofor and Sorber picked up their third fouls right around the 9 minute mark. Seconds later, Sorber was called for his fourth on an offensive foul as he tried to back his way to the basket. Coach Cooley indicated loudly to the officiating crew that he perceived it as a flop. Perhaps his case was compelling, as Ejiofor got whistled for his fourth while defending Fielder far from the bucket.
Sorber came back into the game with four fouls and didn’t shy away as he defended under the basket, forcing a turnover…which Georgetown immediately coughed up via 5 second violation. Another turnover from Mack at the other end brought the Hoyas’ total to seventeen. Williams Jr. and Fielder collaborated to grab a key rebound, but play was whistled to a stop as Sorber grabbed his elbow in obvious pain and was escorted back to the locker room with just under 5 minutes on the clock.
St. John’s was ahead 54-52 with four minutes to play when Fielder was tagged with his fourth foul, a soft call which had Ed Cooley in fits. The two teams had collectively missed all but one of their last 14 (or more?) shots from the floor.
Malik Mack made it a one-point game with an in-motion, well-defended triple off the assist from Williams Jr. (Note: I admit this was a no-no-no-yes shot for me.) Unfortunately, Mack couldn’t make it two in a row on the next trip. Wilcher hit from three, then Peavy was corralled unto a travel by triple-team defense.
Georgetown trailed 59-55 with 1:09 to play as Peavy was whistled for a foul. At this moment, there was drama in the Garden as Thomas Sorber made an unexpected reappearance at the scorer’s table, waiting to check back in with a heavy sleeve over his injured arm. Peavy went 1 for 2 from the line.
Richmond drove and finished the one-handed floater; Peavy got the second-chance tip to drop. 61-58 Johnnies with 42.5 seconds on the clock. The Hoyas defended well, but Luis drove to the basket and finished. Georgetown’s final possessions were fruitless, and that was the game.
Tonight’s loss was disappointing, because while the Red Storm are a good team, this was an absolutely winnable contest. The Hoyas cannot get comfortable with committing ten turnovers in a half, because while the rebounding disparity (and sub 30% shooting from their opponent) temporarily allowed them to get away with it, that luck will not be maintained across 40 minutes in the BIG EAST. Additionally, importantly, as always, Sorber needs to get the ball and he needs to get shots.
Georgetown had not beaten St. John’s in five years across seven meetings, according to the announcing crew, and this adds one more. While recognizing the home team was favored, it feels like this one should and could have been a W.
Next up for the Hoyas, they head back to DC and host DePaul for an 8pm matchup at Capital One, set to air on on CBSSN.
Hoya Saxa.