HOYAS HANG ON: Georgetown Guts It Out at Seton Hall, 61-60, for 2-0 Start

Physical press, questionable calls cause near panic in Newark

It’s the holiday season and your Georgetown Hoyas squared off against the Seton Hall Pirates in South Orange, NJ Sunday night. While Seton Hall (5-7) has struggled this year, with losses to Fordham, Hofstra, and Monmouth, Georgetown looked to back up a convincing win against Creighton earlier in the week in their BIG EAST season opener. In this holiday rock fight, the youngsters, led by Thomas Sorber, stepped up to give the Hoyas their second win in BIG EAST play as the Hoyas improve to 10-2 on the season.

Out of the gate, Georgetown wasted no time getting back into their rhythm. Coach Cooley clearly wanted Thomas Sorber (19PTS, 8REB, 2AST, 2STL, 4BLK), the New Jersey native, to get involved early, and he opened the scoring with a nice post move. Jayden Epps’ (15PTS, 3REB, 3AST) hot hand from beyond the arc carried over in the early going with a three from the top of the key. The offense chugged along, but the Hoyas’ defense was the story. To characterize it as suffocating would be an underestimation. Georgetown forced difficult shots at the end of the shot clock and collected a couple of steals to kickstart an 7-0 Georgetown run. Just 4 minutes into the contest Seton Hall’s coach, Sheehan Holloway, decided he had seen enough, called timeout, and substituted 4 of his 5 starters. After the timeout, Georgetown extended its run to 11-0. After 6 minutes without a field goal, Seton Hall finally ended the Hoya run, but not before the Hoyas had a commanding 14-3 lead. By the under 12 minute timeout, the Hoyas led 16-7.

Over the next 8 minutes, the game got sloppy with each team tallying only 7 points a piece. Georgetown’s defense stayed tough, but the Pirates also tightened up defensively. Georgetown fell into a 7 minute field goal drought, maintaining their lead from the free throw line. With 2 minutes left in the half, Sorber broke the scoring drought with a nice mid-range jumper. He’d finish the half with 13PTS and 3REB. Of note, throughout the first half, Seton Hall struggled mightily from beyond the arc, shooting a whooping 1-11 3PT (3-24 3PT in the game). Even with the 7 minute drought, Georgetown managed to post 32 points in the first half. Off the back of the early 11-0 run, Georgetown closed the first half with a 32-23 lead.

After the intermission, Seton Hall came out firing with 2 back-to-back buckets to cut the Georgetown lead to 7. With Seton Hall starting to gain some momentum, Georgetown called on their freshmen phenoms, Thomas Sorber, who once again drilled a mid-range jumper, and Caleb Williams (8PTS, 5REB, 3AST), who paid off some quality Georgetown ball movement with a corner three. Then, Seton Hall guard Chuance Jenkins (9PTS) came off the bench to give the Pirates a spark with a three followed by a layup to again chip away at the Hoya lead. The lead was back down to 6 before Big East Player of the Week, Micah Peavy (10PTS, 4REB, 5AST), converted a transition layup plus a foul to counter the Seton Hall momentum and reestablish the Hoya lead: 47-39 at the under 12 minute timeout.

Neither team could move the needle over the next several minutes, as the Hoyas were seemingly winning play, but gave up way too many offensive rebounds (22OREB for the game) and turnovers (19 TOs). Then Jayden Epps drove hard to the cup and landed awkwardly on his left ankle – he would exit the game temporarily with the injury. On the ensuing position, Micah Peavy picked up an offensive foul (his 4th), and the Seton Hall momentum was now at its highest pitch with the Hoyas leading 55-49. Cooley kept his timeouts in his pocket – something he said he wanted to do when his team faced adversity – and the Hoyas responded. Next men up: the Williams brothers (I do not think they are actually related)! Curtis Williams Jr. called his number and drilled a step back 3 at the end of the shot clock before Caleb Williams stroked another corner three to settle things down and get the Hoyas back up 11 at the under 4 minute timeout: 61-50.

Out of the break, Seton Hall turned up the heat with full court pressure, and quickly forced 2 Hoya turnovers. They wasted no time cutting into the Hoya lead and with 2 minutes left, the Hoyas held only a 5 point lead. Then a soft foul on Micah Peavy for his 5th foul sent Seton Hall to the free throw line. The lead was 3: 61-58. With a minute left, Drew McKenna got fouled, but missed both free throws. Seton Hall stormed up the floor, but Sorber blocked the layup. However, the Pirates gathered the loose ball and cut the lead to 1 with 45 seconds remaining: 61-60.

With 30 seconds left in the game, Cooley called timeout with Georgetown in possession of the ball with 22 seconds on the shot clock. On a busted play, Caleb Williams was unable to convert a heavily contested layup, and Seton Hall took possession with 10 seconds left. Dylan Addae-Wusu brought the ball up. It was clear that coach Sheehan Holloway had drawn up the final play for guard Isiah Coleman (25PTS). Addae-Wusu looked for him, but Curtis Williams Jr. face guarded Coleman and Addae-Wusu was unable to get him the ball. On the broken play, Addae-Wusu panicked, and dribbled the ball straight into who else but Thomas Sorber. Heartbreak for Seton Hall again. The Hoyas survive: 61-60

This was a rock fight, which is the way Seton Hall games have been played all year. Nothing was pretty. Georgetown led 61-50 with 3 minutes left in the game. However, Sheehan Holloway and the Pirates are fighters. Defense is becoming the calling card for this Georgetown team, and it was poetic justice that the game ended with a busted play caused by the Hoya defense. Another huge takeaway from this game, and one that I am sure Cooley will address in the postgame press conference was the bench guys stepping up. Malik Mack was out with an injury, Micah Peavy fouled out, and Jayden Epps went down temporarily with an ankle injury. But guys like Curtis Williams Jr., Jordan Burks, Caleb Williams, Drew McKenna, and Austin Montgomery all stepped up in critical minutes down the stretch to get this game across the finish line for the Hoyas. Huge credit to those guys.

Georgetown will celebrate the Christmas Holiday and take a couple of days off before returning to action on December 28th against Coppin State at Capital One Arena.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Hoya Saxa!