Georgetown struggled early but pulled away for a 75-63 victory over North Texas. Coach Patrick Ewing acknowledged that there was a bit of a hangover after the loss to Syracuse. “They were sluggish. I kept pushing them and pushing them to get over the Syracuse game” Ewing said.
That was apparent as the visitors from Denton, Texas led by as much as 7 points in the first half. But the Hoyas rallied in the waning moments of the first twenty minutes and went to the locker room up by one. Coach Ewing credited that to their defense near the end of the half. “Towards the end of the first half, we picked it up defensively” – Coach Ewing
The Mean Green came into the game having won their last three games including two in overtime. Their leading scorer, Roosevelt Smart, had a tough night shooting 3-18, including 1-13 from the three point line. This came with John Starks sitting courtside, perhaps reminding Knicks fans of his night in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. “He made one early and that’s usually a good sign for us because he can get going and then I think he had a couple of really tough ones” — Coach Grant McCasland
Where Smart struggled, fellow sophomore Ryan Woolridge picked up. The 6′ 3″ guard came in averaging 13 points a game but tonight he almost pulled off a triple-double with a 20 point, 9 assist, 7 rebound performance.
But the Hoyas size and length eventually took over. Marcus Derrickson scored 13 of his team high 17 points in the second half. “All the attention was on Jesse (Govan) so I knew, I just need to find an open area and be ready to go up strong.” Govan finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and Jonathan Mulmore chipped in 12 points along with 6 assists.
Up next for Georgetown is a Saturday date against Alabama A&M before starting conference play.
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