The Hoyas were looking for to take 2 out of 3 on this homestand. After a blowout loss to Villanova the Hoyas responded with a double overtime win over St. John’s. Up next was DePaul, a team the Hoyas had beaten on the road. Unfortunately for Georgetown, the magic they had late in the game against the Red Storm didn’t carry over as the Hoyas dropped a winnable game, 74-73.
Eli Cain, who scored a season high 27 points, hit the game winner with 8 seconds left. Georgetown had a chance at the end but Jagan Mosely’s runner came off the rim. Coach Dave Leitao “I thought Eli played tremendous today. Not only shooting 10-15 but that shot at the end was balanced and confident and he knew it was going to go in.”
The Hoyas started off the game sluggish as DePaul jumped out to a 12 point lead in the first half. That’s when JaMarko Pickett (19 points, 8 rebounds) and Mosely brought the Hoyas back. The two combined for 9 points as Georgetown ended the half on a 10-2 run, closing the Blue Demon lead down to two.
After the intermission, Georgetown started slow on defense and the Blue Demons would eventually push the lead to 14 after a Georgetown turnover led to a Cain layup. The Hoyas responded with a 15-2 run, behind Marcus Derrickson’s hot shooting. During that time period, he scored 9 of his 23 points as he hit 3 three pointers including one off the pick and pop that gave Georgetown a 58-56 lead.
But every time Georgetown needed a stop, they couldn’t seem to be able to grab a rebound. In the last 7:09, DePaul scored nine points on four offensive rebounds. DePaul would out-rebound Georgetown 38-27 including 10 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points. The Blue Demons lead the conference in offensive rebounds.
We have to come up with the rebound. This is something we’ve talked about and stressed about for two or three days now. – Coach Patrick Ewing
After Cain’s go ahead basket, the Hoyas’ Mosely got a good look but couldn’t get it to fall. When asked about not having a timeout left, Coach Ewing said “Jagan got a good drive, I thought that he probably should’ve gone stronger”. But, as was the theme tonight it all came back to the lack of rebounding. “If we had gotten a rebound it would’ve been a moot point.”
Marcus “Mook” Washington is the host of Making The Cut. Follow Mook on Twitter: @mtcwithmook and IG: MTCWithMook
