The weekend saw Georgetown, Maryland, and VCU all dominate their opponents. With the bulk on the non-conference schedule done, the most important part of the regular season is set to begin.
Georgetown 102 Howard 67
Howard got off to a quick 7-2 start before the Hoyas woke up. Georgetown would use a 22-4 run to go up by 12 and never looked back.
Georgetown would be without Mac McClung (ankle) and Trey Mourning (concussion). “Mac is doing fine. He sprained his ankle. Not sure when he’ll be back. I’m going to leave that to the trainers and the doctors,” said Coach Patrick Ewing.
Howard would also be without two of their main players. Both Chad Lott and Andre Toure are listed as day-to-day. “We were coming in shorthanded,” said head coach Kevin Nickelberry. The loss of a third scorer hurt the Bison on offense and being down a big man hurt them on defense. As Coach Nickelberry said, Govan is a “pro”.
Georgetown was paced by Josh LeBlanc’s career-high 22 points and Jessie Govan’s 23 point, 10 rebound performance. “Josh… I don’t run any plays for him. Not one play and he still has 22 points and 11 rebounds,” said Ewing.
The Hoyas were up 40-26 at the half. They turned the jets on in the second half where the lead would get as high as 39 points.
Georgetown will open up their Big East schedule at Butler.
Leaders
Hoyas: LeBlanc 22 points 11 rebounds. Govan 23 points 10 rebounds.
Bison: CJ Cole 28 points. Charles Williams 24 points.
Maryland 78 Radford 64
Maryland’s send off to their non-conference schedule went as planned. The Terps defeated Radford 78-64.
The Highlanders didn’t make it easy. They had already defeated Notre Dame and Texas this season and jumped out to an early 9 point lead. But as the first half wore on, Maryland was committed to getting the ball inside to Bruno Fernando. That sparked a 23-11 run that would put the Terps up by 3. They would lead at halftime, 34-32.
Radford would come out in the second half and take a three point lead but that would be their last run. The Terps would continuously pound the ball inside against the smaller Highlanders. Fernando would end with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Last time out, the Terps lost a tough game to visiting Seton Hall. “What I was pleased about is how we responded to the last game and the things were trying to do to make our team better,” said head coach Mark Turgeon.
Up next, for the Terps will be Nebraska.
Leaders
Terps: Fernando 19 points, 12 rebounds, Eric Ayala 14 points
Highlanders: Travis Fields Jr 22 points, Carlik Jones 20 points
VCU 90 Rider 79
VCU got off to a fast start and never looked back in their 90-79 win over Rider.
The Rams jumped out to a 14 point lead in slightly under 6:30 minutes. Rider struggled throughout the first half with VCU’s defense. It was the Rams defense along with great ball movement that pushed the lead to as high as 23 in the first 20 minutes. VCU forced 12 turnovers in the half, leading to 15 points. That along with 63% shooting helped the Rams build a cushion.
The Rams broke out of their three point struggles today. They would make 14 three pointers in the game. “A lot of them were inside-out. Extra pass. And guys really stepping in shooting good ones,” said Coach Mike Rhoades.
The Rams let their guard down a bit late in the half as the Broncs would close the first 20 minutes on a 7-0 run.
Rider used a little bit of that momentum to cut the lead to 13 on a couple of occasions. But VCU was too strong. After a Fredrick Scott lay up closed it to 13 the second time, VCU responded with a 15-6 run that pushed the lead back to 22.
VCU will open up their conference schedule at Fordham.
Leaders
Rams: Mike’L Simms 15 points, Marcus Evans 14 points
Broncs: Jordan Allen, Kimar Williams, Ahmad Gilbert all had 12 points
Other Games:
George Washington 71 American 67
Kansas State 59 George Mason 58
