Slow starts dooms the Hoyas
A must win game usually indicate that that one game has added importance. In Georgetown’s case, just about every game left on the schedule is a must win. With nine Big East games left, the Hoyas need a 6-3 record to get to .500 in the conference. The stretch run didn’t get off to a good start against Seton Hall. The Pirates would wear Georgetown down in their 78-71 win.
Myles Powell would lead the Pirates with 34 points. “We tried everything. We tried to mix our defense up. A couple of different guys on him. He had it rolling,” said Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing.
Omer Yurtseven scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Hoyas.
Once again, the Hoyas played without Mac McClung. That forced Ewing to have a rotation of only six players.
Seton Hall made their first four shots. All were from the three point line as they jumped out to a 12-0. That lead would eventually get to 16-0 before the Hoyas scored a point. Georgetown would recover a bit going on their own 9-2 run to cut the lead to nine.
Seton Hall would push the lead back up to 15 before Georgetown made a run and cut it to 36-30 on a Terrell Allen layup.
But the Pirates stayed hot as Myles Powell scored 21 points in the first half on 7-15 shooting. Overall Seton Hall shot 44% for the half as they went into the locker room with a 42-32 lead.
Early in the second half, a Jagan Mosely three-pointer along with a Jahvon Blair three point play pulled Georgetown to within three at 43-40. Myles Powell would answer with his own 5-0 run as he exploited every hole in the Georgetown defense. It would grow to an 11-3 run that put the Pirates back up by 11.
Qudus Wahab, the only Georgetown substitution, would pull the Hoyas back within four (56-52) with a little over 11 minutes left.
Despite the lack of depth, the Hoyas kept fighting but the mistakes started piling up. Seton Hall beat the Hoyas on the boards 44-41 including a big sequence when Georgetown had a chance to cut it to three points. Mosely would miss his free throw. Seton Hall would get multiple offensive rebounds on the next possession and it led to a three pointer by Quincy McKnight putting the Pirates back up by seven.
Quotes:
Ewing (Romaro Gill’s Performance): “Gill did an outstanding job of effecting the game especially early. First three shots he blocked. He ended up with eight blocks so you have to take your hat off to him”
Ewing (How the team responded to playing without McClung): “I’m proud of the effort. We kept fighting.”
