The Morning After: Post-Game Articles, Quotes, Pictures & Game Highlights

In case you were disappointed by the SportsCenter highlights which only showed the final minute of play and mocked Rick Chvotkin, below is a real reel (giggles, words are fun) showing what actually happened in the game.

(H/T: Hoya Prospectus)

Impressions from the press and others (i.e. Feinstein) after the jump.

Postgame Quotes - GEORGETOWN OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun Opening statement... "First thing, congratulations to Georgetown. Obviously to be down 15 at halftime is not insurmountable at home. It's tough but certainly congratulations to them. I thought a couple things they did. First thing they had Austin Freeman in uniform that helps an awful lot. He is a bonafide, terrific big-time player who made big time shots."

Austin Freeman leads Georgetown to victory over Connecticut - washingtonpost.com
Thompson urged his players to slow down. "Don't shoot so fast," he told them, pointing out that the only thing their hasty, fruitless possessions were accomplishing was handing Connecticut one easy basket in transition after another. And by slowing down Georgetown's woefully misfiring offense, Thompson engineered a comeback that rivaled the tortoise over the hare in terms of improbability, as the Hoyas stormed back for a 72-69 victory before 15,654 delirious, disbelieving fans.

Freeman Keys Second-Half Surge as Hoyas Top Huskies | The Hoya
While the Huskies could not miss — they shot 50 percent in the first half from the floor and from three-point range — the Hoyas could not buy a basket, shooting 29.6 percent. Hoya misses turned into easy Connecticut rebounds off the glass, where the Huskies dominated in the first stanza, outrebounding the Hoyas 24-14. Georgetown would follow Freeman’s trey with a field-goal drought that lasted 9:27, mercifully ended with a jumper by junior guard Chris Wright with 50 seconds to play in the half. The Husky 22-6 run to end the half took the crowd out of the game and gave UConn a 15-point halftime advantage. Asked whether Thompson’s halftime speech was calm or not, sophomore center Greg Monroe, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds said, "He was calm … for a second."

Uconn Huskies Men's Basketball News Blog - Mike Anthony - Hartford Courant
"We didn't play a great basketball game. We played probably the best 20 minutes of basketball, in the first half, that we've played all year. I don't care who we're playing. And then we had an awful five minutes to allow the game to become a game, and then it just became a battle after that. They won the battle. Credit to them. I don't think it's a discredit to our kids," [stated Jim Calhoun].

Hoya Prospectus: Recap: Georgetown 72, Connecticut 69
There is the shockingly low turnover rate in the 2nd half - only 2 TOs on 33 possessions.  From my eye, and from the box score below, it appears that the Huskies are incredibly dependent upon fast-break points, and their inability to turn the Hoyas over in the 2nd half was a real problem.

UConn Blows 19-Point Lead, Loses To Georgetown - Courant.com
Calhoun's greatest frustration? That Georgetown got Freeman the ball while the Huskies failed to find Robinson, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds but had four points and no rebounds in the second half. The Huskies were 9-for-17 on free throws, committed 15 turnovers and played much of the second half without the pluck and persistence on which their lead was built.

Reaction from Saturday's significant wins - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
The Hoyas had to have this game. They may not have said it prior to the game, but Georgetown couldn’t afford to be 2-2 with an early home loss if it wants to compete for the Big East title. The schedule is unforgiving. The Hoyas host Seton Hall and then have a crushing five-game stretch (with one breather): at Villanova, at Pitt, home against Rutgers, at Syracuse and then a nonconference game against Duke.

DC Sports Box - Freeman’s 33 Points Helps Lead No. 12 Hoyas Past No. 13 Connecticut
After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Marquette earlier this week, Georgetown knew at the half that they had to make the necessary adjustments to remain competitive against the extremely tough Connecticut. "We were just out there running around," Hoyas head coach John Thompson III commented on his team’s first half of play.  "Our focus at both ends of the floor was lacking. And they realized it. And they decided at halftime: 'We're not going to do that."

ZagsBlog.com – Selby at Arizona, Lining Up Visits
UConn writer Gavin Keefe noted that Georgetown reneged on giving Smith, a Baltimore native, tickets to the game after his decision.

JOHN FEINSTEIN - Connecticut's Jim Calhoun still loves coaching - washingtonpost.com
When Connecticut was accused of a number of recruiting violations last March, a lot of people thought Calhoun might call it a career after the Huskies put the distractions aside and made it to the Final Four. Instead, after announcing last spring that he would be back at Connecticut this season, he signed a five-year contract extension. One thing is certain about Calhoun: He will not go quietly into the night.

(Casual Note: Not surprised at all that John Feinstein is a Calhoun supporter, lazy reporters and cheaters mix well together.)