After trailing by 17 at the half and by a whopping 26 just minutes into the 2nd half, yet another spirited Hoyas comeback that cut the deficit to 9 with just over 5 minutes to play was was thwarted by Georgetown's own inner demons, as a couple of bad turnovers on successive crucial possessions led to easy conversions on the other end that extended the lead.  WVU never led by less than double digits the rest of the way and cruised to an 81-68 win.   The loss drops Georgetown to 19-9 (9-8), and its mysterious "Tale of Two Halves" season marches on.

I'd probably be angrier about the result, but did we really expect anything different without Austin Freeman playing?  The second half comeback, however, is going to put blinders on a few things that can't be ignored.  The worst takeaway for me about this game is that the Hoyas didn't do anything that they haven't been doing over the course of the past dozen games or so:

The 20 turnovers?  How many times can Jason Clark or Henry Sims lazily throw the ball TO A PLAYER ON THE OTHER TEAM on the perimeter?

The 67% from the charity stripe?  How many times can Greg Monroe front-rim a free throw attempt? 

More frustratingly, how many times did the Mountaineers have WIDE OPEN THREES?  I have seen the Hoyas play WVU at least a dozen times - EVERY GAME IS THE SAME!  Guard the damn three! 

A 17 point halftime deficit?  How many times can we expect to win games like this?  Memo to the coaching staff: this strategy of falling behind by a crushing burden early and attempting to get back into the game while the other team is sleeping on its lead is just not working. 

What is the problem here?  Because whatever it is, it sucks.  And not just in the "Oh, it's OK they'll turn it around" kind of way, but the worst kind of way, the Syracuse kind of way, where the dark cloud that has seemingly enveloped this team has blackened the sky and removed any rays of light that may be yearning to seep through and save our season.  OK, maybe that was a bit overdramatic, but I like the word 'seep.'  The Hoyas played hard in the second half, and I suppose all hope is not lost.  (I'll wait until after the Cincy game to make that declaration).

So pour yourself a cocktail and enjoy the soothing sound of John Denver and this casual 'Country Roads' remix by something called the Hermes House Band, because the only way to completely move on from a loss to an opponent like West Virginia is to come to an understanding of what it is like to be West Virginia. 

Almost heaven
West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River,
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Tomorrow is a new day. 

And hell, at least we have Vee Sanford.