All good things come to an end. After a captivating 11 game winning streak, the Georgetown Hoyas lost in Morgantown 74-62 to West Virginia. The Hoyas played very good defense, but turnovers and a lack of three point shooting were the downfall today. Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones were very impressive, combining for 47 points and proving that they are arguably the best one-two punch in the Big East. For the Hoyas, Hollis Thompson was the star, scoring 20 points on 13 field goals, but also missing 5 crucial free throws. For a guy with one of the prettiest shooting strokes I've ever seen, that can't happen again.
The Hoyas have very little time to lick their wounds, as a tough Cincinnati squad comes to the Verizon Center Monday night at full strength after half their team was suspended for throwing various haymakers in their game against Xavier.
After The Jump, more thoughts.
Before we go into meltdown mode, let's have some perspective on the first 15 games of the season. This Georgetown team, comprised of 10 freshmen and sophomores, did not receive a single Top 25 vote and was picked to finish 10th in the Big East. All they've done since is win 13 of 15 games, including wins at Louisville and Alabama and thrilling victories over Marquette and Memphis (2x). In addition, the Hoyas are 3-1 to start Big East play when even the most delusional of us would have been happy with 2-2.
Today was just not Georgetown's day. West Virginia, since Bob Huggins has been the coach, has given us fits. They have beaten us in all four years since these seniors stepped on campus. For whatever reason, we never shoot well in that gym, and they always force a ton of turnovers. That said, it is important that we stop relying on magical comebacks and put forth a solid 40 minutes of effort going forward. The last minute comebacks are thrilling, but also a really good way to lose a bunch of games quickly in the Big East grinder if effort isn't 100% throughout the game.
For those of you who are now predicting a "collapse", please find another forum to voice those frustrations. College basketball is built on parity, and no one in their right minds would have expected us to win out all the way through April. In addition, WE DIDN'T COLLAPSE LAST YEAR, we lost our best player and heart of the team to a broken hand. We have had one collapse in John Thompson's tenure at Georgetown - being knocked out as a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament is not a collapse, it's a bad game. This year's team has shown time and again that it has great character, and I expect a victory on Monday night. Even if we don't win Monday night, it's still not a damn collapse, so go sit on some rusty nails.
I am not giving up my luxury seat on the DELUSION TRAIN, I hope the rest of you will continue to join me.
Cincinnati is next.