Backing Into A Bye: Georgetown Hits Rock Bottom, Loses 69-47 At Cincinnati

Today was a tough day for Georgetown fans.  Down 43-39 with eight minutes to play, the Hoyas proceeded to get blown off the court, losing 69-47 at Cincinnati.  The Bearcats went on a 26-8 run to close the game, resulting in the Hoyas third straight loss and fourth in the last five games.  Austin Freeman couldn't buy a bucket, but played valiantly in his last Big East regular season game, scoring 21 points on 7-23 shooting.  Hollis Thompson was the only other Hoya in double figures, scoring 12 points.  Julian Vaughn and Jason Clark combined for 5 points on 1-14 shooting.

The reality is that Georgetown isn't a very good team without Chris Wright.  They have scored 46, 51 and 47 points since Wright went down with a broken hand, and there are no other playmakers on the team even remotely in Wright's realm.  Even more troubling is the lack of rebounding and perimeter defense.  Cincinnati outrebounded the Hoyas by 11 and hit nine threes.  Georgetown's free throw defense was atrocious as well, as the Bearcats hit 24-30 from the charity stripe.

You know that noise Snooki makes that sounds like "wahhhhh"?  More of that after The Jump.

Without Wright, it is hard to imagine Georgetown winning another game this season.  Good news is that Wright is slated to be back by the time the NCAA Tournament starts.  The Hoyas started Big East play with a 1-4 record, winning unimpressively against Depaul and bottoming out with a 15 point destruction against Pitt.  Then they ripped off eight straight wins in the middle of the schedule.  Then they finished with a 1-4 record, winning unimpressively against South Florida and bottoming out with a 22 point drubbing against Cincinnati.  Am I saying the Hoyas are primed for another streak when Wright comes back?  Crazier things have happened.  But it is hard to imagine Wright coming back at full strength, and there just aren't enough talented players on this team to pick up the slack.

Julian Vaughn and Henry Sims were terrible today.  Jason Clark and Austin Freeman were a combined 8 of 33 from the field, and Clark can't hit a shot unless he is wide open from three.  Jerrelle Benimon isn't a high D-1 caliber contributor, Vee Sanford doesn't get the opportunity to do anything because he plays in 30 second spurts, and Nate Lubick and Markel Starks are a year away from really doing damage.  Duke and Purdue have been able to weather injuries to Kyrie Irving and Robbie Hummel because they were stocked with more talent at the positions where those players got hurt.  John Thompson III put all his eggs in one basket with Wright, and since he's been hurt, the team has been completely lost.

The Hoyas backed into the 8th seed in the Big East Tournament because UConn lost to Notre Dame.  Georgetown will play at 12:00pm on Wednesday, March 9 against either UConn, Villanova, or Marquette.  Don't expect a victory.  Just hope that Wright can somehow be pre-injury effective when the NCAA Tournament starts.