What is left to say? Georgetown fans knew this team was heavily reliant on Chris Wright, media members and statisticians knew it as well. Clearly, after our fourth straight defeat without Wright, both the Georgetown players and coaches know it even better than the rest of us. Connecticut beat the Hoyas 79-62 in a game that was never really in question. Kemba Walker scored 28 points to lead the Huskies, who also got plenty of help from Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier and Jamaal Coombs-McDaniel. Jason Clark and Austin Freeman led the Hoyas with 23 and 20 points respectively, but it wasn't nearly enough, as the Hoyas were outhustled, outmanned, and outclassed in Madison Square Garden.
The good news for the Hoyas is that Clark snapped out of his seemingly 752 game long slump, scoring 23 points while adding eight rebounds, three steals and one awesome Kembablock. Freeman and Clark were aggressive throughout the game, doing all that they could to withstand blow after blow from UConn. Unfortunately, they also combined to shoot 2-13 from three point range, many of which would have put the Hoyas close to striking distance.
After The Jump, whatever man.
For whatever reason, I am a sucker for Julian Vaughn and Henry Sims. Probably because of their Twitter escapades this summer, and because both seem so damn likeable. Yet, as a fan of the team, they couldn't be giving us less right now. Vaughn has not scored a field goal since Wright got injured, and Sims was a complete liability out there today, forgetting to box out at every opportunity he had. Vaughn can't stop picking up fouls as well, which is hindering his ability to impact games. Both are consistently putting the ball on the ground when they should just be going up strong after grabbing rebounds. Sims has been a huge contributor during different points of the season, and Vaughn was arguably the key to our eight game winning streak in the middle of the Big East slate. Both can play well, and both need to figure out what is bogging them down right now. Georgetown can't go into the NCAA Tournament expecting Nate Lubick, Jerrelle Benimon and Moses Ayegba to carry the load as big men.I was at the game today, and what was also very frustrating to watch was the downtrodden body language that has infected this entire team, coaches included, besides Markel Starks. John Thompson III looks shellshocked, Freeman is consistently slumping his shoulders, Clark was storming to the bench ignoring teammates during most timeouts, and Wright has been the anti Patrick Ewing Jr. on the bench since getting hurt. When the team came out for warmups before the second half, freshman Aaron Bowen was in a suit on the court high fiving each player in lay up lines. Freeman and Wright were conspicuously missing from the floor. Both were sitting on the bench, four seats away from one another. I can't imagine how crappy both must feel right now - Wright because of the injury that derailed the final month of his college career and Freeman because he's seeing his final season die slowly. Yet, both have potentially one game left in Georgetown uniforms, and as senior captains, I expect better leadership.
One game left. That's all we potentially have left. The good news is Georgetown expects to have Wright in uniform for the NCAA Tournament, and the tournament brings new hope. This group has had regular season and Big East Tournament success before, but never in the NCAA Tournament. I know we will all work ourselves up into an optimistic frenzy before next Thursday / Friday. Unfortunately, right now it feels like we're cheering for a Little League team with no chance of winning, just holding out hope for some stellar participation trophies.