The Morning After: The Hangover

GLIDEHOYAS: Hoyas pull out a "gritty" win over Providence 49-40 on New Years Eve
Thank God and the Hoyas staff for having to this young man Otto Porter attend Georgetown including the rest of the Hoyabunch.

Ballin' is a Habit: Hoyas display toughness in 49-40 win over Providence
The Hoyas are a much different team when Markel Starks is on the bench. Providence started their rally when Starks went to the bench early on in the second with foul trouble. For an extended period of time, the Hoyas had no true point guard on the court, and the offense looked out of sync. He hit a 3-pointer upon his return and the Hoyas closed out the game. As mentioned, Henry Sims went 2-13 from the field. In the last three games, he is a combined 7-33. I'm aware that he's having a break-out year, and his confidence is at an all-time high, but Sims doesn't need to shoot every time he touches the ball.

Georgetown tops Providence 49-40
The Hoyas won their 10th straight game despite making only eight field goals in the second half. The score was tied at 35 with 8 minutes to play before Georgetown closed with a 14-5 run.

Bad Offense Beats Worse Offense: Georgetown 49, Providence 40 | Over the Hilltop
Rather than trying to pressure the sure-handed Hoyas into turnovers, the Friars simply sagged off, clogging the lane against easy looks, and daring Georgetown to make an open jumper. While the Hoyas were all too willing to take open threes, the shots just weren’t falling. Jumpers were bricked, rattled, and missed in just about every way possible. While some Hoya looks were poorly chosen, the result of lazy offensive sets, others were wide open and simply errant.

Hoyas survive for 10th straight win - Georgetown Hoyas - CBSSports.com RapidReports
In their worst offensive performance of the season, the Hoyas held off a second-half surge by Providence for a 49-40 victory. Georgetown looked lost on offense for the entire second half and shot 31% for the game. Fortunately, Providence was worse, connecting on just 26%.

Providence Friars vs. Georgetown Hoyas - Recap - December 31, 2011 - ESPN
Georgetown has its longest winning streak since the 2006-07 Final Four team won 11 straight. The Hoyas are poised to move into the top 10 next week after their 71-68 victory at No. 4 Louisville on Wednesday.

The Providence Men's Basketball Team Falls At No. 12 Georgetown, 49-40 - Providence College Official Athletics Site
The victory marks the 60th time the two teams have met, with all but two coming since the formation of the BIG EAST Conference in 1979. Georgetown leads the series, 41-19, including a 21-4 advantage in Washington, D.C.

Postgame Quotes - GUHoyas.com
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III on the team's poor shooting performance... You're not always going to shoot well. What happened to us today is earlier, I thought we were taking too many long shots in the second half we tried to focus on throwing it inside and we were pounding it in, but it felt like there was a lid on the basket. A lot of the shots that Henry (Sims) missed today, I don't think he's going to miss. Even when he kicked it back out a lot of our guys, Hollis in particular missed some shots that I don't think he's going to miss. You have to give Providence credit for their defense.

Georgetown vs. Providence: Hoyas escape with win over Friars - The Washington Post
"Our team has the ability, probably more so than the past couple of years, to win pretty games or ugly games," Coach John Thompson III said. "This was just an ugly game." Was it ever. Consider this: The 89 total points were only four more than the lowest-scoring game in Big East history, a 45-40 victory for Providence over Boston College in 2000.

It was a struggle, but surprising Hoyas just keep winning | Beyond the Arc
Louisville’s pressure defense caused 16 Hoya turnovers Wednesday night, but the win over Providence hinged on the single-digit turnover numbers for John Thompson III’s squad. They may be without a nationally-recognizable name this season, without players like Austin Freeman or Greg Monroe of the past, but they seem to all be on the same page.

Hoya Prospectus: Recap: Georgetown 49, Providence 40
But the other positive to take away is that the Hoyas played another game without committing many turnovers [TO rate = 12%]. Now the Friars aren't a team built on steals [265th nationally on turnovers forced coming into the game], but Georgetown was able to finish the game with a 13-7 turnover edge. Those 6 extra possessions ending with a scoring opportunity - in a game where the Hoyas averaged 0.82 pts / possession - was roughly equivalent to a +5 point advantage. A huge difference when G'town led by only four points with less than a minute left.