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The Morning After: Georgetown Defense Shuts Down Connecticut

Georgetown vs. Connecticut: Hoyas smother Huskies in 58-44 win - The Washington Post
Although Georgetown finished with a flourish, the game got off to a rocky start for the hosts. The Hoyas trailed at the second television timeout for the fifth time in the past seven games, 13-9. Thompson called a timeout and lambasted his players. Thompson said he could not recall what exactly he said. Clark had no trouble remembering, though. "Play harder," the senior captain said jokingly.

Georgetown gets back on track vs. Connecticut | Washington Examiner
After Ryan Boatwright (four assists) found Drummond for an alley oop from six feet with 17:30 left in the first half, Coach Thompson called a timeout and had some stern words. "?'Let's not do this,'?" Thompson said he told his players, only more emphatically.

Georgetown 58, UConn 44 - Quotes - GUHoyas.com
Georgetown Men's Head Basketball Coach John Thompson III On Hollis Thompson's confidence... I thought this was one of the better games Hollis has played, because he did so many things. I look at the stat sheet and he had 18 (points) and nine (rebounds), but he was key in that zone defense. He was always there on the catch, he was attentive and not only on the steals, but being there so they didn't get shots and supporting and helping down on Drummond when the ball was on the weakside. This was the antithesis of the Pittsburgh where I thought he was floating, he wasn't floating today he was active in every part of the game.

UConn offense struggles again in loss to Georgetown - Connecticut Post
"I think where as in the first half they got open looks and it didn't go in, in the second half, they didn't get many open looks," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III. "Our communication and effort was very good today."

Connecticut Huskies vs. Georgetown Hoyas - Recap - February 01, 2012 - ESPN
"We did respond really well," said Jason Clark, who scored 11 points for the Hoyas. "We know what we did wrong in the game to lose at Pitt. We didn't want the same thing to happen." Coach John Thompson III had called the defensive performance "awful" after Pitt shot 52 percent, the best by a Georgetown opponent this season. It's not often a team can improve in that category by 22 percentage points in one game. "Just because you know what they're going to do doesn't mean you're going to stop it," Thompson said. "We were fortunate enough that we knew what they were going to do, and were successful in slowing them down just a little bit today."

No. 14 Georgetown stifles reeling Huskies in dominant triumph - Washington Times
Georgetown responded each time, most emphatically when Sims threw down a tomahawk dunk with 5:44 left to give the Hoyas a 51-39 advantage that was far greater than the 12-point lead would indicate. "It felt good," Sims said. "It was definitely a momentum shift and made the crowd come alive."

Sims just happy to have played well - Georgetown Hoyas - CBSSports.com RapidReports
C Henry Sims battled hard against UConn star F Andre Drummond, but discounted any bump in the eyes of the NBA scouts present. "I’m not too concerned about that," Sims said. "If that’s what happened tonight, hooray, but I’m just happy I played well."

MEN'S BASKETBALL | Georgetown Shuts Down UConn in Big East Showdown - Sports - The Hoya
Andre Drummond brought the scouts, but Georgetown brought the show. Nearly a dozen NBA scouts were in attendance to watch the talented freshmen center, who chose UConn over Georgetown late last summer when he was the nation's top high school prospect. Yet while Drummond may have been the most entertaining player of the night, the true star of the game was the Hoyas' defense. Just a few days after giving up 72 points in a terrible defensive display against Pittsburgh, the Hoyas (17-4, 7-3 Big East) held the Huskies (14-7, 4-5) to 30 percent shooting in a 58-44 blowout.

Ballin' is a Habit: Georgetown bounces back from a loss to Pitt by beating UConn
Thompson isn't quite on the level of his father in terms of putting a guard up around his program, but he does not like to allow anyone into the inner-workings of his team. Case in point: Jason Clark was asked about the offense that Georgetown was running last night, and he responded by saying the Hoyas were using some new sets they had been putting in over the last week. But about halfway through his answer, you could hear Thompson in the background with a subtle "shhh". Clark heard this, smiled and continued answering the question, only with a more vague and stock response.

The New Haven Register Blogs: UConn Men's Basketball Blog: 'Back to the Drawing Board' for UConn
"The one thing that did shake my head, we missed a ton of shots that Division 1 basketball players ,and UConn, should make," said Calhoun, seemingly separating, at least for a moment, the fact that his team is, indeed, a D-1 team.

Hoya Prospectus: Recap: Georgetown 58, Connecticut 44
I'd love to tell you that the Georgetown defense was reminiscent of the 1984 Hoyas, but I'm mostly just shocked with how easily Hoyas were able to force UConn to settle for jump shots. If not for Jeremy Lamb making all of his free throws, that couldn't have gone much worse for Connecticut.

Vox Populi " Postgame Roundup: Georgetown 58, UConn 44
Finishing tied for a game-high 18 points while shooting 9-12 from the field, Drummond was the only Husky to make at least half of his shots on a night his teammates will be eager to forget. Henry Sims stepped up to mitigate Drummond’s impact in the second half and while the future NBA lottery pick still influenced the game, he was unable to pull his team back from the double-digit halftime deficit.

Return to Form?: Georgetown 58, Connecticut 44 | Over the Hilltop
UConn mostly kept the ball outside, lazily passing around the perimeter of changing Georgetown defenses. Zone and switching man both invited long-range hoists by the Husky guards, who dutifully complied with brick after brick. The Connecticut back-court of Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright, and Shabazz Napier, who average a combined 42 points, shot just 4 of 31 from the field, netting just 15 points between them. While 14 of those points were Lamb’s, he was perhaps the principal offender, repeatedly throwing up errant heat checks from well beyond the three-point arc.

No. 14 Georgetown Defeats UConn - NYTimes.com
Hollis Thompson scored 18 points, making 7 of 15 shots and grabbing 9 rebounds for the Hoyas (17-4, 7-3). Thompson went 3 for 7 on 3-pointers after making only three shots from beyond the arc in his previous three games combined.