View From My Couch: Milwaukee’s Worst

In what has become a wash-rinse-repeat kind of situation, Georgetown once again left Milwaukee with a loss to Marquette. The Hoyas are now 2-8 at Marquette since the Golden Eagles joined the league back in 2005. Tonight’s loss was a wire to wire Marquette highlight show as Georgetown never once had a lead.

But wait, it gets way, way worse.

My suspicion throughout the game turned out to be unfortunately true as JT3 indicated in his post game press conference that LJ Peak picked up an in game injury that limited his availability and kept him out late as the Hoyas tried to mount their comeback. Peak tweaked his groin and his status is unknown going forward.

Yikes.

All things being equal, losing by ten in a game where Peak scored just four points doesn’t sound all that bad. This team is Rodney Pryor and LJ Peak. If you take one of those guys away, well, let’s just not think about that right now. Let’s also not think about how DePaul almost knocked off No. 1 Villanova in the first part of the FS1 doubleheader. Fans need to stop counting both of those DePaul games as wins.

Where was the game lost? Well after that six game winning streak I think we’ve got three really good moments to choose from tonight.

Obviously going down 11-0 and then 16-2 was the first sign of trouble. That opening Marquette haymaker was sponsored by Georgetown silly turnovers and some nice long distance shooting from the Golden Eagles.

That being said Georgetown survived to even things up at 26 thanks to some clutch shooting from both Marcus Derrickson and Rodney Pryor. From there we have our second killer stretch in which Georgetown committed three straight turnovers and immediately went down 33-26. The Hoyas never drew closer than one the rest of the game and thanks to a Govan foul with .1 left in the half, trailed by seven at the break.

The last disastrous stretch came with a little less than 10 minutes remaining and the Hoyas down 10. Georgetown worked the ball around and Jagan Mosely got a wide open look in the corner from deep. Mosely air balled his attempt and it ended up serving as an assist to a JuJuan Johnson dunk. Moments later a Hoyas turnover - they had 15 - resulted in a second straight Johnson flush that effectively ended the game.

Peak Limited, Peak Hurt: This is the big problem. We’ve seen really good Georgetown teams lose in Milwaukee so that’s not exactly new. I’m not sure exactly when Peak hurt his groin but it must have come early as his absence on the court was noticeable early. I kept double checking to see if he had picked up a second foul but he hadn’t. It wasn’t until the second half that I noticed that he had his left thigh wrapped up in what could have been for a hamstring but is reportedly his groin.

There’s no way around it. Without Peak and Pryor playing at a high level this version of the Hoyas are in serious trouble against anybody and everybody going forward.

Without his running mate Pryor still came through with 23 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting in 39 minutes. Problem is that Peak was just 1 for 8 in 22 minutes for four points. Jessie Govan and Marcus Derrickson each had 11 points but that’s not filling the void of a 17 point per game scorer. Could the points come from anywhere else? Short of Isaac Copeland staying in school and not having back surgery, no.

Costly Night: There wasn’t much free for the Hoyas in Milwaukee Wednesday. Georgetown came in to tonight’s game ranked second in the country in made FTs per game with over 21. In the loss to Marquette the Hoyas didn’t even attempt that many, going just 7 for 11 for the game. Georgetown was just 1 for 2 from the line in the first half. Now some of this goes back to Peak’s injury as the junior leads the team with seven attempts per game, nearly double that of both Jessie Govan and Rodney Pryor. Of the post players that saw action against Marquette, Govan, Bradley Hayes, Akoy Agau, and Marcus Derrickson combined for zero free throw attempts. That’s a problem.

Losing Record: After three seasons and one game of data, Georgetown is 27-28 in the new BIG EAST. Not great for a team picked to finish second in the league three times and fourth this season. It’s crazy to think that when the Catholic Seven decided to go their own way that the league made this announcement after a Georgetown home game. The Hoyas program has taken quite the unexpected fall over the past four years.

Cable Access: How many times did FS1 have the score wrong tonight? I lost count at five. It didn’t happen as often as a Georgetown defender falling for a Marquette shot fake but it was up there and it was annoying. It’s always more annoying if the score is wrong and your team is losing. Always.