View From Press Row: Winning is Better than Losing

“It’s a great rivalry. Hopefully we can both get back on track.” - St. John’s coach Chris Mullin after Georgetown’s 83-55 win over his Red Storm

WASHINGTON – For as many issues as the Hoyas have had over the last few years, throttling St. John’s at home hasn’t been one of them. So with Georgetown facing the possibility of their worst BIG EAST start in program history the Red Storm showed up at the Verizon Center in just the right time.

Georgetown easily defeated St. John’s 83-55 in a game that might be hard to evaluate as the Johnnies looked far more like the squad that lost to Delaware State than the one that crushed Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. Losing this game would have been rock bottom by virtually every measure as Georgetown has now defeated St. John’s 12 straight times at home going back to 2003.

If you’re the type of fan that is still thinking about what it would take to make the NCAAS instead of worrying about finishing under .500 for the second season in a row I did find a glimmer of hope. The Hoyas 1-4 mark after five BIG EAST games is tied for the worst five game start in John Thompson III’s career at Georgetown. The 2010-11 team was also 1-4 and they actually made the Tournament that season. That team, led by Austin Freeman and Chris Wright ran off eight straight wins and then ultimately finished as a six seed in the tournament.

So what can we take away from this win considering how poor the St. John’s was tonight?

Mosely Again: After a career high 20 points in the overtime loss to Butler, Jagan Mosely responded with another solid effort. The Hoyas freshman starting point guard had 13 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Mosely was solid from the floor in going 3-of-5 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line.

The back-to-back performance was important because at times this season Mosely hasn’t contributed despite always getting the start. In the five games leading up that 20 point outburst, Mosely had just a combined 12 points.

“He’s been someone I can count on from Day One,” JT3 said of Mosely.

“He has a hardness to him. Now he has to figure out how to make his dunks.”

If you didn’t see it Mosely had a ridiculous dunk attempt that didn’t go down.

Getting to the Line: In the non-conference part of the schedule the Hoyas had done a great job of getting to the line more than their opponents but that script has flipped in league play. For just the first time in five games the Hoyas took more free throws than their opponents tonight (33 to 27). LJ Peak led the way by going 10-for-10 from the stripe.

“It hasn’t been happening but I don’t think we’ve necessarily changed anything,” JT3 said about the dip in free throw attempts.

“We ended up with over 40 points in the paint. It’s not like we’re just passing around the perimeter taking threes. Maybe guys are just fouling less in the BIG EAST. I’m not sure.”

Peak and Pryor: In the first 12 games this season both Rodney Pryor and LJ Peak scored in double figures nine times. Georgetown won seven of those games. Tonight was just the second time that the Hoyas top two scorers did so in a BIG EAST game. As a sort of baseline for Georgetown’s chance at success on any given night, these two guys need to always be in double figures. Pryor bounced back with 13 points after being held scoreless and Peak added a game high 16.

Misc: JT3 used his fifth different starting lineup this season with the most recent change being Bradley Hayes in forJessie Govan... Jonathan Mulmore had seven points, four rebounds, and a career best five assists in just 19 minutes of action against St. John’s…Mulmore was also the only Hoya to stay with the pink Jordan’s from the Butler game....Marcus Derrickson had all 11 points in the first half, giving him double figures in a career best six straight games....Tre Campbell missed his third straight game with an illness but was on the sidelines…Reggie Cameron saw action in the first half for the first time since the Syracuse win…Including the BIG EAST tournament, Georgetown is 3-14 against conference foes with all three wins coming against St. John’s or DePaul dating back to Jan. 30, 2016.