LINKS: DePaul Stands in Hoyas’ Path

The Georgetown Hoyas (8-8) head to Chicago to face the DePaul Blue Demons (6-10) in another high-stakes game for Patrick Ewing’s ambitious team.

Georgetown is fighting for its tournament life, while Max Strus and company are looking to build on a big home win against St. John’s and finish a tough season strong. It doesn’t hurt that the Blue Demons have a chance to play spoilers against the current BIG EAST third-place team...

For a young group that appears to sometimes read its own headlines (or tweets), the Hoyas cannot afford to come out lethargic, unenergetic, or lackluster in Chicago. There have been more than one other occasion where fans started to believe that Govan and the freshmen had turned a corner on the consistency of their effort on both sides of the court, only to witness a 30-plus point game by a Ponds or Hauser or Powell. That said, Max Strus is playing too well right now to not get his share of the points, so maybe forcing him to go alone will be key... seems risky.

Here are the links (careful, the first one is hot):

Georgetown Senior Jessie Govan Plays Key Role in Patrick Ewing’s Rebuilding Efforts | WASHINGTONCITYPAPER

Picked to finish second in the Big East and expected to be a top-25 mainstay, Georgetown lost to Radford in double overtime in Govan’s debut, a shocking loss that signaled the decline and eventual demise of the JTIII era at Georgetown. Thompson was fired the following year. Govan told Rivals in 2014 that he came to Georgetown “because it’s a big man school,” but he never could have imagined that the most famous of those big men would become his head coach. He found that in Ewing, who the school hired in 2017 to right the ship.

DePaul Hosts Hoyas Wednesday Night | DEPAULBLUEDEMONS

The Opponent - Georgetown Hoyas: Georgetown is 18-11 overall and 8-8 in the BIG EAST after a 77-71 win in double overtime against Seton Hall on Saturday... the Hoyas have won three of their last four including a nine-point win against the Blue Demons last Wednesday in Washington, D.C...

Wednesday is the 40th all-time meeting between the two programs... the Hoyas hold a 31-9 advantage in the series... the visiting team has won four of the last five meetings... three of the last five games have been decided by one possession... a season ago, Georgetown won in Chicago, 90-81, before Eli Cain’s buzzer beater led the Blue Demons to a 74-73 win in Washington, D.C... the two programs first played during the 1941-42 season with a 34-29 DePaul victory.

DePaul vs. Georgetown Preview | DePaul’s 247SPORTS

DePaul hopes to correct a few things to return the favor and come out on top over the Hoyas this time. If they want to do that, the Blue Demons will need to work on rebounding and taking care of the basketball. The Hoyas outrebounded the Demons 34-44 in the first meeting. The Blue Demons are 0-8 when getting outrebounded, so it is paramount that they remain dominant on the boards in this one. Turnover have been DePaul’s biggest weakness in their last two outings. The Demons turned the ball over 15 times against Georgetown last week and another 15 times in the win over St. John’s on Sunday.

Georgetown looks to sweep DePaul | DAILYHERALD

The Blue Demons are 5-0 when they hold opposing teams to 63 points or fewer and 9-13 when opponents exceed 63 points. The Hoyas are 7-0 when the team records at least eight steals and 11-11 when falling short of that total...

The Georgetown offense has scored 80.9 points per game this season, ranking the Hoyas 29th among Division I teams. The DePaul defense has allowed 74.5 points per game to opponents (ranked 226th overall).

Seniors step forward in win over St. John’s | DEPAULIAONLINE

“The shots were just falling today,” Strus said after the game. “I take those shots every game, teammates did a great job of setting screens, finding me and when they knew I was hot they kept coming to me. So, I think they did a good job of executing that, keep doing that and coach kept calling my number.”

Strus’ 43 points lift DePaul over St. John’s on senior day | DEPAULIAONLINE

“The more success he had the better he felt, they weren’t switching like some other teams,” Blue Demon head coach Dave Leitao said after the game. “He pumped it inside and got some baskets for Femi [Olujobi] or some offensive rebounds. What he felt was the same thing that I saw in his body language that his body was squared, he dribbled without hesitation, he wasn’t worried so much about the defense. He determined what he wanted to do as opposed to what the defense wanted him to do. So when I saw that I just tried to keep going to him.”

Georgetown Hoyas vs DePaul Blue Demons Preview and Predictions Picks | SCORESANDSTATS

The postseason aspirations for Georgetown are, for the moment, off life support as it prepares to visit DePaul on Wednesday in a Big East game. Jessie Govan played perhaps his best game Saturday on Senior Night, willing the Hoyas to a win over Seton Hall, one that gives them a chance to get above .500 in the conference with a victory over the Blue Demons...

Govan had help against Seton Hall from a pair of freshmen in Josh LeBlanc and James Akinjo. LeBlanc had 14 points to break a string of five straight games in single digits, pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and came up with three steals to earn Big East Freshman of the Week honors for the second time while Akinjo had 16 points - his most in nearly a month - four assists and four steals for the Hoyas.

Georgetown vs. DePaul Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 3-6-2019 | WINNERSANDWHINERS

Strus, whose previous high was 34 points earlier this season, poured in 36 during the second half to go over 1,000 points in his two seasons with DePaul. For his efforts he earned Big East Player of the Week honors on Monday. Senior forward Femi Olujobi played in his 115th college game and delivered his 46th game in double-figure scoring and 11th double-double in the win over St. John’s.

Georgetown vs. DePaul Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 3-6-2019 | STATSALT

Gotta go with the Hoyas here as they have more to play for as well as the better road coverage. Not always the best when the Blue Demons are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games as well as 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.

Big East Post-Season Tournament Possibilities: Update 12 | Villanova’s 247SPORTS

The Hoyas have played their way into the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation but can’t afford to go less than 1-1 over the next two games. 2-0 would have Georgetown in a real nice spot going into the BET.