LINKS: Hoyas Fans Have Hope in Holloway as Sign of Georgetown Growth

Prior to Tuesday night, there was probably only a handful of Georgetown fans who would call themselves big-time supporters of Collin Holloway. That number surely has grown after a 23-point performance by the sophomore forward. Holloway was 7-9 from the field, 2-2 from three, and 7-7 from the charity stripe in 26 minutes in the win against Longwood. The articles about the Longwood win might remind you that Holloway had only played 14 minutes in two games prior, due to recovery from surgery, and only scored 15 points total in 44 total minutes last year. What those articles may never fully reveal is what his performance may mean to Georgetown fans and Ewing supporters this season: HOPE.

Holloway consistently found the right spots on the floor—on both ends—in just his third game as a sophomore ... after recovering from off-season foot surgery. Seeing a sophomore who played quiet minutes as a freshman come to life and set the tone for Georgetown Hoyas’ defense, rebounding, and off-ball movement certainly should make fans appreciate the development process on the Hilltop a little bit more. Simply put, when a lot hasn’t been going right, the unexpected progress surely boosts confidence in the process. Holloway’s performance inspires a modicum of hope for growth for this team.

No one wants to take anything away from Holloway as a freshman—he was definitively behind seniors Jamorko Pickett and Chudier Bile last season, and he himself admitted at Tuesday night’s night’s presser that he was “a little chunky” coming in last year. He certainly has had flashes of good play late last season and early minutes this season, but his 25 minutes of consistency came out of the blue. If memory serves correctly, Holloway missing time earlier this year to recover after foot surgery is not the only injury he’s experienced in college. Still, some even noticed improvement in his three-point and free-throw shooting forms since the Anaheim apparitions. Maybe we caught a glimpse of what Ewing has seen in Holloway’s practices.

Likewise, Ewing and the staff can’t kick back and assume everything will fall into place after seeing Collin Holloway grow up quickly. One game may not mean a thing. Holloway might not lead for scoring again, but he’s not going to disappear. Scouting reports may be amended, but he was too smart on the floor to not affect the game nightly. He played the game like how Ewing wanted him to, and it worked.

Hopefully there’s plenty of great games to come for Collin, but for at least that one game, on a quiet Tuesday night, it all clicked for Holloway. Those who watched his high school game tape say that it’s no surprise his game translates in the college game. But there’s a lot of talent on Georgetown’s roster and Ewing and the Hoya faithful are waiting for things to click for each of them. It may be Kobe Clark when he comes back, or maybe it’s Mutombo or Wilson during an extended run if Tim Ighoefe misses time. Perhaps Jordan Riley’s jumper falls and the game slows down for him. Maybe Billingsley’s gets better control of his big motor.

I don’t know when it will come, or who it will come against, but with this talented group, I’m excited to see who is going to be next.

Here are the links:

Georgetown sputters early but finds its way to a 91-83 victory over Longwood | Washington Post

“Collin [Holloway] played great for us. He’s been hurt most of the summer, came back, and we’re going to need him. We’re going to need everyone. If we’re going to reach our potential, we’re going to need everyone to be able to help.”

The Hoyas (3-3) got a career-high 23 points from Holloway, who scored all of 15 points during his freshman season. Holloway was active and effective inside and out Tuesday, going 7 for 9 from the field and making a pair of three-pointers.

Freshman Aminu Mohammed finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Kaiden Rice scored 15 points on five threes. Dante Harris added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Donald Carey chipped in 12 points.

“Coaches and teammates got me in the right spot,” Holloway said. “I just made the shot — that’s all it was. I’ve been injured for about five months. I’ve just been waiting my turn, working out in the gym every day and just took my opportunity to play.”

Holloway scores 23 to lift Georgetown over Longwood 91-83 | CBSSports

Collin Holloway had a career-high 23 points as Georgetown defeated Longwood 91-83 on Tuesday night.

Aminu Mohammed added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Hoyas (3-3). Kaiden Rice scored 15, while Dante Harris pitched in with 14 points and seven rebounds.

DeShaun Wade had 21 points to lead the Lancers (4-4). Isaiah Wilkins added 14 points and eight rebounds. Justin Hill had 13 points.

Georgetown holds on late to defeat Longwood 91-83 | Big East Coast Bias

Four Hoyas starters scored in double digits but it was Collin Holloway who led the team in scoring, dropping 23 points on seven of nine shooting off the bench. Rice and Aminu Mohammed both had 15 and were instrumental in holding off the Lancers from completing the upset. The latter even got a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. Donald Carey played all but one minute of this game, scoring 12 points and notching five assists. The win puts Georgetown back at .500 with a record of 3-3.

Overall Georgetown’s numbers offensive were decent. They won the battle on the boards but struggled with the ball at times, committing 12 turnovers. As a team, they shot 45 percent from the field but were solid from three at 43.5 percent. The Hoyas hit 27 of their 33 attempts from the free-throw line, including some key makes in crunch time. Georgetown generated some second-chance opportunities as well with 13 offensive rebounds, using their size as an advantage on the glass.

It was all Lancers in the opening minutes of the game. They scored the first nine points, prompting a quick timeout from Ewing. The Hoyas offense started slowly, hampered by a handful of turnovers and tough shots. Momentum was all on the side of their Big South opponents as the lead was 21-14 Longwood halfway through the first half. Georgetown did start to wake up offensively after that, going on a 10-3 run to tie the game. It was their three-point shooting that was the spark with both Rice and Carey knocking down shots from downtown to get the Hoyas back into it.

Holloway Leads the Way as Hoyas Pull Through Against Longwood Thompson’s Towel

As the half continued, the Hoyas found their footing. They settled down on offense, started moving more without the ball, and ended the half on a strong 18-7 run to erase a six-point deficit and end the half up by five.

Once the decision was made to counter Longwood’s smaller lineup with a small ball lineup of their own, the momentum seemingly swung in Georgetown’s direction with the help of Collin Holloway. Holloway made his presence felt as he made plays on both sides of the court. Ultimately, he scored a team-high and career-high 23 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field and a perfect 7 for 7 from the free throw stripe. His impressive touch around the rim, as well as his ability to draw fouls, shows clear progress from the end of last year. Similarly, Holloway was able to knock down two shots from deep, putting his scoring arsenal on full display. Now it seems pretty clear what Patrick Ewing saw in him at the end of last year.

Ewing’s decision to stick with the smaller lineup clearly helped with the team’s defense, especially guarding the three-point line. With the decision to go small, Ewing had his defenders switching on every screen, thus allowing them to contest more shots. While Longwood shot 6 of 15 from deep in the first half, in the second they were held to 3 of 9 shooting from three. Although 107 combined points were scored in the second half, it had less to do with Georgetown’s inability to maintain a cohesive defensive structure and more to do with the increased pace of play. While still not ideal, there was a clear improvement in their defensive cohesion which allowed Georgetown to maintain control of the game in the second half.

Georgetown Survives Longwood’s Upset Bid with End-Game Rally, 91-83 | LongwoodLancers

In a game that Longwood (4-4) cut to one possession five times in the final 11 minutes – despite playing without leading scorer Leslie Nkereuwem, out with an injury – Georgetown (3-3) made a series of rally-killing responses to survive, including a game-clinching three-pointer from Kaiden Rice with 24 seconds left that pushed a four-point lead to seven.

Rice’s three-pointer punctuated an end-game surge for the Hoyas, who scored on their final eight possessions. Holloway, who played 17 minutes off the bench, scored 18 points in the second half and spearheaded that effort, which prevented the Lancers from stringing together more than five consecutive points after they cut Georgetown’s lead to 67-66 with 6:56 to play.

Holloway and Rice combined to score 10 of Georgetown’s final 17 points, with Holloway racking up four points and an assist and Rice hitting two three-pointers during that span.

“The guys understand we’re right there,” said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. “There’s no disrespect in losing to Georgetown, obviously, on their home court in a close matchup. But at the same time, the moral victories are becoming old.

Five in Double Figures Propel Hoyas Past Longwood, 91-83 | GUHoyas

ON THE RECORD ... “I’m very happy that we got the win. Longwood is a very good team … they played small, we had to go small to try to match up with them. Unfortunately we couldn’t play our bigs as much as we wanted to, but [Collin Holloway] stepped up and had a big game. Collin played great for us. He’s been hurt most of the summer, he came back and we’re going to need him. We’re going to need everyone - if we are going to reach our potential, we are going to need everyone to be able to help.” - Head Coach Patrick Ewing

ABOUT THE HOYAS ... Holloway poured in a career-best 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 effort from the charity stripe. The sophomore led five Hoyas in double figures and added a career-best four rebounds off the bench.

Aminu Mohammed and Kaiden Rice each added 15 points. Mohammed went 5-for-10 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds for the second double-double of his career.

Rice hit all five buckets from deep (5-10 3FG) and added five boards on the night.

Dante Harris added 14 points to go along with a season-best seven boards and five assists, tied for the team lead.

Donald Carey rounded out the Hoyas in double figures with 12 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 performance from the charity stripe. The graduate student matched Harris’ five assists as both paced the offense.