LINKS: Hoyas Punish Pirates, Grab Booty as SHU Buckles

Your Georgetown Hoyas (7-10, 5-7) beat the Seton Hall Pirates (13-9, 10-6) on Saturday evening, 81-75, in a game with solid execution after a week off.

In post-game comments, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard blamed the Pirates’ schedule—three games in six days—as the key factor in the loss. While Georgetown’s legs were evidently a bit fresher in their shots, the Hoyas’ “post-bye-week” execution is not something to be taken for granted. Patrick Ewing and the staff did their jobs in preparing a winning game plan and sustaining momentum. Too often in recent years BIG EAST teams, including GU, have come back after a week off not looking fresh. Patrick Ewing and the Hoya-faithful wanted a new or rescheduled game last week to help keep their fighting edge.

But even without a midweek match, the Hoyas maintained their sense of urgency and even improved in a couple facets. One big key was that Georgetown’s perimeter defense held SHU to 6-21 (29%) from three (29-67 FGs).

Jahvon Blair scored only 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 3PT), yet had 5 assists and only 2 turnovers, playing more like a decoy than a sniper. Jamorko Pickett shot 8-11 from the field including a couple long twos and was 2-2 from three for 20 points and 7 rebounds. Likewise, Chudier Bile improved his three-point shooting (3-4) with 16 points on 6-12 from the floor, with (an almost-acceptable) four turnovers. Dante Harris had 14 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds (5 turnovers), while Donald Carey had 11 points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-4 FT) in 16 minutes.

Nights of good shooting cure a lot of woes (like turnovers) against good opponents, but Georgetown fans have to be pleased with how the Hoyas have been sharing the ball, rebounding, and recently stepping it up on defense.

Here are the links:

Efficient Shooting Pushes Georgetown Past Pirates 81-75 - Georgetown University Athletics | GUHOYAS

“Basketball is a sport of runs. We made our run first, they made their run. The team that makes the run at the end is usually the team that wins. And we were able to keep our composure and make our run at the end.” - Head Coach Patrick Ewing on the flow of the game

“I love the fight. Whatever I can do to help my teammates win, I’m going to do that. If that’s getting a defensive rebound, diving on the floor or playing defense, I’m going to do whatever it takes.” - Dante Harris on his role on the court

HOYA HIGHLIGHTS: Jamorko Pickett led five Hoyas in double figures with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 effort from beyond the arc. The senior added seven rebounds to go with three assists and a pair of blocks. Chudier Bile (16), Dante Harris (14), Donald Craey (11) and Qudus Wahab (11) rounded out those in double figures.

Mamukelashvili Scores 22 as Pirates Trip Up at Georgetown - Seton Hall University Athletics | SHUPIRATES

Seton Hall got the lead to five, 45-40, with 16:24 to go on Mamukelashvili’s jumper, but that was the team’s largest lead of the night. Georgetown reclaimed the lead on Jamorko Pickett’s three-point play with 11:33 left to make it 54-53. Then with Georgetown up four, Donald Carey hit a corner three-pointer and was fouled on the play, resulting in a four-point play, and a 63-55 lead with 8:31 to go.

The Pirates managed to tie the game up again at 67-67, but history repeated itself with 4:39 remaining when Carey again sank a three-pointer, Georgetown’s 10th of the night, and was fouled after releasing the ball. That four-point play made it 71-67. The Hall had a chance to tie again with under four to go, but a turnover resulted in the Hoyas converting a layup to go back up four, and the Pirates couldn’t recover.

Men’s basketball drowns Pirates with three-point barrage - The Georgetown Voice | GEORGETOWNVOICE

Limiting turnovers and keeping the pace of the game fast were the priorities for the Hoyas coming out of the timeout. “Whatever I can do to help my teammates win, I’m going to do that so if that’s getting a defensive rebound, diving on the floor, playing defense, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get the win,” said Harris. Pickett and Bile worked to chip away at the deficit, only to be plagued by turnovers and Mamukelashvili, who was able to quickly rack up 16 points.

The Hoyas’ big break came when Carey hit a deep three and headed to the line for one more, giving Georgetown its largest lead of the half, 55-63. With Reynolds on the bench with four fouls, Seton Hall was forced to rely on freshman point guard Jahari Long, whom the Hoyas were able to exploit and stretch their lead further. Their 12-2 run only ended when Cale hit a three.

Seton Hall basketball: Defensive meltdown at Georgetown ends 4-game winning streak | APP

The Pirates’ perimeter defense got picked apart by Georgetown on Saturday, resulting in an 81-75 loss that makes their path to the NCAA tournament harder. The Hoyas shot 10-of-16 from 3-point range and 50 percent overall, snapping the Hall’s four-game winning streak in Washington, D.C.

“We let them get off to too good of a start shooting the basketball, and then we had some breakdowns in the second half,” Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “This is our third game in six days and they’re coming off a seven-day bye week...We just didn’t have enough focus. I think the third game in six days really wore on us.”

Pickett scores 20 to lead Georgetown past Seton Hall 81-75 | COLLEGEBASKETBALL.AP.ORG

Jamorko Pickett had a season-high 20 points as Georgetown topped Seton Hall 81-75 on Saturday. Chudier Bile had 16 points for Georgetown (7-10, 5-7 Big East Conference). Dante Harris added 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Donald Carey had 11 points. Sandro Mamukelashvili had 22 points for the Pirates (13-9, 10-6), whose four-game winning streak was broken.

Seton Hall loses at Georgetown as 4-game winning streak is snapped | NJ

Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas have now won four of six and improved to 7-10, 5-7. Ewing improved to 3-6 against Seton Hall as a coach...

The Pirates continued to struggle with their three-point defense and allowed Georgetown to shoot 10-of-16 from deep. “I didn’t think anybody played very well defensively,” Willard said.

Seton Hall basketball: Defensive meltdown at Georgetown ends 4-game winning streak | APP

Georgetown is much improved Give the Hoyas, head coach Patrick Ewing and his staff (which includes former Seton Hall skipper Louis Orr) credit. This team is vastly improved from the squad the Hall rolled past 78-67 Dec. 23. They don’t have a ton of talent, but play well together as a unit, hit the glass hard and have found a collective shooting stroke. It’s not a fluke that they beat Creighton.

Seton Hall outplayed by Georgetown in big NCAA Tournament blow | NYPOST

“When you play against a team that’s coming off a bye week, you’ve got to make sure you’re coming in and execute defensively,” said Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, who felt his team didn’t have enough in the tank while playing its third game in six games. “We just didn’t execute defensively.”

Georgetown (7-10, 5-7 Big East) was the better team. Far more rested, the Hoyas played with more sustained effort. They were lights-out from 3-point range — the Hoyas went 10-for-16 from deep and Donald Carey notched two four-point plays in the second half — and responded when Seton Hall (13-9, 10-6) went ahead early in the second half. The Hoyas held Pirates star Sandro Mamukelashvili to four points over the final 14-plus minutes, and executed down the stretch, looking more like the team that was in the mix for the tournament.

5 observations on Seton Hall’s loss at Georgetown: Bryce Aiken out indefinitely, second team takes a hit, Bracketology update, more | NJ

“Obviously not having Bryce Aiken has really hurt us, it’s taken the air out of that second unit,” Willard said on the radio. “Where that second unit was coming in and giving us great pop and great energy and a different tempo than the first unit, now with Jahari or having to have Shavar out there for extended minutes, it’s really hurt us.”

Willard didn’t exactly give Long a ringing endorsement. He said he “dumbed down the offense for [Long] to just try to keep things really simple so for 4-5 minutes he feels comfortable with what we’re doing offensively.”

Georgetown keeps growing, edges Seton Hall for its fourth win in six games | WASHINGTONPOST

The Hoyas’ Jahvon Blair, who entered as the No. 4 scorer in the Big East at 17 per game, scored just three points on 1-for-6 shooting, but it didn’t matter (and he dished out five assists).

“I wasn’t really hunting shots. I just let the ball come to me,” Pickett said. “The opportunities on offense presented themselves, and I took advantage of it. [Blair] is top five in scoring in the Big East. Teams have definitely took notice to that. The defensive scheme is really revolved around stopping him. . . . So it’s the next man up. If he can’t get it going, then it’s on me next” ...

“We were confident,” Harris said. “We stayed poised. I tried to get my guys together, tell them to keep fighting, don’t worry about it.”

Simmering Gumbo: Hoyas Continue Improved Play, Take Down Seton Hall - Thompson’s Towel | THOMPSONSTOWEL

When I asked Jamorko Pickett about the team’s confidence going forward and how this run will affect the Hoyas’ mindset entering the final four games of the season, he told me “We’ve got four games left, and we wanna win as many as possible. We definitely wanna win out in order to build momentum for the Big East Tournament, and if we do that, anything’s possible.”