GAME THREAD: Georgetown at No. 21 Providence

Your Georgetown Hoyas are back at it tonight visiting the lovely state of Rhode Island for the first time since New Year’s Eve 2019 to take on Ed Cooley and some combination of seven scholarship players from Providence.

Game 15: Georgetown Hoyas (6-8, 0-3 BE) at No. 21 Providence (14-2, 4-1)

When: Thursday 5 pm

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center

Series: Hoyas lead 47-30 overall but trail 14-19 away at Providence

Last meeting: Georgetown won the only meeting last season 73-72 at McDonough in a game that turned the Hoyas season around

TV: FS1 (Eric Collins & Bill Raftery)

Radio: 980 (Rich Chvotkin, 48th season), SiriusXM 381, Radio.com

NET Ranking: Providence 32, Georgetown 216

KenPom Ranking: Providence 50, Georgetown 152

KenPom Projection: Providence 79-67 (87%)

Line: Providence -11.5

Mutombo Coffee:

PREVIEW

Third time’s the charm in terms of Georgetown actually playing at Providence. Last season the Hoyas had a rare trip to Alumni Hall canceled all together and just a month ago their game at Dunkin’ Donuts was postponed until.....this afternoon!

As reported yesterday, Patrick Ewing will be back on the sidelines after missing two games - both losses - and he expects to have all of his players available. That of course means the return of team captain Donald Carey, who last played on Dec. 18 in a loss to TCU.

It’s getting late early for Georgetown which needs a win in their first game against a ranked team this season to avoid matching a program worst 0-4 start in the Big East. The Hoyas have started 0-4 twice previously - 1999 & 2017 - and both seasons involved coaching changes. Craig Esherick took over in the middle of the 1999 season when John Thompson Jr stepped down after 13 games. John Thompson III was fired after the 2017 season.

Despite being a heavy underdog - I think Vegas really just uses KenPom on spreads without thinking - a poor showing against a Providence team that hasn’t played in two weeks and may only have seven players available would be a really bad look in a season that desperately needs to take a U-turn ASAP.

FRIARS REPORT

All we really know is what we’ve heard from Cooley and that’s that he will have the minimum seven scholarships available. We don’t know which guys are available. That being said the Friars are off to a nice 14-2 start that includes win over Wisconsin and Texas Tech but haven’t played since Jan. 8, having three games postponed.

To put it simply - Providence has a ton of experience.

Super Senior - and local big - Nate Watson is back and leads the Friars in scoring at 14.4 ppg. He’s going to be a problem down low for Georgetown. Noah Horchler is in his fifth year of college hoops and second with Providence. After starting out at North Florida he leads the Friars with 8.4 rpg and leads the team with 41 % shooting from deep.

Super Senior transfer Aljami Durham from Indiana has proven to be a good pick up for Cooley. Durham is second in the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg and plays a team-high 35 minutes per game.

AJ Reeves - only a fourth-year senior - is a big guard averaging double-figures but injured a finger in his last appearance on Jan. 1 at DePaul and then missed the next two games before their covid pause. Reports online have him likely to play.

Bobby’s Prediction

Providence 72, Georgetown 63

Leave your witty (and non-witty) in-game comments here!

HOYA SAXA!