GAME RECAP: Hoyas fall prey to Golden Eagles, 77-66

Your Georgetown Hoyas have played five games in the past 10 days and fell to the Marquette Golden Eagles tonight by a score of 77-66. Marquette had lost their most recent game at Butler over the weekend, along with 3 of their last 4. The Hoyas have also lost their way and an extensive slew of games that I shall choose not to count.

Collin Holloway led the Hoyas in scoring with 15 points, while Aminu Mohammed served up the best all-around performance with 13 points, SEVENTEEN REBOUNDS, and a pair each of blocks & steals. Donald Carey and Dante Harris finished with 14 points apiece. As a whole, the team went 15/16 from the line.

Georgetown gave up an early three and was unable to score from the field on early possessions, but effective defense (and a drawn charge by Donald Carey) meant that Collin Holloway’s pair of free throws kept it close until Carey knocked down a triple to put the Hoyas ahead 5-3. A driving layup from Dante Harris and cold shooting from the Golden Eagles was helpful. A pair of driving buckets from Max Prosper showed up the defense, a harbinger of things to come. Aminu Mohammed was active in the paint, looking to turn loose balls into second chance points. The Golden Eagles were ahead 12-9 at U16.

It hurt to see multiple missed three-point attempts on an otherwise well-executed possession out of the break, but Marquette came up empty on two consecutive trips as well, which mitigated additional damage. Timothy Ighoefe and Oso Ighoardo traded dunks, Tyler Kolek knocked down a three, then Ighoefe waited for a defender to fly by before jamming another one home. Holloway executed a beautiful shot-fake from the top of the key, nailing a three. Ighoefe repossessed the ball from a Marquette player, Carey found Rice for a corner triple to put the Hoyas up 19-17.

An 8-0 run for Georgetown ended with the Golden Eagles executing some excellent ball movement which culminated in a three from Elliott (and then another). Malcolm Wilson was acquitting himself well inside, frequently while double-teamed, and fought for position to knock down a smooth hooker. Mohammed drew a foul right under the basket, made his shots from the line, and it was tied at 23 with 8:19 remaining in the first half.

Marquette pulled ahead again on a three from Kam Jones, who repeated the performance on their next possession after Carey’s shot was deflected. This turned out to be the inflection point for the game. A defensive miscue by Holloway on the next possession allowed Kur Kuath an uncontested dunk, and another triple from Jones made it an 11-0 run for the Golder Eagles. Georgetown slipped further behind, scoring only three buckets over the final 8 minutes of the opening period and entering the break trailing 48-31. Marquette already had 10 threes.

Overhelping on defense left Kolek open in the corner for an easy three and Lewis continued to control things inside, while Georgetown suffered three sequential misses before Holloway knocked one down from outside the arc more than 3 minutes into the half. The Hoyas were falling further behind, 59-38 at the U16. Only 5 baskets were scored in the segment leading to the next media break, maintaining the substantial (dis)advantage. At one point, the Marquette lead swelled to 26.

If you’re looking for highlights, the dual block by Wilson and Aminu followed by a corner triple from Carey at the other end was pretty damn sweet, in a vacuum. Midway through the second half, Georgetown was down by 20. Aminu was left open for a three of his own, making a 9-0 run for the good guys. A pair of Harris free throws made it 68-53 with 7:27 remaining.

Mohammed the rebounding beast drew a foul inside trying to corral a deflection, closing it to a 13-point gap. Chaotic rotations and aggressive errant drives continued until a three from Holloway pulled the Hoyas to within an even dozen with 2:55 left to play. It looked for a split-second like Georgetown could pull within single digits, but Harris’ shot came up short. A final three from Carey brought them to the final score, 77-66.

Georgetown has one extra day off before they continue this exhausting gauntlet of a road trip with an evening contest at Villanova on Saturday 2/19, with tipoff set for 5pm and airing on FOX.

Hoya Saxa.