HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with a very special reward coming in March. You can find Parts 1-3 at:
https://hoopshd.com/2019/11/09/still-hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1
https://hoopshd.com/2019/11/20/still-hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2
https://hoopshd.com/2019/12/15/still-hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3
He continues his series with Part 4 featuring the Hoyas’ matchup last Tuesday against UMBC:
I began the afternoon with a solid pregame meal of make-your-own tacos, then happily found myself back on the baseline now that Syracuse is no longer in DC. To the woman in the front row drinking Natural Light Seltzer: good luck with that. Almost as disappointing was the fact that that the Hoyas’ national championship men’s soccer team would not be bringing their trophy to the game tonight because ½ of them are busy with final exams and the other ½ have already left for winter break. Let’s tip things off:
Ordinarily a 3 by KJ Jackson 7 minutes into the game would not be worth mentioning…but when it is your team’s 1st PTS of the game because UMBC gave up 14 straight PTS to start the day then it is kind of a big deal. LJ Owens was kind enough to show up with 10 PTS in the 1st half on 4-7 FG, but his teammates combined to shoot 4-21 from the field so it did not appear to be their afternoon:
I was excited to see 2-time defending Big East Player of the Week Mac McClung, while also a little nervous to see whether Georgetown can win games when he has an off-night because the spotlight on him is white-hot:
After watching him shoot 3-10 in the 1st 20 minutes it fell to his teammates to get the job done, which they did in grand fashion. The leader, as always, was Omer Yurtseven: he made several put-backs, a couple of hook shots in the lane, and what is becoming his signature shot (a nifty baseline jumper) to finish with a double-double before halftime (12 PTS/10 REB/6-8 FG) and help stake his team to a 42-24 lead:
I ran into fellow Penn alum Scott Graham during halftime as he was taking a break from calling the game with Len Elmore for FS1: super-nice guy. If there is 1 thing we have learned from the Retrievers over the past couple of years it is this: you should never ever underestimate them when they are playing against a higher-ranked team. Jackson/Owens kept making shots as each ended up in double-figures but there would be no history-making upset today due to their size disadvantage (UMBC only had 31 REB compared to the Hoyas’ 45). Georgetown’s guards showed off their athleticism in the 2nd half as both McClung/Jagan Mosely had baseline drives that resulted in high-flying dunks:
Jamorko Pickett finished with 12 PTS but limped out of the game with 12 minutes left due to a lower leg injury: he sat on the bench the rest of the afternoon but did not appear to be in a great deal of pain so I assume that it was simply a minor sprain/cramp:
1 thing that Coach Patrick Ewing cannot afford it is the loss of any more players after seeing 4 guys depart his roster over the past few weeks for a variety of reasons:
Fortunately, he got some powerful production from the inside/outside bench combo of Qudus Wahab/Jahvon Blair, who combined for 25 PTS/16 REB/3 AST/3 BLK/0 TO. Yurtseven kept his foot on the gas in the 2nd stanza with a series of turnaround jumpers/dunks/layups en route to a hyper-efficient 22 PTS/13 REB/3 BLK in less than 20 minutes of action. Georgetown won its 4th straight game by a score of 81-55 and if they can finish off the month by chowing down on a couple more cupcakes then they will enter Big East play with a 10-3 record and an outside chance for some postseason play.
At the postgame press conference I asked UMBC coach Ryan Odom how Georgetown’s double-double machine compared to the other top players he has seen this season. He answered that Yurtseven is the best interior big man he has faced all year because he can do a little of everything: make mid-range jump shots, turn and shoot right over his opponents, etc. He said they tried to get the big man away from the rim as much as possible: try try again.
My question for Coach Ewing was about what it feels like to win a national title with his alma mater, as he won the inaugural 1 back in 1984 and the soccer team won the most recent 1 only 48 hours earlier. After ensuring that I remembered him winning it all 35 years ago, he took his hat off to the soccer squad because he is very proud of the entire Hoya family. He concluded by hoping that soccer will not be the only Georgetown athletic team to bring a title back to campus this year:
That’s all for now, check back in the weeks ahead for Part 5.