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 1-4 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
https://hoopshd.com/2019/12/20/still-hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4
He continues his series with Part 5 featuring the Hoyas’ matchup yesterday against American:
The pregame meal of deli sandwiches/potatoes was decent but the pastry selection for dessert was even nicer: cookie/brownie/croissant! I saw Len Elmore grabbing a beverage: the 6’10” FS1 color commentator is even taller in person than on TV. With all of the Georgetown students on winter break the fill-in for the band/cheerleaders was the Tech Prep Academy band/dance team, who performed very well:
The Hoyas entered today on a 5-game winning streak as they attempted to win 6 December games in a row for the 1st time in 8 years. Let’s tip things off:
Head coaches Patrick Ewing and Mike Brennan both have strong Georgetown ties so it is nice to see them both manning the sideline:
The scoring leader for American is SR Sa’eed Nelson, and he did not disappoint 1 bit. His signature move is to cut to the hoop/receive a pass/make a layup, but none was nicer than a circus-shot 2-handed layup flung over his head that somehow went in despite an apparent foul that was not called:
The scoring non-leader for Georgetown is SR George Muresan, son of Gheorghe (who remains the tallest player in NBA history. He had only 3 career PTS entering today’s game, but after getting fouled late in the half he swished a pair of FTs to everyone’s delight:
SR Omer Yurtseven continued his All-American caliber play, scoring 11 1st half PTS on a series of hook shots, layups, and what his become his signature shot: a silky-smooth turnaround baseline jumper.
Mac McClung got off to a great start with 8 PTS/3 REB/3 AST before going down in a heap with 3:30 left after getting poked in the right eye by Nelson, who was whistled for a flagrant foul. Somehow the 89% FT shooter was able to step up to the line and knock down 2 FTs, then he sat for the rest of the half while holding a towel to his eye:
In McClung’s absence his backcourt mate Terrell Allen picked up the scoring slack by getting into the lane over and over and making a series of jumpers/layups en route to 10 PTS/5-6 FG before halftime to help his team go on a late 14-0 run to build a 41-32 lead:
As the teams came out of the locker room 10 minutes later to warm up for the 2nd half I noticed no sign of McClung. I asked the Georgetown SID if she had an update and she said he would not be returning to the court in the 2nd half due to an injury. The Hoyas are having a hell of a month but I fear that it will be rough sledding in Big East play during January if the injury is even semi-serious. Nelson was kept in check for most of the final 20 minutes but still converted a pair of layups and played stifling defense to finish with a team-high 17 PTS/3 STL. His 1745 career PTS ranks #5 in school history, and if he can beat up on a couple of Patriot League teams in the month ahead he has a decent chance of becoming the #1 scorer in Eagles history (Russell Bowers has held the top spot for almost 4 decades with 2056).
If you like 3-PT shooting…then this was not the game for you, as both teams combined to shoot 5-32 from behind the arc. Fortunately for the Hoyas, Yurtseven continued making jump shots and Allen had a pair of great defensive plays by making steals that led to layup as the 2 veterans combined for 31 PTS/8 REB/5 AST/2 STL:
The breakout star was FR C Timothy Ighoefe. Playing in only his 3rd career game, he did a little of everything in only 5 minutes of action: a dunk, a REB/putback, a fadeaway jumper, and he even took a charge that received a smile/applause from his coach in an 80-60 win:
I usually do not stump a coach during the postgame press conference but I almost got Coach Brennan. Since he was an assistant coach on the last Georgetown team to win 6 straight in December (a team that just missed out on making the 2012 Sweet 16), I asked him if December success could be used to predict postseason success. He admitted that he was unsure but chuckled that having guys like Otto Porter on your team is the biggest thing:
I inquired of Coach Ewing whether Ighoefe’s garbage-time performance was evidence that he might be starting to figure things out. Ewing agreed and stated that he would need his FR big man during conference play because he would definitely help the team out at some point during this season:
That’s all for now, check back in the weeks ahead for Part 6.