HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. You can find Parts 1-4 at:
https://hoopshd.com/2022/11/12/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1-2
https://hoopshd.com/2022/12/03/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2-3
https://hoopshd.com/2022/12/17/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3-3
https://hoopshd.com/2023/01/02/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4-3
See below for his photo essay about the Hoyas’ game last night against Villanova.
Delicious pregame meal: make-your-own chicken/pork BBQ sandwiches with mac and cheese! Let’s tip it off: 
I was hoping that Villanova G Justin Moore would get to make his triumphant return to the DMV after starring at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD, but he is still recovering from surgery last March to repair his torn Achilles tendon. The injuries continued piling up for the Wildcats when Jordan Longino crumpled to the court with 2 minutes left in the 1st half and then had to be carried off by his teammates because he could not put any weight on his left leg:
I was excited to see 2022 McDonald’s All-American Cam Whitmore in person. There were certainly some flashes of offense/athleticism…but 4-11 FG/0 FTA/0 AST/0 BLK/0 STL did not give me the impression that he will be a 1st round pick…yet:
The more impressive freshman was his teammate Mark Armstrong. After scoring just 12 combined PTS in his past 4 games and getting demoted from starter to sub, he bounced back in a big way with a career-high 14 PTS off the bench and continued his perfection at the FT line, where he is now 13-13 in his short college career:
Georgetown G Brandon Murray was able to get to the basket at will and provided the dunk of the night:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2BPdVgmNK0
In contrast, Villanova G Caleb Daniels did damage from the outside, knocking down a trio of trifectas in the 1st half: more on him later. Hoyas’ F Akok Akok has an inside game so nice they named him twice, and his layup/pair of dunks kept it close as the score was tied 35-all at halftime:
With his teammate Primo Spears continuing his trend of being a great facilitator (25 AST in past 3 games) but poor shooter (8-28 FG in past 3 games), I expected Murray to try to win this 1 all by himself. Unfortunately, he injured his right shoulder early in the 2nd half and was taken to the locker room after the under-16 media timeout with his team trailing 42-38. The Wildcats went on an immediate 15-5 run to extend their lead to 57-43 and by the time Murray was back in the huddle for the under-4 media timeout it was too late:
Daniels kept raining in threes and tied his career-high with 6-13 3PM after making just 10-38 3PM during his previous 6 games: 
Villanova also continued its fantastic FT shooting: after missing just 1 FT in each of its past 4 games (48-52) they knocked down all 18 of their attempts from the charity stripe vs. Georgetown and are now an unthinkable 66-70 (94.3 FT%) since mid-December! The Wildcats won 73-57 and gave the Hoyas’ their 25th straight Big East loss to break the record for the longest losing streak in conference history.
In the postgame press conference I asked Villanova coach Kyle Neptune how he has been able to assemble the greatest FT shooting team in the history of the sport. I expected him to sing the praises of his team’s intense focus or detail the long hours of practice spent in the gym…but all I got were 3 words: “Really good recruiting!” When he saw the stunned response on my face he followed up with “That’s it.”
After someone else asked Patrick Ewing about his coaching future I played it safe by checking on Murray’s health. He admitted that they were unsure at the moment but that the medical staff would keep looking at it. While it was an uphill battle after Murray and teammate Bryson Mozone both had to be helped off the court due to injury, he was proud that his team did not quit:
That is a wrap for now..and for the foreseeable future. I am going to take a few weeks off to see if my presence is what has been jinxing the Hoyas, but will return later this month when DePaul visits DC.