HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has spent the past 2 months covering only Georgetown basketball home games…but with the Dayton Flyers coming to DC this weekend he decided to make a doubleheader out of it. He was in attendance both Friday night at Capital 1 Arena for Xavier-Georgetown and Saturday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center for Dayton-GW, and prepared this photo essay about both games in the battle of Ohio vs. DC.
GAME #1: Xavier-Georgetown
Another hot pregame meal: make-your-own burrito bowl/brownie/chocolate chip cookie. Both coaches wore…interesting sweaters to celebrate Lou Carnesecca’s 100th birthday anniversary weekend (Lou would have turned 100 this Sunday):
Let’s tip it off from the baseline for the 1st time all season with EASILY the most fans I have seen at a game all year:
Georgetown G Jayden Epps missed the Coppin State game last weekend due to an ankle injury but checked into today’s game after the 1st TV timeout (he was obviously not 100% as he went scoreless in 4 minutes):
Speaking of returning from injury, Xavier PF Zach Freemantle had been out since December 14th due to a lower-body injury, but also checked into today’s game after the 1st TV timeout and looked healthy while banking in a 3 from the top of the key:
Georgetown wing Micah Peavy has been a decent 3-PT shooter this season (33 3P%), but focused on his mid-range game in the 1st half by knocking down several jump shots en route to finishing with just the 2nd double-double of his 5-year college career:
His FR teammate Thomas Sorber dominated the paint by making layup after layup to help the Hoyas build a 30-24 halftime lead:
Xavier coach Sean Miller picked up a technical foul after screaming at a referee during the under-16 timeout despite his team cutting the deficit to 35-32…then proceeded to ditch his sweater for the rest of the game. Freemantle had a big 2nd half with a turnaround baseline jumper, a 3 from the top of the key, and a spin/baby hook while getting significant contributions from 2 teammates. SR Dayvion McKnight kept getting to the basket for several layups, while SO Dailyn Swain made a corner 3, as well as a twisting layup that concluded with an and-1:
Georgetown F Jordan Burks fouled out with 10 minutes left, forcing Coach Ed Cooley to tighten his already-short rotation, but it was G Malik Mack who saved the day. After just 6 PTS in the 1st half, Mack exploded for 20 PTS in the 2nd stanza and finished with 3-9 3PM (while the rest of his teammates combined for just 1-9 3PM) as the Hoyas hung on for a 69-63 win to improve to 12-2 just 1 year after going 9-23:
In the postgame press conference, I wanted to ask (former Arizona) Coach Miller about his team’s uncharacteristic 3-PT performance (they entered the game 7th in the nation at 40.6 3P% but made just 5-19 tonight)…but his answers to some other folks’ questions were so long that I did not get an opportunity to participate:
I surprised Coach Cooley by noting that his bench did not make a single FG in 40 minutes. He admitted that his team is banged up, but that if they can continue to defend like they did and still win games then it tells him that they are getting better. All he asks of his guys is to get to the under-4 timeout within 1 point of the lead:
That is NOT a wrap for now because it was on to Part 2 of my DC Doubleheader just 13 hours later:
GAME #2: Dayton-GW
A less-than-hot (but still tasty) pregame meal: bagels/cream cheese/water/fruit cup. I have been coming to the Smith Center for 2 decades but never previously noticed this signed photo of former GW player/Celtics coaching legend Red Auerbach:
Speaking of which, there is a LOT of red in the crowd because the Dayton fans travel rather well:
I expected to see Darren Buchanan Jr. in uniform today, as the pregame notes listed him in the projected starting 5…but his right foot is in a boot:
Let’s tip it off from up in the corner (no photo because I was answering a question for somebody at the time). GW coach Chris Caputo is rumored to be on the short list of candidates to replace his former boss Jim Larranaga at Miami…but we will have much more on that below:
Dayton coach Anthony Grant could have used a 5-minute timeout after watching his team fall behind by double-digits very early:
The early hero for GW was FR Christian Jones, who came out hot with a layup and a trio of threes before the 1st TV timeout:
The Revs have not been a great long-range-shooting team this year (32.5 3P%) but Trey Autry continued the 3-party with 2 of his own in the 1st half (and guarded this water bottle with his life!):
Dayton’s Nate Santos/Malachi Smith did their best to keep it close…but it was not close to enough:
GW SR Gerald Drumgoole Jr. made a career-high 7 threes in his prior game at Richmond, and he proved that it was not a fluke by finishing the half with a 3 to beat the buzzer (his team’s 8th and final 3 of the half) to give his team a 43-27 lead…and I have the video to prove it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGY5Vbz200E
Dayton G Posh Alexander came off the bench to make a couple of layups and a 3 from the top of the key as his team cut the lead to 54-51 with 12 minutes remaining, so I expected the Flyers to eventually pull off the comeback…but it was not meant to be:
Jones had only made 11 threes during his 1st 14 career games, but was in the zone all afternoon as he made 5-8 3PM to set a career-high with 23 PTS. GW led 64-60 with 5½ minutes left but grounded the Flyers with an 18-2 run the rest of the way. Thanks to some more threes by Drumgoole and a perfect night from Autry (2-2 from 1-PT land/3-3 from 2-PT land/3-3 from 3-PT land) the Revs cruised to an 82-62 victory.
In the postgame press conference, I asked Jones how he was able to turn things around after making 0-4 FG with 3 TO in a loss at Richmond on New Year’s Eve. He said that it was due to his teammates/coaches believing in him and always being there for him, so he just took advantage of the moment today:
While I assumed it was the last thing in the world that Coach Caputo wanted to talk about, this was his 1st home game since Larranaga’s retirement, so I rolled the dice with this question: “If he wants you to be his successor, and if they want to raise your annual salary by $2 million, will you tell them no because you are having so much fun?” He admitted that he liked how I phrased my question, then was kind enough to give a very long/honest answer (scroll to the 8:20 mark at the following link):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS-GU6LtuTU
That is a wrap for now but check back in a couple of weeks when DePaul visits DC to play Georgetown!