HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Saturday afternoon for the Hoyas’ game at Capital 1 Arena and prepared this photo essay about their matchup against Wagner.
I had the most delicious pregame meal of the month by far: chicken parmesan/ziti/Caesar salad/tiramisu from Carmine’s! Let’s tip it off:
The last time that Georgetown coach Ed Cooley started 5-0 was 4 years ago when he was coach at Providence. He finished that year by making the Sweet 16 and going 27-6…so fingers crossed:
Wagner entered today 0-4, Coach Dwan McMillan’s tallest player stands just 6’7”, and they are in the middle of a school-record 7-game road trip to start the season. It is simply asking too much of them to give an undefeated Big East team a serious challenge, and Georgetown controlled the 1st half as expected. After not playing in his team’s win over Clemson last Saturday, SO SG Kayvaun Mulready seemed happy to get back onto the court with a layup, an old-fashioned 3-PT play, and a dunk, then focused on his defense in the 2nd half to finish with 3 STL:
In contrast to Mulready’s inside game, his fellow sophomore Isaiah Abraham decided to do his own damage from behind the arc. I was a little nervous since he was only 1-8 from 3-PT land so far this month, but he proved me wrong by knocking down both of his attempts from behind the arc en route to a career-high 12 PTS without a single turnover:
The Hoyas took a 22-PT lead late in the half and coasted into halftime with a 44-27 lead. The Seahawks could have waved the white flag during the final 20 minutes, but Maryland native Jaden Baker gave his hometown fans a reason to stick around. He made several layups and a pair of threes to finish with a game-high 22 PTS, which is even more impressive considering that he had scored exactly 22 combined PTS during the 1st 4 games of his Wagner career:
Georgetown’s defense allowed a whopping 48 PTS in the 2nd half, but at least their offense responded with 48 PTS to balance it out. PG Malik Mack had arguably his best all-around game of the season with 18 PTS/4-7 3PM/5 AST/0 TO despite playing just 29 minutes:
The breakout star was his tall teammate Julius Halaifonua. The 7-footer from New Zealand knew that he would have a lot of pressure to perform after the news earlier this week that fellow 7-footer Vince Iwuchukwu was undergoing a medical procedure that would keep him out until after the new year. However, non-orange Julius did not miss a beat in the low post with a series of layups/spins/head fakes/finger rolls while scoring a career-high 16 PTS, grabbing a career-high 9 REB, and not committing a single turnover as the Hoyas improved to 5-0 with a 92-75 victory:
In the postgame press conference, I did not get to talk to Coach McMillan because his team had to hustle back to Staten Island. I noticed that Abraham now has 13 wins in his 14 career games with his only loss coming to Dayton last November 27th, so I asked him what the key was to being a winner and whether it would feel extra-special to beat Dayton this November 27th. He did not take the bait on the 2nd part but confirmed that the key the the 1st part was preparation. His team prepares every day at practice, so he just tries to bring it every day and compete at the highest level. Coach Cooley chimed in and mentioned a game they had played against Brazil in the GLOBL JAM last August. He started Isaiah without any advance notice, watched him turn the ball over 5 timed during the 1st 6 possessions…and thought that he might be playing for the other team(!). It takes a lot of time/effort to make progress, so to see Isaiah’s growth/development from then to now has been great:
That is a wrap for now, but I am getting on a plane to Vegas tomorrow so check back on Monday for some all-access coverage from the Players Era Festival, aka the greatest in-season tourney in college basketball history!
-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE
NEWS AND NOTES:
-The showcase game of the day was pretty much over before it started. Purdue blew Texas Tech out of the gym 86-56 to win the Baha Mar Championship. This event saw three great games prior to the championship game, and then the championship game put everyone to sleep. Purdue is ranked #1 and after blowing out a legit top 15 team the way that they did, they clearly deserve that ranking.
-The third place game was amazing!!! Memphis had been struggling this season, but played well against Purdue despite the loss. Wake had come up just short against both Michigan and Texas Tech and needed a big win of their own. In a close game, Memphis hit what appeared to be a game winning shot with less than 2 seconds to go and went ahead 68-66. Then Wake Forest ran what can best be described as a Bryce Drew type of play and nailed a game winning three-pointer as time expired. Memphis is now just 1-4 on the year and Wake finally won a close game.
-Wisconsin v BYU was another top 25 matchup, and it was another blowout. BYU blew Wisky off of the horrendously painted court in Salt Lake City 98-70. This is a BYU team that fell behind early to UConn, but then came back and nealry won, and then just blew Wisconsin off the court. I’d say their ceiling is high.
-Virginia got a battle from Northwestern, but hung on to win 83-78 in the Greenbrier Tip Off. I think I’m more impressed with Northwestern after watching this than I am discouraged about Virginia. I don’t necessarily think Northwestern is a top 25 caliber team, but I don’t think they’ll be the doormats of the Big Ten either.
-Akron blew what we thought was a pretty good Iona team off the floor 96-75 in the Paradise Jam. The Zips only have one loss and if they can win this event they will certainly have our attention.
-Central Connecticut now has true road wins over Boston College and Rutgers. They actually pulled away from Rutgers late in the game yesterday to win 67-54 and improve to 3-2 overall on the season. Not much was expected of CCSU this year even by NEC standards, but they’ve put together a fairly solid profile by anyone’s standards!
-Clemson held on to beat West Virginia 70-67 in the Charleston Classic to pick up their first big win of the year.
-Prior to yesterday, Xavier had looked like a team that would struggle to finish in the top half of the Horizon League, but they nearly upset Georgia in the Charleston Classic. They actually had a lead in the final seconds before Georgia hit a shot to put them ahead, and then had a chance to in it at the buzzer, but couldn’t get it to fall. Georgia held on 78-77, but Xavier still wins the award for most improved team in a 7 day period. John Stalica’s Musketeers may have some life in them this season after all!
-Nebraska is unbeaten and worth paying attention to! They knocked off Kansas State in Kansas City in an 86-85 thriller to win the Hall of Fame classic. Nebraska’s early season resume is pretty respectable with several notable wins away from home.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-PROVIDENCE AT PENN STATE. Penn State is unbeaten, but also untested. Even though they’ve won two games on the road the wins were against New Haven and La Salle. Providence isn’t particularly good, but they’re better than anyone Penn State has played so far.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT UC IRVINE. Northern Iowa is unbeaten on the year so far, but this is by far their toughest test. UC Irvine is good and is still expected to be a Big West frontrunner, but they have lost two games and so far haven’t looked quite as strong as they did a year ago. Having said that, a win today would be a big statement.
-Cleveland State @ Kent State – Kent State is off to a solid start and can get to 6-1 with a win today
-Duquesne vs Northeastern (Akron OH) – Duquesne can pick up a win away from home and improve to 5-1 on the year
-UT Martin vs Prairie View (Pensecola Invitational) – UT Martin is off to a great start and already has some big wins. They should be able to pick up another win away from home today.
-UC Santa Barbara @ Nevada – Nevada has struggled this year and UCSB looks like they’ll be one of the better teams in the Big West. This is a winnable road games for the Gouchos
-San Francisco vs Minnesota (Sioux Falls SD) – San Francisco’s only loss on the year was to Memphis. They’re a good team that can make the NCAA Tournament and should be able to beat Minnesota at the Pentagon today who is…well…not good.
-High Point vs Incarnate Word (Boardwalk Battle) – a win for High Point gets them to 6-1 with a very favorable schedule throughout the entire rest of the season
Northern Colorado @ Portland – both teams with just one loss
-Wagner @ Georgetown -Long Island @ Illinois -Central Michigan @ Marquette -NC Central @ Dayton -Nicholls @ Oklahoma State -Gardner Webb @ Richmond -Coppin State @ VCU -UC Merced (nonD1) @ Saint Mary’s
-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE
NEWS AND NOTES:
-Troy came into yesterday’s game at USC after a double-overtime win at San Diego State. Last night they went into USC. Once again, the game was tied at the half. Once again, the game was tied at the end of regulation. Once again, the game went into a second overtime…and then to a third overtime. Troy had a key player foul out, but still jumped out to a lead in the 3rd overtime after trailing for most of the game. In the final seconds with a 2pt lead they came up with a big defensive stop, threw the ball down the court, but in a frantic desperation USC came up with the loose ball, got up a crazy contested shot that just beat the buzzer….and hit it. It may be one of the most exciting regular season basketball games I’ve ever seen. As for Troy, I hate that an Under the Radar team that has limited opportunities at notable wins was unable to finish this one off. It would have looked really good on their profile and begun to establish them as a possible at-large caliber team. But having said that, they have shown on this road trip that they can play!! They are poised for a big season!
-Memphis battled against Purdue and was right in there late in the game when a Memphis player threw himself to the ground as if he’d been pepper-sprayed in the face, and then got up and started yelling (I suppose to try and draw a technical foul?). After review, he himself was assessed a technical foul and Purdue got control of the game after that and went on to win 80-71.
-Wake Forest once again battled against a highly ranked team on a neutral floor, but once again came up just short. They took Michigan to overtime in Detroit and last night they took Texas Tech down to the final seconds before losing 84-83. It’s been a frustrating start of missed opportunities for Wake, but they’ve also shown that they can play at a high level and that they are good enough to take advantage of future opportunities. Their game against Memphis tonight is very important for both teams.
-Utah suffered their first loss of the season as they fell 92-85 in a home buy game to Cal Poly. I note this only to say that it wasn’t really that big of a surprise.
-Arizona State, who I have openly been very critical of, picked up a really big win last night at Hawaii 83-76. They have shut me up for now. Hawaii is a good team, Arizona State just beat them on the road, and is now 4-1 on the season.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-WISCONSIN VS BYU (Bad Boy Mowers Series) – The game is in Salt Lake, so the crowd should hugely favor BYU. The Cougars don’t have any wins yet that are as big as this one would be, but they’ve shown they can play at a really high level with their near win against UConn. Wisconsin has blown through four buy games and this is their first real test.
-VIRGINIA VS NORTHWESTERN (Greenbrier Tip-Off). Both teams come in 4-0, but this is the first real big test for either one of them and their first chance to add a high caliber win to their resumes.
-IONA VS AKRON (Paradise Jam). This one will likely be fun. Both are solid Under the Radar teams and both have limited opportunities to build up a solid resume, so this event is a huge opportunity for both of them. To take full advantage of it both of them will need this win today.
-LOUISVILLE AT CINCINNATI. This game isn’t on campus, but it will still be a crowd that is very partial toward Cincinnati. It’s fun to see that they have restarted this series. Louisville already has a big win against Kentucky and this is their first real test away from home. Cincinnati also has a notable win against Dayton, but this will be a much tougher test today.
-WEST VIRGINIA VS CLEMSON (Charleston Classic). West Virginia does have a win against Pittsburgh, but based on how things have gone it’s probably not a win that they’re going to get a whole lot of credit for. Neither team has any real big wins yet, so this game tonight and this whole event is a chance for them to pick some up.
-WAKE FOREST VS MEMPHIS (Baha Mar Championship). Both teams battled yesterday against highly ranked teams, and if both can play like that the rest of the way then both are going to be fine. Having said that, this is a game that both of them could really use. It’s the third place game, but it has a bigger sense of energy to it than the championship game does. Wake has nearly beaten Michigan and Texas Tech, but came up short both times and is still looking for their first notable win. Memphis has struggled against a tough schedule and didn’t look good at all in their last game prior to this event, but hung in with Purdue for most of the game last night and could really use a win like this.
-TEXAS TECH VS PURDUE (Baha Mar Championship). This is why we love these events!! Its’ two top fifteen teams that otherwise probably wouldn’t be playing each other. And, not only are they playing each other, they’re playing in a fun and unique setting!! This is just one thing that makes these events so great!! As far as what it means on paper, it’s a chance at a high caliber resume building win for both teams.
-KANSAS STATE VS NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic). Both teams are unbeaten, both had nice wins yesterday, and both are going after what may be their biggest win of the season so far. Nebraska also has a nice win against Oklahoma, so to get a third neutral floor win against a notable team would be a great start to the season for the Huskers.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Utah State vs Tulane (Charleston Classic) – Utah State is off to a solid 4-0 start and can build up their resume by picking up some solid wins away from home in this event
-South Carolina vs Butler (Greenbrier Tip-Off). South Carolina is 4-0 and Butler comes in at 3-1, but neither team has any real wins of note yet
-Davidson vs Boston College (Charleston Classic) – Davidson is unbeaten, but also (for the most part) untested, although they did win at Charlotte. It’s fair to say that Davidson will still be untested after today
-Mississippi State vs New Mexico (Hall of Fame Classic) – both teams are coming off of a loss and both are still looking for their first real notable win this season.
-Saint Thomas vs Northern Colorado (Portland Invitational) – two solid UTR teams and Northern Colorado is looking to stay unbeaten
-South Alabama @ UAB – South Alabama is out to an impressive 6-0 start and two of those wins were true road games. UAB has had an up-and-down year, but they blew out High Point in their last game so this will be a challenge for South Alabama
-Austin Peay @ Tulsa – Tulsa nearly upset Kansas State in their last game and is worth keeping an eye on for now
-Stephen F Austin @ Pepperdine – SFA has looked really good so far and this looks like a winnable road game for them. They can improve to 5-1 if they can get it done
-UC Davis @ Colorado – this one might be fun to watch. UC Davis is off to a really good start and Colorado, while unbeaten, is also untested.
-Arkansas State @ SMU – this is a buy game, but Arkansas State is a pretty decent team so SMU better not overlook them.
-Xavier vs Georgia (Charleston Classic) – it’s a renewal of the biggest rivalry in all of sports!! And, it looks to be a huge mismatch!! Georgia is unbeaten and has a semi-decent win over Georgia Tech, but this event is a chance for them to add some real solid pieces to their profile assuming they win tonight
-New Orleans @ Fresno State – New Orleans has picked up some notable wins already and this looks to be another winnable road game for them
-BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:
-Green Bay vs Yale (Paradise Jam) -Georgia Southern @ Florida State -Detroit Mercy @ Michigan State -Central Connecticut @ Rutgers -Niagara @ Duke -Merrimack @ Florida -Loyola MD @ Kentucky -Jackson State @ Arkansas -Omaha @ LSU -Evansville vs Oregon State (Paradise Jam) -Manahattan vs Texas A&M – TAMU is off to a rough start -PFW @ Saint Louis -Denver @ Colorado State (Front Range) – Colorado State can get to 5-0 -Samford @ New Mexico State -Louisiana @ Santa Clara -Grambling @ California Baptist -Seattle U @ Stanford -Sacramento State @ California
I want to make sure everyone knows what they are looking at. This is merely what I feel is a CHECKPOINT of CURRENT MERIT. It is not an attempt to rank how good I think the teams actually are, nor is it an attempt to guess what the bracket in March will look like on Selection Sunday. Texas Tech is my pick to win it all, and they didn’t even make this field.
I used the JNG as a sorting tool. No team, even if they’re ranked high in the polls, was included if they did not have aTier 1, 2, or 3 win away from home, or at least a Tier 1 or 2 win at home. In other words, if a team’s only wins so far have been home buy games, like Texas Tech, and Kansas, and Kentucky, and a few others who are conspicuously missing, they were not included. This is a checkpoint of current merit, and at this point in the season they still don’t have any.
I realize many will consider this to be ridiculous to look at. And, I get that. It’s more about me going through the exercise of objectively evaluating the teams than it is about producing an accurate projection of the field. I know damn well that the final bracket won’t look anything like this.
Doing it this way left me with only 71 D1 teams and 1 D2 team to choose from. And for just the second time ever, a nonD1 team has been included in my projections!!
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Iowa, Saint Louis, UNLV, Central Connecticut
-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE
-It seems as though there are entire seasons where the teams who finish in the top ten have lost less than five games at home combined. I realize it’s just November, and the final top ten in March may not look anything like it does now, but so far this season we’ve already seen three top ten teams lose home games. The m0st recent was last night when Arizona went into Storrs and beat UConn in a 71-67 thriller. The crowd was great, the intensity was great, and it was just a great early season game. UConn was without a key player, so we do need to point that out. The loss may sting a little bit, but it’s hardly a setback.
-Alabama went up to Chicago and beat 8th ranked Illinois 90-86. On the young season Alabama already has wins at Saint John’s and now against Illinois in what was not a true road game, but was still a game where the crowd heavily favored the Illini. Like the UConn v Arizona game, it was a high energy and highly intense game that was played at a high level.
-Dayton went up to Marquette and got a really big 77-71 overtime win. It was a big win for the Flyers and a worrisome loss for Marquette, who now falls to 3-3 with the only wins being home buy games. Dayton’s only loss on the year was at Cincinnati, and they have multiple chances to build up a quality resume between now and the start of conference play. They basically held a lead for the entire game, and when Marquette started to come back they had an answer.
-South Alabama is now 6-0 on the season after handing Jacksonville State their first loss of the year 71-65. They haven’t beaten any one that’s top-40 level good, but four of their five D1 wins have come away from home.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MEMPHIS VS PURDUE (Baha Mar Championship). Memphis is off to a slow 1-2 start and is coming off a rather poor showing against UNLV in a game that they lost. Purdue is unbeaten with a true road win at Alabama. The two teams are in drastically different places right now.
-NEW MEXICO VS NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic). Nebraska is coming off a nice win against Oklahoma and a strong showing in this event could really make their resume look good early on
-WAKE FOREST VS TEXAS TECH (Baha Mar Championship). Wake’s only loss so far is a close game against Michigan that they nearly won, and Texas Tech’s only loss was a road game at Illinois. I still think Texas Tech is one of the best teams in the country and this event is a chance for them to start putting notable wins on their resume.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS KANSAS STATE (Hall of Fame Classic). K State barely escaped Tulsa in their last game and they’ll be facing a couple of bigger challenges in this event. Mississippi State’s only wins have been buy games so it’s an opportunity for them as well
-Pittsburgh vs UCF (Skyscanner Legends Classic) – both teams have 4-1 records, but neither has any wins of note yet. This event will allow them the chance to pick up a few away from home
-Long Island @ Fordham – LIU is the NEC favorites and you get the sense that this is just going to be a fun game
-Troy @ USC – Troy is coming off the thrilling upset win against San Diego State, so they’re not a team that USC is going to want to overlook
-Arizona State @ Hawaii – I really like this Hawaii team and think they appear to be the best Big West team right now. Their only loss was a close one to Oregon, and they have a chance to pick up a notable win against an Arizona State team that’s played better than I had expected them to so far. A win at Hawaii would be big for them early
BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Marshall -Lindenwood @ Indiana -Robert Morris @ Saint Bonaventure – the Bonnies are looking to stay unbeaten -Bucknell @ Saint John’s -Tennessee State @ Tennessee -Texas Southern @ Vanderbilt -Chicago State @ Iowa -Mercyhurst @ Miami OH – Miami OH can remain unbeaten -Elon @ Miami FL -Western Michigan @ Ohio State -Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma -Central Arkansas @ North Texas -South Dakota @ Missouri -Rider @ Houston -Cal Poly @ Utah – Utah can get to 6-0
Conference USA is tonight’s feature conference and we discuss Liberty, how well they’ve played so far, and what their chances are to land inside the bubble. Rocco points out how strong the league is from top to bottom and how difficult the travel can be.
From there we run through the other 21 conferences and talk about how Hawaii is a team to watch in the Big West, Buffalo’s surprise 5-0 start out of the MAC, Iona’s strong start, UT Martin’s strong start out of the OVC, Troy’s big win over San Diego State, Winthrop’s near upset win over Arkansas, High Point’s prospects for the rest of the year, and much more. And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s Under the Radar Top Ten.
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
