A couple thoughts on Georgetown’s win at Pittsburgh (while my colleague Kevin Dunleavy covered the Wizards)…
Remember how last year’s losses all came in bunches? A second-half collapse at home against Pitt followed immediately by a disappointing performance against Notre Dame in South Bend; a gut-wrenching overtime loss at home to Cincinnati leading to an equally demoralizing defeat in the same manner at Syracuse. Not to mention the five in a row they dropped in late January.
This winter each of Georgetown’s three defeats have been followed by ever more remarkable victories.
After an unfortunate loss to Old Dominion in the middle of a pre-Christmas blizzard, Chris Wright racked up a career-high 34 points in a dismantling of upstart Harvard. Austin Freeman missed his game-winning attempt in a heartbreaker at Marquette, only to score 28 of his career-high 33 points in the second half to take down Connecticut at home three days later.
And now the Hoyas, who couldn’t make the plays down the stretch in a tough 82-77 loss at Villanova, went to the other side of Pennsylvania and pulled away against the Panthers, who not only were ranked ahead of them (by the way, who let that happen? It wasn’t my ballot) but are nearly impossible to beat at Petersen Events Center. Try 31-in-a-row unbeatable. How’s that for payback against the team that ended a similar streak for Georgetown last year?
Other things I noticed:
Greg Monroe‘s seventh double-double of the year (13 points and 11 rebounds) came on his worst shooting night of the season (4 for 14, 28.6 percent).
Wright’s 27 points set the tone offensively for Georgetown against Pittsburgh, but it may also have been Julian Vaughn’s best game of the season, with 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and just one turnover. Most improved Hoya this season?
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