| Up Next |
| No. 16 Georgetown vs. No. 9 Missouri |
| Where » Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo. |
| When » Tuesday, 9 p.m. |
| TV » ESPNU |
One after the other, Georgetown’s premier backcourt trio has knocked down shots and set personal bests.
Austin Freeman tied a school record with seven 3-pointers last weekend against UNC-Asheville. Chris Wright had a career-high 12 assists in a win over Coastal Carolina. Before all that, Jason Clark got his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the Hoyas’ home-opener against Tulane.
But heading into the toughest contest of the young season, Georgetown (6-0) is also finding that the departure of Greg Monroe has paved the way for substantial improvements from every member of its less-heralded, role-playing frontcourt, particularly on the glass, an area where the Hoyas have struggled in recent years.
Senior forward Julian Vaughn has nearly doubled his rebounding average from 4.4 to 8.0 per game, including a career-high 10 boards against Wofford, a game in which he also had 12 points for his first career double-double. He’s also made more than three blocks a game.
“I try not to focus on the individual things,” Vaughn said after a season-high 16 points and nine boards against Asheville. “It’s not a secret we have a whole lot of explosive talent in the backcourt. So whenever we can exploit it we can. My main thing is every game I want to go out rebound, block shots and be a presence and just do what I have to win.”
Vaughn has been complemented by sophomore forward Hollis Thompson, who’s nearly tripled his rebounding average from 2.4 to 6.2 per game, and even junior forward Henry Sims is pulling down four boards a game after nearly fading into irrelevance during his sophomore season.
The frontcourt presence is part of some newfound depth for Georgetown, which needed Monroe, Freeman, Wright and Clark to each average more than 33 minutes per game last season. Only Wright has averaged more than 31 minutes so far this year.
The Hoyas’ cardiovascular endurance is likely to be tested against the Tigers (5-0), who love to get out and run. In five games, Missouri has attempted only five fewer shots (333) than Georgetown has in six contests (338).
A couple hours from Missouri’s campus in Columbia, leading scorer Marcus Denmon (13.8 points per game) and starting point guard Michael Dixon (9.6 ppg) will both make a Kansas City homecoming at Sprint Center, while junior transfer Ricardo Ratliffe (10.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg), the Big 12 rookie of the week, is a Hampton, Va., native who landed in the Midwest this year via Central Florida Community College.
