No. 13 Georgetown 66, St. John’s 59
It seemed appropriate that Georgetown ended 2009 facing just the kind of physically and mentally demanding challenge that had cost them so dearly in the early part of the year.
In fact, the very same opponent they faced in their Big East Conference opener on Thursday, St. John’s, had been the one to expose those weaknesses twice in eight days last March at Madison Square Garden.
But this season’s Hoyas have a resolve and a toughness that they hope will be a hallmark of the new year, one that they’ll celebrate as the calendar turns after holding on for a 66-59 New Year’s Eve victory over the Red Storm in front of 9,376 at Verizon Center.
“I think it’s very critical for us through the big East now, we’re going to have ups and downs, and that’s just the flow of the game,” said Hoyas guard Chris Wright (game-high 21 points, 4 assists). “We have to understand that. We have to just keeping playing.”
The Hoyas, who let a 15-point second half lead slip in last season’s regular-season meeting against the Red Storm (10-3) and lost to them again a week later in the first round of the Big East Tournament, closed the game with a 13-5 run after falling behind, 54-53, with 8 minutes, 38 seconds remaining.
Julian Vaughn (8 points, career-high 9 rebounds) reclaimed the lead for good with a putback of Greg Monroe’s miss and then made two crucial free throws down the stretch.
“Very similar game,” said Red Storm head coach Norm Roberts when asked for a comparison with last year. “They just made the plays at the end, and we had made them at our place.”
Wright got the Hoyas (10-1) going, scoring 11 of his 14 first-half points during an 18-4 run after Georgetown had fallen behind, 6-3, in the early going.
After Monroe (15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) dished to Wright and Austin Freeman (15 points) on consecutive buckets, the Hoyas had their biggest lead of the game, 27-15.
But the Red Storm remained unfazed, taking advantage of Georgetown lapses to close to within two points before Freeman hit from behind the arc for a 32-27 halftime advantage.
With dunks on three of four possessions – two monster right-handed jams by Freeman and a two-handed throwdown by Monroe – Georgetown again stretched its lead nearly into double digits midway through the second half.
Nobody told St. John’s they were out of it, though, and aided by four straight Georgetown possessions that resulted in turnovers, the Red Storm went on a 10-0 run that concluded with back-to-back threes by reserves Justin Brownlee (10 points) and Dwight Hardy (14 points). But their one-point lead was short-lived.
“People talk about depth,” said Hoyas head coach John Thompson III, whose bench was outscored, 33-0. “But the guys they have coming off the bench are just as good, if not better, than the guys they have out there first. With a lot of it, I think we were always attacking as opposed to being back on our heels, defensively and offensively. We’re not comparing and contrasting to last year, but I think that was one of the main differences.”
