Thompson still thinks Pittsburgh’s dangerous Georgetown could be catching Pittsburgh at just the wrong time.
In the tumultuous world of the Big East, in which every team has the ability to beat up on every other team, no one would have picked the Panthers (12-9, 1-7 Big East) to be the last in the conference to earn a victory. Last year’s conference regular-season champion and one of four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, Pittsburgh was fourth in the Big East preseason poll, with guard Ashton Gibbs named co-preseason player of the year. The Panthers were ranked in the top 10 in November.
But a slide that shockingly began with a nonconference finale loss to Wagner on Dec. 23 snowballed into eight straight defeats before Wednesday’s 86-74 win over Providence. The Hoyas (16-3, 6-2) were never fooled.
| Up next | ||||
| No. 9 Georgetown at Pittsburgh | ||||
| When » | Saturday, 4 p.m. | |||
| Where » | Petersen Events Center, | Pittsburgh | ||
| TV » | ESPN | |||
| » Georgetown junior forward Hollis Thompson returned to practice Thursday after missing two days with a groin injury that also limited him in the Hoyas’ 52-50 win over Rutgers last weekend. | ||||
| » The coaches will wear sneakers as part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness event. Georgetown players also will wear largely pink sneakers. | ||||
“We’re looking at and preparing for this game as what has happened to them the last couple of weeks being the blip as opposed to being who they are,” said Hoyas coach John Thompson III, whose team has lost four of its last five to the Panthers, who are 15th in the Big East in field goal percentage defense (.443) but first in rebounding margin (10.2).
In last year’s meeting at Verizon Center, Gibbs knocked down three 3-pointers in a row during a 19-4 run before 10 minutes had been played.
“They just outplayed us last year,” Hoyas guard Jason Clark said. “We were looking back at that game, that we want to go out and outplay them.”
Gibbs (16.7 points per game), who weighed jumping to the NBA during the offseason, is scoring at nearly the same rate as he did last year, though his field goal percentage has dropped from .468 to .388.
“He’s handled it well,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “Especially lately he’s played very well. I think he recognizes freshman or senior, there’s always room for improvement, and he’s playing with that in mind. I haven’t seen any change in what he’s doing in that stretch.”
But the key to Pitt’s potential resurgence is the return of point guard Tray Woodall (11.6 ppg, 7.1 assists per game), who had 17 points against the Friars, looking like himself again following an abdominal injury that had kept him out since early December.
“He allows everyone else to be more themselves,” Thompson said. “Now all of a sudden, Ashton’s at the end of the transition finishing those as opposed to initiating it. Now all of a sudden, people are getting the ball where they’re more accustomed to.”
Coming off a game in which they missed 20 of 23 shots in the first half, the Hoyas might have been expected to focus on offense. Thompson happily points out he’s misconstrued as spending too much time at that end of the floor. Georgetown is second in the conference in field goal percentage (.473) and fourth in opposing field goal percentage (.393).
“The theme for us, the formula for us this year has been the same regardless of the opponent,” Thompson said. “If we can defend and rebound, that’s what’s key.”
