Season high in assists boosts Hoyas to a rout
John Thompson III said that in the two days following Georgetown’s first loss of the season Thursday at Temple, his practices were almost entirely devoted to defense.
Fittingly, in the Hoyas’ first game since, they swallowed whole one of the nation’s most prolific scorers. But they also didn’t forget how to share the basketball on offense, putting up a season-high 27 assists in an 89-60 rout of Appalachian State.
Chris Wright led the passing master class, matching his career high with 12 assists, including a stocked highlight reel of fast-break feeds. His no-look drop over the shoulder to Jason Clark (15 points, five steals) capped off Georgetown’s 16-5 run to open the game, and his behind-the-back dish to Austin Freeman (14 points) gave the Hoyas their first points during a 7-0 run to start the second half. The sequence also included a stunning bounce pass in transition that Freeman finished at the rim.
“I’m not really trying to play flashy,” said Wright, who also had six points and three steals. “It’s just I think I’m making the right reads, and those are passes that I just made.”
At the other end of the floor, Donald Sims, who came in as the country’s second-leading scorer, got most of his 14 points — barely half of his 27.0 ppg average — only after the Hoyas (9-1) had stretched their lead over the Mountaineers (3-4) to 20 points in the second half.
Much of the credit for his disappearance went to the long-armed Clark, who manhandled him physically, and Thompson also credited the defensive support Georgetown’s guards got from the team’s less heralded big men.
“The Committee,” as the Hoyas coach has taken to calling his frontcourt, “did a much better job today of helping these guys when they’re getting on ball screens. … Our committee did a very good job of being there, of not letting their guards either get shots off or get extended penetration.”
Freshman Nate Lubick (11 points, seven rebounds, two assists) had his most productive game of the year, and The Committee also grew by one member as freshman Moses Ayegba (four points) made his season debut after being ruled ineligible for the first nine games. His entry with 1:59 to go was greeted by a rousing ovation from the 8,765 at Verizon Center.
