Hoyas shoot 63 percent from the floor
As complicated as the Georgetown offense can seem to be at times, John Thompson III’s explanation for how it should work always remains simple.
“When you take the shots you shouldn’t take, sometimes they go in, but more often than not, they don’t,” Thompson explained, two days before the his team’s latest execution-rich victory. “… With this group, when we take the shots we should take, more often than not, it’s going to go in.”
Yes, that would sum up Saturday’s 88-63 win over Rutgers perfectly, where the 12th-ranked Hoyas (15-3, 6-2 Big East) shot 63 percent from the field, which would be astounding if it wasn’t only their second-most efficient game of the year.
Greg Monroe (21 points,) hardly missed at all, making his first eights shots and 10 of 12 overall, including five straight inside the lane in the first 4 minutes, 10 seconds.
When the Scarlet Knights (9-10, 0-7 Big East) switched to a zone to limit Monroe’s presence around the basket, his teammates simply sent the ball outside to Chris Wright (16 points, 6 assists), who made his first four attempts from beyond the 3-point line, including a pair during a 12-0 run that broke things open midway through the opening half.
Julian Vaughn finished with 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting. Austin Freeman also had 14 on 6 of 11 shots, seemingly mortal performances by any other standards.
The fourth victory in five games for the Hoyas — who likely will find themselves ranked in the national top 10 by the time they face No. 5 Syracuse on the road Monday night — also was the product of a defense that limited Rutgers’ leading-scorer Mike Rosario (15 points) to three points in the first half while things still were competitive.
If it can be called a drought, Monroe did go more than a quarter of an hour without a bucket after his initial salvo. He still kept scorekeepers busy, of course, with some of his 14 rebounds and 6 assists, giving him his eighth double-double of the year. Monroe added two more layups in the final two minutes of the first half as the Hoyas took a 46-29 advantage into the break.
