Left for dead and searching for answers just two weeks ago, the Hoyas now have a chance to make a definitive statement that they are back in the Big East conversation.
No. 21 Georgetown remedied a 1-4 start to conference play with a three-game winning streak, during which the team found its collective jumpshot and ratcheted up its defense. Coming off a dominant 77-52 thrashing of St. John’s on Wednesday, the suddenly hot Hoyas (15-5, 4-4 Big East) will be in Philadelphia at noon tomorrow for a crucial litmus test against No. 7 Villanova (17-3, 5-2 Big East).
“There was no good thing in losing those games early, but it’s a long year,” Head Coach John Thompson III said after his team defeated the Red Storm. “As everyone is seeing, teams in this league are going to beat each other up. We just had to climb out and keep fighting.”
After concerns emerged about Georgetown’s confidence and the play of its heralded backcourt on the heels of the 1-4 beginning to the conference season, the Hoyas’ schedule did them a favor. What better way to break out of a slump than to stumble upon a streak of three very winnable games — Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s — with an eight-day rest in the middle of it?
“We really got after it, playing a lot of 3-on-3,” senior point guard Chris Wright said, describing his team’s week of practice between Seton Hall and St. John’s. “And I think 3-on-3 might have been much tougher than it was today, and that helped us out. We were all fired up to play.”
No doubt Georgetown took full advantage of the opportunity to get back on its feet, but starting tomorrow against the Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center, the Hoyas will need to prove they are for real against the Big East elite — on tap over the next 19 days are Villanova, No. 23 Louisville (5-2 Big East), No. 9 Syracuse (5-3) and No. 5 Connecticut (5-2).
“I don’t care,” Wright said when asked about the Big East’s jumbled standings. “I could care less about [other teams] losing. I want them to lose. I want everybody to lose. But as long as we take care of what we’ve got to do, we’ll be all right.”
Currently tied for ninth in the conference, the Hoyas will see a mirror image of themselves in the City of Brotherly Love tomorrow. Just as Georgetown relies heavily on its three guards — Wright, senior Austin Freeman and junior Jason Clark — the Wildcats are fueled by their backcourt of seniors Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher and sophomore Maalik Wayns.
“They have pretty good guards,” Thompson said, “but we have pretty good guards.”
While Villanova may have the edge in the frontcourt with senior forward Antonio Pena and sophomore center Mouphtaou Yarou, the Hoyas have been able to limit Head Coach Jay Wright’s backcourt throughout their careers.
Stokes’ most well-known moment in the rivalry came in 2008 when his foul dozens of feet from the basket sent Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace to the line for the game-winning free throws with one-tenth of a second remaining. Fisher went 1-for-16 from the field in that game, and of five career outings against the Hoyas, four of them have been poor performances. Coming off the bench last year, Wayns averaged 10 points in two games against Georgetown.
Of course, the Hoyas have not had to gameplan for Stokes, Fisher and Wayns without also having to worry about former star Scottie Reynolds, who victimized the Georgetown defense throughout his four years as a Wildcat.
Regardless of the various players that have taken the court for Villanova and Georgetown in recent years, the Hoyas have one eye-catching advantage going for them — Thompson’s team is 6-1 against the Wildcats since 2007.
