It has been over a month since Georgetown (16-8, 8-5 Big East) last enjoyed a break between games as long as its weeklong rest that began after last Tuesday’s 86-67 victory over Seton Hall. That break will come to an end at the tip of tomorrow night’s matchup against St. John’s (17-8, 6-6 Big East).
Although the Hoyas had no control over when the bye week would fall on their schedule, this point in the season, with the team on the verge of the home stretch of Big East play, is as good a time as any.
“I think we had a productive week; there were some things we wanted to work on,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “As well as some school work to get caught up on.”
Georgetown will need to be prepped for Tuesday’s game if they hope to beat the Red Storm — one of the most enigmatic teams in the country — when they come to town tomorrow night.
St. John’s raced out to an 11-1 start in non-conference play, notching wins over Minnesota and Syracuse and falling only to then-No. 10 Gonzaga on Nov. 28 in a tightly 73-66 contested game.
Accordingly, the Red Storm entered Big East play ranked at No. 15 in the country and was primed to challenge for a top spot in the conference. However, that notion proved to be fleeting.
The Red Storm lost five of their first seven conference games, stumbling precariously close to the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Since then, St. John’s has managed to climb back to .500 in conference play and enters Tuesday night’s game riding a three-game winning streak. In their most recent outing, the Red Storm recorded an impressive 78-70 road win over Xavier.
Nevertheless, work remains to be done for St. John’s; many NCAA bracket projections currently have the team right on the cusp of a tournament birth. Missing a fourth consecutive tournament would be a significant blow for Head Coach Steve Lavin, now in his fifth season in Queens, as well as senior forward Sir’Dominic Pointer and senior guards Phil Greene and D’Angelo Harrison — core pieces of what ESPN once considered the third best recruiting class in the country.
Faced with the prospect of finishing their college careers without a trip to the NCAA tournament, the seniors have taken the reigns recently for the Red Storm. Harrison, one of the more mercurial guards in the country, has averaged 24 points per game over the course of St. John’s current win streak, up from his already prolific 19.1 per game average on the season.
“[Harrison] can roll out of bed and get 12 points,” Thompson said. “He’s just a natural, natural, natural born scorer.”
Meanwhile, Pointer, who averages 13 points per game, has scored 16.3 points per game throughout the Red Storm’s win streak and tallied a career-high 24 against Xavier.
“[Pointer] has a high motor offensively and defensively,” senior guard Jabril Trawick said. “He attacks the basket, he rebounds, he blocks shot, he plays defense, so you just have to match his intensity, match his effort.”
St. John’s also boasts several key contributors among its underclassmen, with the most notable among them junior center Chris Obekpa. The Nigeria native is the clear-cut best shot blocker in the Big East, averaging 3.2 blocks per game, a number that undersells his true impact on the defensive end of the floor considering the lengths opposing big men go to avoid him.
The matchup between Obekpa and Georgetown senior center Joshua Smith will be one of the most intriguing on Tuesday night. Obekpa, who has recently been battling a high ankle sprain, typically uses his long, wiry frame to his advantage, but the power and strength of Smith should offer a stern test.
If Obekpa prevents Georgetown from challenging St. John’s at the rim, the Hoyas will likely resort to the three-ball to beat the Red Storm. Critical to any such game plan will be junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera.
The Georgetown co-captain has been subtly excellent in conference play, if such a thing is possible for the Big East preseason player of the year. With the exception of an uncharacteristically poor showing in a blowout loss to Villanova, Smith-Rivera is averaging 17.4 points per game in conference play and shooting at a 44.6 percent clip from behind the arc.
At the end of the day however, game plans and schemes will only carry a team so far in a late season matchup between old rivals.
“A lot of the games we play nowadays, there isn’t really anything strategic we need to do,” Trawick said. “It’s simple stuff like playing hard, doing the little things, like boxing out, rebounding and no unforced turnovers.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Verizon Center and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
