After a flat-footed season opener, Georgetown (1-1) put the pieces together from the start Wednesday night against Wright State (1-1), swamping the Raiders en route to an 88-70 win.
It was a tale of two halves for the Hoyas, who did their greatest damage in a nine-minute stretch in the middle of the first period.
Sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and freshman guard Reggie Cameron each hit a pair of three-pointers as the Raiders wilted on both ends of the floor, keying a 25-6 run that left the Blue and Gray up 30-11 with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. It was a lead they never surrendered.
“The last game was not who we are. For them to come out and play the way they did today was what we expected,” Head Coach John Thompson III said of his guards. “Reggie can shoot, so Reggie did what Reggie does.”
Smith-Rivera was virtually absent against Oregon in the season opener but found his confidence on the perimeter and at the charity stripe, hitting three three-pointers and making all six of his free throws against the Raiders. He finished with 25 points.
“[The opener] was an unusual game. We very rarely shoot that badly,” Smith-Rivera said. “As you can see tonight, we shot the ball pretty well.”
Noting that Smith-Rivera typically plays with better efforts at home than on the road, Thompson III joked in the postgame press conference that “excellent student support,” in the District was the reason Smith-Rivera was able to break his slump.
Student support, however, was slow to arrive due to a problem Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Dan O’Neil attributed to “minor issues [that] typically arise as first-time attendees are unsure where [or] how to enter the Verizon center.” Some students waited in line for more than half an hour, finally gaining admission near the end of the first half.
Fortunately for the Hoyas, the initially small crowd in the student section did not hinder their play
Senior guard Markel Starks also caught fire for the Hoyas, knocking down seven of his 14 shots, including three of nine attempts from beyond the arc. He finished with 23 points.
It was Starks’ six assists, however, that caught the eye of Wright State coach Billy Donlon after the game.
“Starks is a really, really good player,” Donlon said. “I told our guys that he would make winning plays from the moment the ball was tipped.”
Despite a comfortable 50-31 lead at intermission, Georgetown was disappointing in the second half. The hosts were outscored 39-38, floundered defensively and struggled at the free-throw line.
“We still have a ways to go,” Thompson III said about his team’s defense. “Was it progress? I’m not sure. I’d have to go back and look at the tape.”
The Hoyas also shot just 14-for-26 from the charity stripe and an even worse 2-for-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Part of the Hoyas’ struggles were due to a defensive clampdown from the Raiders, who committed a whopping 26 violations in the game.
“That’s a very good team. They’re going to be fighting for their league championship. They’re the kind of team you’re going to see in the NCAA tournament,” Thompson III said. “That’s why I picked them.”
Junior center Josh Smith, who electrified the Hoya faithful with his performance against Oregon in South Korea, was decidedly off-key Wednesday night, especially when Wright State effectively double-teamed the big man.
He finished 2-of-6 from the floor, grabbing just four rebounds while committing three fouls. However, Thompson III wrote off Smith’s woes as a bad performance and said the double-teaming was actually a good sign.
“I think he had some turnovers that he normally won’t have,” Thompson III said. “We don’t mind the double. We invite the double. We can put shooters on the floor and make open shots.”
In more limited minutes, senior forward Nate Lubick and junior forward Mikael Hopkins showed solid fundamentals, combining for a total of 12 points and 15 boards.
Georgetown has the week off before facing Northeastern in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip Off. That matchup is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 21 and will be televised on ESPNU.