There were plenty of positives for the Georgetown faithful at Verizon Center Saturday afternoon, for the Hoyas showed marked improvement in all facets of the game where they had previously been lacking. Headed into the contest with streaking Seton Hall, Georgetown held the Big East’s top record, but had sunk into the cellar in free throw percentage. Yesterday, they shot 80 percent from the charity stripe. The team that had been out-rebounded by virtually every opponent on its conference schedule dominated the Pirates on the boards. Their three-point shooting wasn’t the best they’ve ever displayed, but the Hoyas managed to hit treys in big moments. But Seton Hall exposed another gaping chink in sixth-ranked Georgetown’s armor yesterday. Pirates Coach Bobby Gonzalez turned up the pressure with a full-court press and forced the Hoyas into a season-high 21 turnovers. While pressure defense may be Seton Hall’s forte, and while the strategy allowed John Thompson III to exploit other holes in Gonzalez’s attack, it does not hide the fact that Georgetown is in serious need of a speedy point guard. Jon Wallace is a fantastic floor general, Jessie Sapp an exciting swirl of a scorer, and Jeremiah Rivers a glove-tight defender, but none of them are quick enough or sure enough ball handlers to split a full-court press with any kind of regularity. Balls bounced between legs, ricocheted off sneakers and caromed off cameramen who just happened to be sitting in the path of errant passes. The one man quick enough to slice through a full-court trap, waterbug-quick point guard Chris Wright, watched from the bench in a hunter green suit and a diamond stud in his left ear, out indefinitely with what the Georgetown medical staff calls a case of “foot symptoms.” “It is what it is – we can sit and talk about who’s not out there, who we wish was out there, who could have been out there,” Thompson said when asked about the absence of his fleet freshman. “Twenty-one turnovers and 10 assists is not indicative of our team – never has been, never will be. At the same time, we had guys step up and were able to get through it.” The Pirates suffocated the Hoyas backcourt all afternoon, pilfering the rock from the home team 15 times and baiting Georgetown into committing unnecessary fouls. Six minutes into the second half, Wallace, Sapp and Rivers all found themselves playing on eggshells with four fouls apiece. When Wallace and Co. did manage to matriculate the ball down the floor and set up the offense, it was money in the bank. Roy Hibbert and Vernon Macklin took turns abusing Pirates center John Garcia, who is a dead-ringer for Private Pyle in “Full Metal Jacket.” The final tally would have been much tighter if not for Patrick Ewing Jr.’s sudden takeover in the waning minutes. Beginning at the 4:14 mark, Ewing had a hand in 11 Georgetown points. He scored on a fingertip tip-in, a rim-rattling dunk and a fast-break layup, then fed Wallace for a three-point play and set up Austin Freeman for another wide open jumper. He flopped strong on the defensive end as well, throwing his body in front of a Garcia, drawing a charge on the clunky center. “Patrick was terrific today,” Thompson said. “Overall, in terms of his rebounding and his poise, I thought he was very, very good.” Said Sapp: “Patrick made very wise decisions.” Halfway through the rugged gauntlet of conference play, Thompson’s crew has shown a knack for being grunting out hardscrabble victories. Right now they’re the team to beat in the Big East. But there are a few blemishes that need to be polished over before this group can be considered a shoo-in to hoist another shiny Big East Tournament title trophy in Madison Square Garden the third weekend of March. “There’s a lot of ball to be played. We need to continue to get better,” Thompson said. “This league is brutal, this league is volatile, this league does not allow you the luxury of looking around and seeing where you’re at. We were too careless [today].” Between now and Tuesday, and certainly before his team’s trip to Freedom Hall next weekend, Thompson will be in the kitchen, stewing over a new-fangled strategy to simmer down the heat opposing defenses will surely turn up on his Hoyas.

There were plenty of positives for the Georgetown faithful at Verizon Center Saturday afternoon, for the Hoyas showed marked improvement in all facets of the game where they had previously been lacking. Headed into the contest with streaking Seton Hall, Georgetown held the Big East’s top record, but had sunk into the cellar in free throw percentage. Yesterday, they shot 80 percent from the charity stripe. The team that had been out-rebounded by virtually every opponent on its conference schedule dominated the Pirates on the boards. Their three-point shooting wasn’t the best they’ve ever displayed, but the Hoyas managed to hit treys in big moments. But Seton Hall exposed another gaping chink in sixth-ranked Georgetown’s armor yesterday. Pirates Coach Bobby Gonzalez turned up the pressure with a full-court press and forced the Hoyas into a season-high 21 turnovers. While pressure defense may be Seton Hall’s forte, and while the strategy allowed John Thompson III to exploit other holes in Gonzalez’s attack, it does not hide the fact that Georgetown is in serious need of a speedy point guard. Jon Wallace is a fantastic floor general, Jessie Sapp an exciting swirl of a scorer, and Jeremiah Rivers a glove-tight defender, but none of them are quick enough or sure enough ball handlers to split a full-court press with any kind of regularity. Balls bounced between legs, ricocheted off sneakers and caromed off cameramen who just happened to be sitting in the path of errant passes. The one man quick enough to slice through a full-court trap, waterbug-quick point guard Chris Wright, watched from the bench in a hunter green suit and a diamond stud in his left ear, out indefinitely with what the Georgetown medical staff calls a case of “foot symptoms.” “It is what it is – we can sit and talk about who’s not out there, who we wish was out there, who could have been out there,” Thompson said when asked about the absence of his fleet freshman. “Twenty-one turnovers and 10 assists is not indicative of our team – never has been, never will be. At the same time, we had guys step up and were able to get through it.” The Pirates suffocated the Hoyas backcourt all afternoon, pilfering the rock from the home team 15 times and baiting Georgetown into committing unnecessary fouls. Six minutes into the second half, Wallace, Sapp and Rivers all found themselves playing on eggshells with four fouls apiece. When Wallace and Co. did manage to matriculate the ball down the floor and set up the offense, it was money in the bank. Roy Hibbert and Vernon Macklin took turns abusing Pirates center John Garcia, who is a dead-ringer for Private Pyle in “Full Metal Jacket.” The final tally would have been much tighter if not for Patrick Ewing Jr.’s sudden takeover in the waning minutes. Beginning at the 4:14 mark, Ewing had a hand in 11 Georgetown points. He scored on a fingertip tip-in, a rim-rattling dunk and a fast-break layup, then fed Wallace for a three-point play and set up Austin Freeman for another wide open jumper. He flopped strong on the defensive end as well, throwing his body in front of a Garcia, drawing a charge on the clunky center. “Patrick was terrific today,” Thompson said. “Overall, in terms of his rebounding and his poise, I thought he was very, very good.” Said Sapp: “Patrick made very wise decisions.” Halfway through the rugged gauntlet of conference play, Thompson’s crew has shown a knack for being grunting out hardscrabble victories. Right now they’re the team to beat in the Big East. But there are a few blemishes that need to be polished over before this group can be considered a shoo-in to hoist another shiny Big East Tournament title trophy in Madison Square Garden the third weekend of March. “There’s a lot of ball to be played. We need to continue to get better,” Thompson said. “This league is brutal, this league is volatile, this league does not allow you the luxury of looking around and seeing where you’re at. We were too careless [today].” Between now and Tuesday, and certainly before his team’s trip to Freedom Hall next weekend, Thompson will be in the kitchen, stewing over a new-fangled strategy to simmer down the heat opposing defenses will surely turn up on his Hoyas.