Georgetown came out flat and sloppy in Saturday’s game with Cincinnati, but after a gutsy, wholesale substitution by Head Coach John Thompson III, the Hoyas brought the energy and focus that helped them build a 20-point lead. When the lead disappeared in the second half, the energy and focus didn’t, and that is what was really scary about Georgetown 64-62 loss to the Bearcats of Cincinnati.

The first four minutes and 36 seconds of the game were truly awful. Four missed shots, two turnovers and just one basket made Thompson mad enough to pull all five of his starters and though the score didn’t improve much in the next five minutes, the change in effort and passion showed that Thompson’s message was clearly sent and understood.

Thompson’s super swap would have been the story had the Hoyas held on late. Unfortunately, even with an impressive level of passion and energy from the middle of the first half onward, the Hoyas were not able to seal the deal against the Bearcats.

When Georgetown would clamp down on the perimeter and shut off shooters forward and guards Alvin Mitchell, Deonta Vaughn and Larry Davis, who combined for 7 threes on 14 attempts, big men like forwards Mike Williams and Yancy Gates were able to get easy buckets under the basket.

The defensive energy and passion were there. The Hoyas just weren’t capable of getting a stop when they needed one down the stretch.

On offense, DaJuan Summers never found a rhythm, and after the game Thompson agreed that he may never have seen him lose so many balls, adding subtly, “he had a tough day.”

Time and time again, the Hoyas would get good looks under the basket, only to miss the layup. According to the official play-by-play, the Hoyas missed twelve layups and made just as many. You know it’s a bad day when Georgetown is shooting better from the free-throw line than from right under the basket.

any of those misses came in transition, where the Hoyas continued to struggle. Georgetown had just four fast break points off of 17 Cincinnati turnovers. Chris Wright, who was only 2-of-7 from the field, seemed to just fly into the lane no matter the numbers, and he was often forced to put up a fade-away layup or pray for a foul.

These flaws were not so frightening during the long periods of time when the Hoyas held leads of five or more points, but in the game’s final 10 minutes, when the Bearcats hit 8-of-12 field goals, the Hoyas were unable to keep pace.

What is so troubling about the loss is that so few of the Hoyas’ familiar specters were haunting the team. Georgetown’s rebounding, which has been at the top of the list of Hoya weaknesses, was strong throughout, and the team finished with just three fewer boards than the Bearcats. It’s also impossible to blame turnovers because 13 is below the season average and generally not a terrible number against a team as physical as Cincinnati. Even the Hoyas’ much maligned bench stepped up Saturday afternoon with 23 points, five assists and nine rebounds.

Finally, despite their slow start, the Hoyas’ played just as hard as the Bearcats, and they fought for every loose ball and rebound they could get their hands on. Thompson refused to blame his team’s energy for the loss, saying, “I don’t necessarily feel like they outworked us.”

Without rebounding, turnovers, depth or even hustle to blame for an overtime home loss to a team like Cincinnati, it might be time to consider the idea that Georgetown lost to Cincinnati today because the Bearcats are just a better team. The Bearcats have size, athleticism, three-point shooting, a selfless style of play and physicality. Run down that list and compare it to what the Hoyas have, and you might be surprised how many categories the Bearcats take away.

There is no reason to stop hoping that the team can get it together and pull out a couple upsets in the weeks to come. Just like Cincinnati, the Hoyas have young, talented players that so far just haven’t gotten it together on a nightly basis.

After the game, Austin Freeman and Greg Monroe were despondent and terse; it was clear that a loss to the Bearcats was the last thing they were expecting. So as awful as that loss may seem, if there is a silver lining to Saturday’s game, it’s that even if Georgetown isn’t the top-of-the-line team, they still think they are. In a league as difficult as the Big East, that may be all the Hoyas have.

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