Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GU to Face Weak Storm

Image Contributor
Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers

St. John’s takes on Georgetown at Verizon Center tomorrow night, and the outlook is not good for the Red Storm.

St. John’s (10-16, 4-10 Big East) enters the game with a 4-10 conference record and a 2-7 record on the road this season. The Red Storm are on a four-game losing streak, and they have lost their last four by average margin of 18.5 points. On Saturday, they lost to Duke by 30 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Throw in No. 11 Georgetown’s undefeated record at Verizon Center this season and Georgetown’s (22-4, 12-3) 74-42 victory over St. John’s a month ago, and you have the recipe for a Hoya rout.

For Georgetown, tomorrow night’s game will be a final tune-up before a critical two-game stretch to close out the regular season. On Saturday, the Hoyas will play at No. 21 Marquette, and the following Saturday they will take on No. 13 Louisville at home. If the Hoyas win all three of their remaining regular season games, they will be the Big East regular season champions. One loss could hand Louisville or No. 17 Notre Dame the conference title.

Though the Red Storm will almost certainly lose tomorrow night, they have a good shot at improving on their last performance against Georgetown. On Jan. 30, the Red Storm shot an abysmal 21.3 percent from the floor in their 32-point loss to the Hoyas at Madison Square Garden, their worst Big East loss ever. In the first half, St. John’s made just two field goals.

Sophomore center Vernon Macklin was the star of the game, scoring a career-high 18 points off the bench. He single-handedly almost made more field goals (eight) than the entire St. John’s team (10).

The Red Storm’s leading scorer, junior forward Anthony Mason Jr., went just 3-of-12 from the field and scored nine points in the game.

The Red Storm’s terrible shooting performance was perhaps unsurprising considering the fact that they are statistically one of the worst shooting teams in the country, while Georgetown plays the best field-goal percentage defense in the nation. Out of 328 Division I teams ranked by the NCAA, St. John’s checks in at No. 300 in field-goal percentage (40.3 percent). Georgetown holds its opponents to 36 percent shooting on the year, the best mark in Division I.

If all goes according to plan for the Hoyas tomorrow night, senior center Roy Hibbert will get plenty of time on the bench, while some of the reserves will get significant playing time. Hibbert played just 18 minutes in last month’s win over St. John’s. Senior guard Tyler Crawford played 24 minutes in that game, and Macklin logged 26 minutes.

Georgetown is coming off an impressive performance against Cincinnati on Saturday, its first decisive win since the St. John’s game. Two weeks ago, St. John’s lost at Cincinnati 60-43.

The Hoyas played well on both ends of the court against the Bearcats, but their shooting was still not quite up to par. They shot 47.6 percent from the field in the game, once again failing to eclipse the 50 percent mark. The Hoyas have not shot over 50 percent in a game since the St. John’s blowout.

Tomorrow, Georgetown will try to extend St. John’s losing streak to five. While a loss to the Red Storm would be a shocking defeat that could ruin the Hoyas’ chances of winning the Big East regular season title, all signs point to a Georgetown rout. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at Verizon Center.

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